“However our friend soon brightened up again and, in answer to my inquiries, told me that the picture that the doctor had drawn of the brigands in the Sierra Morena was greatly exaggerated: they had been a nuisance some time before, but were now of very little consequence. And they rarely killed anyone.” – Gerald Brenan
It was raining again the next morning but it looked brighter towards the east where we were heading and so we didn’t loiter too long after breakfast and made our way out of Ronda towards our next destination, Antequera, about fifty miles away on the road to Granada.
We avoided the direct route and instead took a minor road across the dusty plain towards the town of Campillos which was a place that we never arrived at because a few miles short of the town we took a detour towards a national park and a series of reservoirs. We climbed steadily towards a viewing opportunity and then descended just as quickly to the shoreline of the curiously turquoise waters of the lakes.
There are three reservoirs here – Guadalhorce and Guadalteba and Gaitanejo and we drove a few miles around the perimeter of one of them, I cannot be sure which and then we came to a road junction with Antequera signposted in two alternative directions.
We (I) chose the right fork option and quite quickly left the main highway and came across a very minor unpaved road. This was the point at which sensible motorists with a rental car would surely turn back but rather foolishly we (I) carried on. I kept convincing myself that we (I) could turn around any time we (I) chose but instead we just keep going, higher and higher into the mountains and soaring now like eagles above the reservoirs below.
When you make this sort of decision there comes a point where turning back ceases to be an option for fear of forgetting the way back and after we (I) had reached that watershed there was no option but to just keep driving.
It was very remote up here, a boulder strewn landscape brutally assaulted by the wind and the frequent squally showers. This it seemed to me was Brigand territory and I drove on half expecting that at any moment a grizzled highwayman with a shotgun and a leather cartridge belt slung across each shoulder would step out into the road, raise his weapon and bid me stop, relieve me of my wallet and quite likely drive off with the car (luckily I had paid for full insurance by the way).
The fear of Brigands however swiftly evaporated when we stopped the car for a moment to enjoy the view and a faded sign that had been used for shotgun target practice at the side of the road warned that we were now in an area of special protection for wolves and that we should be alert to the danger. Be Alert! Be Alert! I should say so and we retreated to the car as quickly as possible, checked our underpants and made sure the doors and windows were firmly closed. Now, I am all for supporting wildlife and the reintroduction of endangered species but I am not sure about wolves and that isn’t just because I don’t like dogs, wolves tear people into shreds and eat them don’t they?
Eventually after about ten miles or so we came to a junction and joined another road that didn’t provide a great deal of improvement but at least it was paved and it had an official number which immediately calmed my shattered nerves.
Just a few miles out of Antequera we came across signs for a nature reserve, El Torcal de Antequera and as it was still quite early we made a detour to make a visit.
El Torcal, it turned out, is a unique limestone landscape where a series of fractures, cracks and faults have been sculptured by erosion to provide impressive columns of rocks not dissimilar to the sort of towers of stones that people build on beaches. The blocks of stone have been subjected to both dissolution by water and freeze-thaw splitting action which, working on the limestone’s horizontal beds, resulted in the various shapes scattering the landscape that we were able to see today.
People come here on coach trips that take several hours but it was cold and windy and we found that about half an hour or so was long enough to enjoy the unique natural environment of the park and shortly after we left we were approaching our destination of Antequera.
Generally, we like to pick out a new, non-tourist place to stay when we visit Spain so we had no real idea what to expect…
… We certainly didn’t expect it to be so difficult to navigate and it took several attempts to find our hotel located right in the centre of the busy city and then to find somewhere safe to leave the car while we checked in.
The hotel offered secure parking facilities in a garage nearby but this was rather tricky to find as well and when I eventually did so parking was so cramped and difficult that after I had manoeuvred into a very tight spot I was absolutely certain that I do not have the skills to get the car back out again and that I might have to spend the rest of my life in Antequera and at this point I wasn’t sure that this was such a good thing!
Have you ever been lost when driving in a foreign country?
Well, the road less travelled leads to interesting stories, anyhow.
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yes, always better than a motorway story!
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Oh, yes, I can remember driving around and around and etc., at a traffic circle in Coventry. We (I) was rather terse after a while.
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Oh dear, Coventry is not a good place!
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Looks like a good place for a walk, Andrew, after spraying on the wolf repellant.
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You would need to be armed Richard!
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I was laughing away at the scurrying back to the car and checking underpants.
As to the question about being lost, I prefer to think of it as exploring unplanned destinations. 🙂
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It certainly makes for fascinating reading Andrew – am glad you found your way down from “Brigand” country and didn’t encounter any hungry wolves!
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I always worry when driving on unpaved roads and am relieved to get back to tarmac!
