Antlions and others

Last week I spent walking with a lovely couple from England. They enjoyed the exceptionally hot October sun but I found it a little too hot for walking and despite lashings of sun cream became bright red again! They also drew my attention to small circles of sand as in the photo above. These are 'pits' created by the antlion and covered over with sand waiting for an unsuspecting ant to fall in and for the antlion to devour. Needless to say, once I saw one I realised they were everywhere. We also discovered an exotic tree with beautiful flowers which is the photo above. Does anyone know what this is?

Antlions and such

A walk round Spen near Kirkham

This August family illness caused me to return to the small town of Kirkham where I grew up. My brother has a large dog and I accompanied them on their regular walk "round Spen". This is a circular walk which goes down to the bottom of Kirkham follows Spen lane and takes us through the pretty village of Treales. The weather was obviously very different from Southern Spain and at first I felt quite cold. However the expanses of green fields made me feel a little nostalgic and I was delighted to discover that apart from a few new houses, the walk was very similar to the one I took regularly over forty years ago, with the family dog. I couldn't resist taking a photo of the phone box!

Daimalos in July

It is very hot in Daimalos now so maybe I should move as slowly as this chameleon. I found him on our garden gate when I was trimming the hedge. He thinks if he doesn't move I can't see him.

July and August are much too hot for more than relaxing in the pool, but I still enjoy an early morning walk and watching the sun rise over the village. When it gets we keep out of the sun and have a wonderful time. Commuting into London on packed trains was dreadful. Just think - I swapped that for this!

Day tour from Nerja to Granada

It is now the end of June and temperatures in Axarquia, Southern Spain reach the high twenties. I find this too hot for walking but some guests are prepared to start a walk at 7.30am, enjoy a lovely walk for three hours and spend the rest of the day in or by the pool. Mostly at this time of year, we are busy doing our tours. We can only fit four people in our old explorer, so we offer a very personal sevice and soon feel like old friends. Granada is a wonderful city and even though we have now been there numerous times we still enjoying exploring its streets and squares, while our guests visit the famous Alhambra palace. We always make sure we are back at the car park a good couple of hours before we expect to see our guests as people vary so much in the amount of time they want, but having to sit in our comfortable car and enjoy a good book isn't really too much of a hardship. The photo is of the Plaza Nueva, which is an attractive bustling square just below the Alhambra.

El Acebuchal. The village that was born again.

Last week I went on a fabulous walk through the National Park from Competa to what was the "lost" village of El Acebuchal. In 1948 the Franco regime forced the 150 residents of El Ecebuchal to abandon their village as a means of preventing anti Franco guerillas from seeking refuge there. In 1953, some of these families returned, making charcoal from pinewood as a means of livelihood. However, the authorities forced them out once more in the sixties by refusing to supply basic services. But now some of their descendants have moved back and since 1998 the village has been carefully and beautifully restored.

Spring in Axarquia

Spring is my favourite time of the year, when the edges of the paths and tracks become an absolute mass of beautiful flowers. This year I have been busy taking guests on walks and everbody loved the flowers and scents of Rosemary,Thyme, Mint and Sage. We had a dreadful winter, so a lovely spring has been much appreciated. The most popular flowers were a deep red orchid, beds of common red porry and some huge purple poppies. Maybe somebody could tell me their proper name???