A holiday in the mountains...

After spending quite a bit of the summer with a terrible cough, it was a joy this month, September, to be able to take a few days holiday and travel into the mountains - some four hours drive northwards to the Sierra de Cazorla.

My friend Sue, visiting from England, went on the trip with me and we took the dog with us, leaving the cat in the care of my neighbour. Thunderstorms and heavy rains had been forecast for the mountain sierras last week, which was potentially a big disappointment for us, as one reason for our trip was to do a famous hiking trail along the gorge of the Borosa river.

But, in the end, the weather was absolutely perfect and we had a wonderful time with warm sunny weather throughout.

We stayed two nights in a little wooden cabin at the Montillana campground, next to El Tranco reservoir, and then we moved to the El Cerrillo cabins, situated among olive groves and closer to the town of Cazorla.

On our first full day in the mountains, we were able to do our planned hike along the River Borosa, where the scenery was absolutely stunning and the sound of the trickling river with its many little waterfalls was so relaxing. We'd decided in advance that we probably couldn't do the full 22 kilometre hike up the canyon to a mountain lake and waterfall, but had been told that it was around 4½ km to the part of the route where wooden walkways took the trail through the narrowest part of the river gorge. It turned out to be somewhat further than that, however, and so our whole walk ended up being 17½ km - the longest walk of Maiki's life so far. In fact, it wouldn't surprise me if Maiki ran about 25 km that day, as she constantly ran back and forward along the forest trail, dipping in and out of the river to drink and to cool down.

The next day, after moving to our new cabin, we did another hike through a river canyon, but much shorter this time - just under 3 km. The Cerrada del Utrero was a short walk above the Guadalquivir river, with towering rocky crags where eagles and vultures circled high above us. Sue is an avid birdwatcher, and so she had her binoculars glued to her eyes as we made the short circuit through the canyon and back around the mountain.

During our trip, we visited the little Sierra towns of Cazorla, La Iruela and Arroyo Frío, as well as the small city of Baeza. On Sunday, we drove home again, through lovely mountain scenery in the Sierra Mágina and the Sierra Nevada.

It was a lovely break and we are really thankful to the Lord for the beautiful creation, the perfect weather, and for safety on the roads as I drove almost a thousand kilometres in total.

You can click on the photo below to see a one-minute video of our River Borosa hike, especially the part known as the Cerrada de Elías, where wooden walkways allow you to walk "above" the flowing river for a couple of hundred metres through the narrow river canyon.

 

Dancing and hiking...

After our KKI outreach preparation camp in Poland this summer, teams went out all over Europe to share God's love, to work with refugees, etc. I returned to Spain after the camp and unfortunately found myself with both bronchitis and covid by the time I arrived home. The post-bronchitis cough seemed to drag on for a long time, but finally began to dissipate by the end of August - which allowed me to make a two day trip to the beautiful Alpujarra region of Spain.

I went there with my dog, Maiki, as we had signed up to participate in a dog dancing workshop. (You may have seen dog dance acts on programmes like Britain's Got Talent.) It was a lot of fun and I enjoyed being able to make just a beginning in this canine sport. I've always enjoyed watching the international canine freestyle (dog dancing) afternoons of Crufts dog show.

We stayed overnight in the little spa town of Lanjarón, which gives its name to a well known brand of bottled water. This allowed us to take a short walk to the old Moorish castle, which wasn't far from our hotel. The mountain air seemed to do me good and I wasn't coughing quite as much as over the previous five weeks.

The next day, when our dance workshop finished, we made a short drive to the little village of Nigüelas, from where we wanted to do a lovely walk called the Paseo de la Pavilla. The trail wound its way around the edge of the mountain, running sometimes alongside the river and sometimes next to the old irrigation ditches. From the end of the trail, we took a detour uphill to a lovely little waterfall. (I love waterfalls, but we hadn't had an opportunity to get to one this year, so that was a special treat.)

Before driving back home to Malaga, Maiki and I were able to take just fifteen minutes for a swim in the Beznár reservoir. That was another treat, as my annoying cough meant that it had been many weeks since we'd been able to enjoy a refreshing dip to cool off in the hot summer weather. All in all, it was a very enjoyable two days' break.
 

Movie magic...

 Over the summer months, Maiki and a few of her trick dog team mates have had fun putting together this compilation of "classic movies." Your all time favourite film may not have made our list this time, but Teddi, Maiki and a team of international guest stars are proud to present a Pet's Perspective on Classic Movies of the past decades. Just click on the photo to watch the video.

Maiki meets the wolf...

It's a rite of passage. Sooner or later, all of the dogs get to make their first ascent to the wolf's lookout: that viewpoint on top of the mountain that separates Alhaurín de la Torre from the coastal towns of Torremolinos and Benalmádena.

We weren't able to do it last year because Maiki was too small at the beginning of summer to take such a long walk. Then, for the rest of the year, any kind of uphill route was forbidden to us in the aftermath of her fractured knee.

This morning, however, a combination of a light morning schedule and a cooler temperature than in recent days (less than 30 degrees) made it possible for us to set off at daybreak and head up the mountain, reaching the summit before the sun had time to burn its way through the clouds.

It meant that the coastal views were perhaps less stunning than on a bright sunny day... and it was too hazy for us to spot the North African coastline, but at least we weren't burning up on our homeward descent, and the four dogs could enjoy a good run on the mountain.

It was even kind of windy on the mountaintop (note the jumper)... very invigorating. With two years of pandemic behind us, it was a special treat to be able to introduce the new generation to our local friend, the wolf.

 

Progress report...

It's been more than three years since we started counting our kilometres and donating them to a Spanish charity that funds research into multiple sclerosis. As you'll see in the photo below, by the end of April we'd already clocked up 1253 km towards this year's target of walking 2022 km in 2022.  We're already well beyond the half way mark.

Even more exciting, though, is that we have now walked the entire length of the continent of Africa - from Cape Town in the south to Cairo in the north. Virtually speaking, of course: the distance we've covered since I first started counting at the beginning of 2019 has been nearly ten thousand kilometres, and I celebrated that by creating the picture you see above.

I gave my knee a twist at the weekend, so we're not able to walk right at the moment... but I'm hoping that things will be back to normal soon.

 

Maiki makes a comeback ...

When Maiki was a tiny puppy, I enjoyed teaching her tricks and recording fun little videos.  But it’s been more than a year since Maiki’s last trick video.  After she fractured her knee last spring, we were left with other priorities - like strengthening the injured leg and dealing with some behaviour issues arising from the long months of being forbidden to run and play like puppies need to do.  Next she was diagnosed with a heart defect and then it was time for surgery as I’d chosen to have her spayed. Now, having overcome all this challenges, and a full year after the trick video I made with both Maiki and Teddi last April, I decided this month that it was time to learn some tricks again. Maiki’s back, and here she is with 50 border collie tricks. You can see the new video by clicking here on the photo above. We enjoyed making it and we hope you enjoy watching it!

 

Palm Sunday on the Mount of Olives...

It's Palm Sunday and a lovely sunny day in contrast to the recent rainstorms. Our Sunday afternoon walk was on the hillside that forms the backdrop to our town. I call it the "Mount of Olives" because the summit is scattered with wild or abandoned olive groves.

I hate olives, to be honest - something that is rather incomprehensible to my Spanish friends. We live, after all, in the greatest olive producing region of the world.

Maiki, on the other hand, is a Spaniard to the core, and pigged out on a small quantity of wild olives before we stopped to take a breather and admire the views from the mountain top.