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I quite agree! Remember a somewhat hair-raising drive through the island of Lesbos years ago (mid 80s) – we had hired a very dodgy car to say the least and the roads well …. So glad to make it back to our hotel safe and sound! Lesbos was a beautiful island – sadly in the news for all the wrong reasons recently.
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I have never been to Lesbos and don’t expect to be going any time soon!
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No I don’t think it will be quite the same – a pity as it was very attractive all those years ago!
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I am going to Greece this year in September, to the Cyclades – I am assured that it is unaffected by the migrant crisis.
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El Torcal is magnificent, like a stone city on its own. It was deadly hot when we visited.
How can You write that wolves eat people? They never do, they are sort of animals who would not risk encounters with people unless absolutely necessary. Too many myths now about wolves. We have them in Poland and I heard their hawl once in a forest. Majestic experience!
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Just exaggerating for effect! I am sure wolves are lovely cuddly creatures and would make great pets!
I liked El Torcal but it was cold, mean and moody and I wasn’t encouraged to stay too long!
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There is a wolves refuge nearby El Torcal led by some German and a couple of volunteers. Interesting place.
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I saw this place – Lobo Park, it has some high fences and a double gate entry system. There were a lot of coaches in the car park, we didn’t stop we were on our way to Antequerra.
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I’ve been doing some research recently about wolves. Suffice it to say that in North America, two people have been killed by wolves since 1900 out of a present population of 300 million + people. In each case, it was arguably their own fault as both had been told by experienced people not to do what they were doing as it was playing with fire.
In the USA, every year on average 413 deaths are caused by quad bikes, 33 deaths by lightning and an amazing 26 deaths by lift doors, the top killer in the city. In the UK and Republic of Ireland, in 2014,there were 6,581 suicides, with an astonishing rate of 26.5 per 100,000 for middle aged men. Back to Spain…..10 deaths linked to bungee jumping since it started in the 1980s. So wolves are not really that dangerous.
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Interesting facts John. That suicide figure is quite alarming.
When you were young did you use to play ‘What’s the Time Mister Wolf’? Nursery Rhymes are probably responsible for their bad reputation.
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I find that getting lost abroad often leads to fun and exciting adventures, meeting locals, seeing sights off the tourist trial, experiencing the country to the full. However getting lost at home here in the UK involves hours in the car trying to get out of darned one way systems!
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I am not so keen on getting lost in really remote places I have to say. UK (especially England) can be difficult to get really lost because there is always a town or a village relatively nearby.
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My wife has suffered from that ‘I am sure it’s up this way’ male homing device gene many times! And a fair few parking wobbles too!
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I usually prefer to book a hotel a little out of town and with car parking facilities but this time I went for town centre. Parking issues aside it gets a thumbs up from me!
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Nowadays, I don’t like the thought of being lost; in my younger years, I was game.
Love the natural limestone sculptures. 🙂
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Sometimes places like this can be disappointing – this one was not!
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Two thumbs UP! 😀
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You do do jump in the deep end don’t you!. Wolves!
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Everyone keeps telling me that they are not dangerous after-all. I don’t think you have wolves in Australia, just dingoes and they do take babies?
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Any animal with big teeth is dangerous if it is hungry enough. Don’t let your guard down.
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Sign for wolves – underpants check definitely necessary….Thinking about that parking spot is bringing me out in a cold sweat too – been in that situation abroad many a time, never me driving though or we really would never be able to leave!!
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Kim claims to be better at parking at me but she always declines the challenge to prove it!
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I don’t think humans are high on the menu for wolves. But I’m with Sue about exploring unplanned destinations rather than being lost! They discovered at Yellowstone that their reintroduction straightened up a whole mess of ecological problems. It was a rather surprising find, even for the scientists. Wish I could find the youTube that explained it. It was rather interesting.
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I was exaggerating of course!
They are reintroducing wolves into the Highlands of Scotland which is creating quite a lot of debate!
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Of course (the exaggerating)! Lots of debate (or shooting) out here, too!
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You are quite the bold adventurer. I haven’t yet to my memory driven a car in a foreign country. In fact, any excuse to not drive a car is okay by me – strange for an American, I know. I am impressed that you found your way out and very glad the wolves left you alone.
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I generally hire a car when in Europe. Driving in Spain is easy but I have said that I will never drive in Italy again, the drivers there are just crazy!
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Speaking of brigands, while driving the backroads of Spain during my 1970 European motorcycle odyssey I’d occasionally pass a lone La Guardia Civil member with an automatic weapon strapped across his chest. Now such armed militia are seen in major cities and international airports throughout the continent!
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Those guys were scary. I had an incident with them in 1986 – https://anotherbagmoretravel.wordpress.com/2012/02/14/road-trip-a-motoring-offence-in-spain/
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Lovely, I have to visit! 🙂
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I am certain that you would enjoy!
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