Moorish Watch Towers

It is disputed as to exactly when the Watch Towers were set up as a protection against piracy along the Mediteranean coast. Each tower was visible to two others in either direction, and each had a chimney to produce smoke to raise the alarm if enemy ships were seen.

This tower, on Bahia Dorada, was in existance before 1492! It is 13 meters high, with a flat roof to view the sea and surrounding area. Its entrance is 7.5 meters high off the ground! There is no other way in! There is an account of its history in the 1997 local telephone directory! It was manned by two guards. One kept perminant watch, while the other came every afternoon and left at dawn. A rope ladder could be let down for the relief man to climb up. "The watchmen could defend themselves by throwing stones, fire or bullets of molton lead"!

Melons and Water melons

In summer there used to be one of these melon and watermelon stalls under a shady tree just a few hundred meters from Bahia Dorada. But that disappeared years ago, and the site was used for an upmarket complex of apartments. But stalls like it still exist! This summer I saw this one on the road to the coast, coming down the mountain from Ronda.

Experts give a water melon a hearty slap, and listen for the right sort of 'thump' to be sure its ripe! I do the ritual slap. Although I don't know the right sound, it's always delicious anyway!

Messing About in Boats!

These photogenic boats are in Estepona Port. You would have to know their owners if you wanted to go for a sail. However there are boats for hire.

And you can go fishing!

ADANA kennels and Dog Show

In my last Blog I wrote about the serious fire that devastated 600 hectares of land on our mountain. The picture on the left how close a tongue of fire came to the Adana kennels. (The pink building.) Within 30 meters! That was close! I'm happy to say there was no loss of human or animal lives.




By the next weekend the Adana Dog Show was in full swing! The dogs are not judged on pedigree. This isn't Crufts, but a fun family day. The events include the best Junior Handler; the dog with the Waggiest Tail; and the Best Trick. The picture on the left shows a splendid entry for the Dog Most Like its Owner! You will notice they both have a black and white spots, and red collars!

Firefighter planes at Bahia Dorada

Brian took these pictures yesterday and today. The fire fighter planes scooped up sea water and flew on to discharge it on the huge fire on the mountain behind Bahia Dorada. It is an extremely dangerous job to fly low and load the plane, and take it up with the sudden extra weight of water, and then deal with flying conditions on the mountain, with the smoke and fire heated updaughts to contend with. They are brave and skillful pilots!

Rumours cirulate as to how the fire started. One version says it was from a carelessly left weekend barbique fire at Los Pedrogales Park. Another version that the fire was deliberately started.

I don't know if the ADANA kennels was affected. The kennels is on that mountain. It would have been very difficult to evaculate 100 or more dogs. I'll up-date when I know.

Missing Lynx

The Coto Donana, an hour south of Seville, is a conservation area of special importance, particularly as a breeding place for migratory birds. It is also a habitat of the Iberian Lynx; a beautiful species that grows to be about twice the size of a domestic cat. Characteristically they have tufts of hair on their ears and under the chin.

This is the most endangered of the 36 species of cats in the world. Their decline in the last 50 years has been catastrophic. It was estimated there were of 4000 in the wild in 1960. By 2000 the number was down to 400. Now, in 2009, it is believed there are only 200, with a population of about 50 in the Coto Donana region of Southern Spain, and 150 in the Andujar-Cardena area. Such small numbers may have brought this lynx close to extinction. There could be small groups in some other isolated areas. No sightings were reported but droppings have been found, and DNA analysis suggests they come from three or four individual lynx.

The main cause of the decline in lynx populations is because their primary food source, rabbits, have been decimated by myximatosis. An adult male lynx needs one rabbit a day; a female with young up to three a day. The red fox is in competition with the lynx for the scarce remaining rabbits. Saddly, development and construction erodes wild places. More roads and more traffic means the loss of more lynx. 16 were killed in the Coto Donana area between 2000-2003.

Some Iberian lynx are bred in captivity. Is this the best we can do?

Super station food and passing trains

This wonderful cool drink isn't wine, and it isn't a cola! It's grappa (grape juice) with ice and lemon. It was served to us on shiny black glass tables on the platform of the little Station of San Pablo near Jimena de La Frontera.
Occasional trains pass by. They stop by request only. Now you see one - now you don't!



Adventure suggestion. Go to the station and have a nice drink before taking the train to Ronda. The route is through magnificent mountain scenery that you can see no other way. The historic town of Ronda is spectacular. Spend whatever time you can spare to explore it! (More about it later.)

When you return to San Pablo station have dinner at the restaurant on this very platform! The food is of superb quality! Nieves, the chef, serves lunches too. (Closed on Mondays.)

Val's Vanette and Wind Farms

My email name is "valvanette". I chose it as my traveling address, because I drive this Nissan Vanette camper van! It used to have a kitchen with a gas fridge, a gas stove and washing up facilities, but I never cooked in it. Roadside 'ventas' have delicious inexpensive food on the 'menu del dia', so why bother with shopping, cooking and cleaning up? Brian dismantled the kitchen and fitted a three seater backseat that I bought (with seat belts) from a car scrapyard . Its more comfortable now for giving a lift to friends!

The 'wind farm' shown here is on the Gaucin road, 15 minutes or so from where I live. I'm ambivalent about them. They may make sense environmentally - but I'd rather see beautiful mountain scenery without such intrusions. Yes, the design has elegant simplicity - but I enjoy nature more without them. Wind farms are a hazard to bird life, especially on migratory routes; however chemicals in the food chain and pollution cause more bird deaths. The 'solution' to one problem causes another problem!