Day 49 – to Torrox

It certainly rained last evening. It had been in and off for an hour before at about 6 pm the skies opened, with thunder and lightning, and the torrents lasted about four hours. It was the first rain the area had had for four months. It also did quite a bit if damage, with mud slides and rocks coming down with the streams of water.

It was farewell to the Sierra Nevada after two weeks circumnavigating the range. Being at altitudes above 2000 metres has been wonderful. The best hiking has been in from the Alpujarran villages in the south, particularly Trevelez. At this time of year the weekends are still crazy with day trippers, and need some careful planning in advance.

I wound my way back west on a lower road than I had travelled through the Alpujarra on early this week. It’s a slow road, especially in a campervan, but always great views of the foothills of the mountains to the right.

Originally my plan was not to visit the Costa del Sol, or indeed the coast at all until Portugal, but I had met a couple from York a week or so ago who had sung the praises of a walk between quiet beaches, only reachable on foot, just a few kilometres east of Nerja, the Cerro Gordo Natural Park and the beaches of Cantarriján and Cañuelo. The maximum temperature this week has dropped to about 22C so there were not that many people around. The cliffs were impressive, and the beaches pretty quiet, and appreciated hugely by the dog. The highlight though was that it was necessary to wade around a rocky headland and cross the second part of Cantarriján beach, where though clothing is optional, no one opted for any. There were a few older people (my age or more..) and younger hippie types, but mostly the bathers were German or Scandinavian visitors. Such places I would usually be very off-put by, but on a quiet day such as this, it was quite acceptable, and a swim with the dog is always appreciated.

From Nerja I headed inland to Frigliana; its Indian restaurant, and what claimed to be a craft beer shop, had attracted me. It was of course hectic with visitors, but at least the restaurant opened early, at 6 pm. I was it’s first customer, and chatted with the owner from Manchester while it was prepared. Yet more of a discovery was the craft beer shop. It was a recently opened bar and shop in the American style that breweries often are these days. It had only just reopened after a really tough 18 months. Spanish furlough paid this sort of worker just 50% of their salary. It was run by a Spaniard, who was keen to chat for the couple keg IPAs I had, and guide me to some of his favourite bottles for takeaway. Rather like the Swannay Brewery I visited on Orkney in April, this place had had big plans, including brewing on the premises, but all had gone on hold. Indeed there were times when it seemed certain they would go out of business. They stocked a huge number of bottles, more than I think I have seen at such a place, and the prices are probably 20% less than in UK. Finding such places is not really a surprise, as there are so many British people living here on the Costa del Sol.

All that remained was to find a quiet place for the night. The road continues out of Frigliana, but is much quieter. It climbs into the hills amongst some attractive residences perched on the mountainside overlooking the coast and the Mediterranean. I found a quiet pull in just as the light was fading.