Spain and Beyond

Daily Drena: Shoes are nice

Even though we now have our own fancy vehicle, we still find ourselves walking everywhere. Probably because I don’t particularly like to drive; even more so on narrow streets and tiny towns. And I prefer walking and seeing the sights.

Anyways, today we went on a 10-mile trek outside of Ronda to the southeast on the SL-A 40 trail, Tajo del Abanico. We began in the modern day suburbs of Ronda and then headed onto the country roads to San Francisco, which is the southern part of Ronda. From there, the paved roads turned into gravel, taking us further into the countryside, past farms with herds of sheep, goats, chickens and roosters, horses, and, of course, the obligatory farm dogs. The dogs do a good job of raising a racket when we go by, but are incredibly scared of us at the same time – if we get close, instead of barking at us and chasing us off the land, they turn around and run away, then turn back around and bark at us some more. Odd. After a couple of miles, we turn off onto a small dirt path through the forest beneath some towering cliffs overhead, in a valley. The wildflowers are starting to spring up around here, with splashes of yellow, purple, and red dotting the hillsides. We make it to an overhang and start walking on an interestingly constructed path of rocks embedded in the ground. According to my guide (which I am translating from Spanish), this used to be a route that was utilized in the Medieval times and even possibly constructed by the Romans … pretty amazing to be walking in the footsteps of the Romans on their paths in the middle of a country side if so! Next, we cross a dry riverbed (at this time of year) and wander around to find a cave in the area. Apparently it is popular with local climbers as there are numerous quickdraws hanging from various locations. We climb around and explore a little bit then continue on and find some Spanish fellows digging in the riverbed. They nod at us as we go by and continue their work (digging for gold? archaeological students? illegally searching for things? we didn’t dare ask…). After a little while the trail ends, so we make the long hike back home to rest.