Antiquera, Lobo Wolf Park, El Torcal and Ardales - Days 131 to 135

A rare photo of the two of us!

I shall miss the bells of Alhama de Granada, the way that at 21.30 instead of one bong for the half hour there were 14, 10 at 22.00 and nothing till 07.00 and no I’d not been drinking (well yes, I had) but I definitely counted 14 on three consecutive nights!

After an inauspicious start with the marketing we both liked Alhama, so were sad to leave, but it was time, so off to Antequera, a biggish place, with a funny Aire, by the sports centre, and the road, vying for space with locals cars even though marked only for autocaravanas. (Aire location: 37°01'16.7"N 4°34'18.5"W) (Aire amenities with photos: click here then on item 56 in list). 

Antequera with its church and castle

It was Monday, so we expected most things to be shut, and weren’t sure about the tourist information, so dashed off, only to find it open all day, and then had to dash back to Ted for lunch. At a more sensible pace we went to look at the churches that were open and have a look round the old town. It was a nice enough place, but not as great as the English lady we met seemed to think, but it was her first journey inland, so perhaps we have been spoiled.

Antequeras castle

Back to Ted to find a very old, very small, very battered caravan, with a similar car parked next door. The family of four, including very small baby soon reappeared. We waved, they waved, then started up a very noisy generator! We uhhmed and aahhed about moving, our initial feelings of sympathy wearing thin quite quickly. Then they went out, so we did, just two vans away, enough to muffle the noise but not completely remove it!

The Giants Gate, Antequera

Lobo (wolf) Park, near Antequera

Up on Tuesday to have a look at a, now open, church, which was amazing, before heading just down the road to Lobopark where wolves are bred and studied. Now bear in mind that as a child I didn’t have monsters under the bed, I had wolves, this was quite a big deal. The centre was amazing, and Martina our guide a very knowledgeable, very enthusiastic young lady. The wolves were beautiful and we learned lots, mostly that they are not the sinister beings portrayed in fairytales, but are really quite like us in their social structure and the way they interact.

I took many photos of wolves, but this one was about the best. Eye to eye!

More wolves at Lobo Park

Having asked very nicely, Lobopark said we could stay over in their carpark, despite the no picnic, no camping sign, it is lovely to be so remote, but legit. It isn’t just us but the other Brit van is the other side of the tree, so we can pretend we are all alone. Enjoying the solitude we haven’t closed our blinds or roof lights which to me is a joy, I have Orion’s Belt above me and the Plough over my left shoulder. As these are the only two constellations I can recognise I’m doing pretty well. I commented I wanted to see a shooting star, that wasn’t to be, but I am 98% sure, having been on the NASA website that I did see the ISS, the International Space Station, passing overhead, so I’m pretty happy. Just a shame the wind noise is louder then the howling that I have heard in the distance.... what a fab night. (Lobo park location: 36°59'12.2"N 4°37'19.7"W)

There were other animals at Lobo Park, this small goat was only two days old and it's mum (behind) was having trouble feeding it so they were hand feeding it with mum's milk

Our night at Lobo Park

We woke to howling at 07.15, an amazing noise, one starts and they all join in. We felt under no obligation to be up and out as Wednesday is their closed day, so we weren’t blocking the carpark. We’d found a climbing area nearby on the Internet, with some grades we should actually be able to do, but it was still cold so we decided to head into El Torcal natural park as had been our original plan. So pleased we did, although it was a steep climb for Ted, the rock formations were amazing. The two hour walk only took us 1hr 40 and we almost avoided the big groups of school children. (El Torcal location: 36°57'11.0"N 4°32'39.9"W)

The strange landscape at El Torcal National Park

Deer at El Torcal National Park

We’d booked the Caminito del Rey for Thursday in El Chorro, a climbing Mecca, but all too hard for us. We could either go along the motorway, or back past the wolves and the other climbing area, in about the same time, so we decided to look at the climbing, or rather the parking in the town. Who knows where Doris was trying to take us, up a very steep hill that apparently we only just had traction on before a turning there was no way we were going to make. We’ll give it up as a bad idea then, but the roads continued to get smaller. A sharp downhill left, and the man behind is hooting going “nooooooo”

More strange landscape at El Torcal

After ascertaining we wanted El Chorro, where else would stupid tourists in a big van want on this neck of the woods? He said follow me (well he didn’t as he had no English, but I got the message). We got to a signpost that did say El Chorro, which he said was the 10km mountain route, rather than the 40km normal route, just keep going, and going, he said. I said what about the 3.5 tonne weight limit? He said, don’t worry, I drive trucks, and anyway there aren’t any policemen..... Not knowing how to get back to the main road without going down a vertical slope, and not wanting to seem rude to a really helpful man we set off. Doris wasn’t happy, she kept trying to turn us round, the road kept getting worse, but the farmer said, si, Es bien..... We were very pleased when we suddenly got to the railway station at the end of the Caminito del Rey, though even then, not onto ‘normal’ roads. We’d got no internet reception, so we couldn’t find where the free parking mentioned on park4night was so we just headed to the campsite. We passed a thin twisty road that I suspect led to the free parking, which said in the comments, not recommended if windy, but we were both frazzled. The campsite won, but only just, she’d only got one big space left, thank goodness we only need one! (Parque Ardales campsite location: 36°55'13.9"N 4°48'11.4"W) (Campsite amenities with photos: click here then on item 58 in list)

Here's a short Youtube containing all the photos we took in El Torcal N.P.:

Ardales near the Caminito del Rey walk

So today’s excitement was meant to the the Caminito del Rey, a walkway built in the 1920’s as part of a hydroelectric scheme. It was one of the wonders of Spain till it fell into disrepair, when only climbers could do it. It reopened in 2015 however after much effort and money, helicopters were used to position some of the structure, and is now a big tourist attraction, but at only €11.55 including the bus back to the start (or in our case, ask nicely and the gate of the campsite) it’s a must.

Here's what we're hoping to do tomorrow, the Caminito del Rey

We set off, for our allotted time slot only to be met by gloomy people saying it had been shut, due to high winds (glad we were not at the free parking then). So instead, today’s excitement was trying to rebook our tickets for tomorrow, had to be done on the Internet, not at the gate where they turned us away. This shouldn’t have been difficult, but it was, even with the assistance of the lady on reception. We think we’ve done it though, one ticket for two has become two tickets for one, and the carefully regulated time slots have gone completely out of the window. So we’ll be going early, to try to beat the queues, and to try to beat the wind which is generally worse in the afternoon.....