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A cave with prehistoric drawings!
Cueva del Gato Hotel-Bar-Restaurante
Shade of fig trees cool the moist landscape.
Entering the cave is prohibited as it lacks a safe walkway.
The icy tingle of the cave-cooled water
soon drives me back to my sandals in the grass!
Bees buzzing around a busted battery in the grass.
…but Botz kept his word to swim under the waterfall and back!
Exploration of the arced trees on the other side was out of the question…
Networking skills land us a new friend, Tina, the dog-in-residence.
Striking purple among so much beauty!
A quick peek inside the Gato dining room.
Bye bye, Tina, be good girl!
On the road again, exotic homes dot the hills.
The outskirts of a village larger than Cartajima,
and a bullring of a different size than Málaga.
Apparently, there is an amphitheater on the other side of the hill.
From the fence, the distant ruins rouse curiosity…
Back in the van and on the road, Botz has another surprise for us.
Rolling up on our destination, we shoot photos drive-by style hanging out the window
as we roar to our next stop,
One of Los Pueblos Blancos (The White Villages),
Setenil dates back to the middle ages and was built into a system of caves.
Los Pueblos Blancos are whitewashed mountain villages
established at high altitudes for defensive purposes.
El Callejón – Panadería (The Alley – Bakery)
As the walkways get tighter,
notice how close the building are to the natural rock formations
Botz leads us to a roadway running under an overhang.
Bars and shops are situated in the rocks.
We go into a bar for a drink and Botz points out
the water moisture bleeding from the living rock walls.
The living stone surrounds everything
causing the temperature to be much cooler than outside in the village.
Fascinated, we take the drinks out to the roadway patio cafe tables.
Under an overhang of vine covered rock,
we enjoy local made chilled sherry and tapas frias (cold snack)
consisting of rich olives and cloves of garlic- the best olives ever!
The garlic cloves are soaked in brine and eaten whole…wonderful!
Trekking on.
We see the Iglesia de Nuestra Señora de la Encarnación high above the entire village-
it’s built right on top of them!
The sun begins to sink low in the sky
and there is still so much more to see…
Botz has another surprise to show us before it gets too dark.
Calling it a day, we wind back through the now familiar dusty mountain roads to Cartajima.
On the terrace at El Refugio, a blanket of pink fluffy clouds overtake nearby Parauta village.
Soon, we are joined by Fernando and a family from Ireland who own a local farm.
Fernando invites us to visit the new local bar in town.
Mounted televisions are tuned to MTV
as the familiar sounds of Nirvana‘s “Smells Like Teen Spirit” and later
Fatboy Slim‘s “Rockafeller Skank” spill from the speakers.
Good music and conversation, pints and darts!
Now we’re talkin’ Refuge!
Only open for one week, we play darts and meet new friends:
among them, Paco and the hospitable owner of the bar!
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