The Great Malaga Path

La Gran Senda de Málaga (the Great Malaga Path) is a long distance hiking trail (739 km) that goes all around Malaga province with the purpose of showcasing its environmental variety. I've stumbled across it several times in recent years while out with the dogs. We'd be walking by a river or through a forest and we'd see the trail markings - GR249 or whatever,  So today I decided to do the Gran Senda more officially by walking part of the route that goes from Malaga to AlhaurIn de la Torre, the part that intersects 

with our regular walk along the banks of the Guadalhorce. Or perhaps I should say semi-officially: in order to avoid meeting too many cyclists, we actually followed our own parallel path, slightly closer to the river. It was a beautiful day, with warm sunshine, a pleasant breeze and a deep blue sky. The walk by the river was so peaceful that you'd never have guessed we were just a stone's throw from the airport at one point.... at least, not until you looked up and saw an easyJet plane apparently coming down to land on your head.

Our original plan had been to walk all the way to the edge of Alhaurin de la Torre. But when we came to a signpost saying that we still had nearly 6 km to go, I realised that it would be too far. We had already covered 5 km, and we still had to walk all the way back again to where we'd parked the car. So, instead of continuing further up the river, we turned around and walked all the way back down to the river mouth - which just happens to be at one of the region's dog beaches. 

With it being such a lovely sunny day, people were lying on the beach, sunbathing, while their dogs ran around chasing balls and frisbees, or having a swim. My two (Buba and Nelson were with me) had a wonderful time, first of all exploring all the new sights and smells along the river and occasionally popping down to the water for a quick dip.
Nelson in particular really had a workout: as well as the nearly eleven kilometres walked by Buba and me, he probably ran nearly another eleven when chasing the tennis ball I was throwing for him. Then when we got to the beach and Buba simply splashed around at the water's edge, Nelson swam for nearly twenty minutes, while I threw the tennis ball into the sea or into the river for him to fetch. Buba looked ready for a nap as we headed home, but not Nelson. That two year old bundle of energy epitomises the adjective indefatigable: as I dropped him off at home, he didn't seem even the slightest bit tired; he seemed to be just as bursting with energy as he'd been when we left home three hours earlier!

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