More Explorations

We have done some more explorations in Sierra Espuña.  See Exploring Sierra Espuña page for photos.

More Walks

Since I last wrote we have been exploring using the new map of Sierra Espuña.  There are many paths on the map that we were not aware of and so we have been going out on foot and trying to find them.  Some of them are good and now make some better circular routes but some of them are non-existent.  I have put some photos on the People and Activities page.

We have also been out on our mountain bikes and tried out some new areas.   We rode from Casas Nuevas, on the north side of the park, and had a good track ride on a good sunny day.  Unfortunately, I don´t like to carry the camera when riding the bike and so no photos of that ride.

Exploring the GR

There is a GR (Grande Recorrido - Long distance route) that comes through Totana.  Although we have walked much of the route when it goes through Sierra Espuña, we have never explored the route coming out of Totana.  We decided to have a morning exploring the route.  The photos are below:

A bit of a bonus whilst walking along the trasvase (canal)

Walking up the first barranco (dry river)

View on route with Aledo in the background

Approaching La Santa (statue of Jesus in the background)

Descending another barranco back towards Totana

Our latest walks

Our latest walks have been over the last few days and in very different weather conditions.

On Friday, 30 November we were walking with blue skies.  We set off from the Interpretation Centre in Sierra Espuña for a short walk before having lunch in the Espuña Bar in El Berro.

Looking across to Morron Chico at the beginning of the walk

Looking across at Casas de Campix

A few days later we went walking with two Spanish friends and an English friend.

We met at Collado Bermejo in very bright sunny, but windy conditions BUT as the walk progressed it got cloudier and windier and the walk became more of a challenge.  See photos below.

View from the parking area (note the blue skies)

View from the mountains back to the coast (not normally such clear skies to see this far)

Looking around the refugio on the route



Heading back towards Morron Espuña



Brreaking the ice on one of the watering points for the Arrui

   

Walking with visitors to the camperstop

We have had a steady flow of visitors to the camperstop.  One couple Ken and Steph, were keen on walking so we took them out on a few of our local walks.  See People and Activities.

Lucia (up a tree)

Our neighbours know that we go climbing.  One day as we were sorting out our climbing gear the neighbours visited us.  Lucia (the daughter of the family) was interested in our harnesses and so we kitted her out and put her up a tree.

She really enjoyed the experience and so we are going to take her to a nearby climbing wall to see how she gets on with that.

Walk from La Azohia

Beginning and end of walk

A group of us (Spanish and Brits) met up to walk from La Azohia, near Mazarron.  The walk turned out to be a bit of an epic for some of us.  We underestimated the time it would take for a group walk and almost missed out on lunch.

View from near the beginning of the walk

Coastal view (trying to be a bit artistic)

Towards the end of the walk

 

Back in Totana

We  came back to Totana at the end of September for a few days and then went to Portugal for an orienteering competition.  We came back again in October.  We were very lucky to miss the floods that caused  a lot of damage in the region of Murcia.  Since we came back from Portugal we have had very mixed weather but have managed to go out walking, biking, running and even one day climbing so far.  

The camperstop has had a steady stream of visitors and we have met some very nice people.  We are always interested to hear of their travels.

I hope to continue with this Blog now we are back and settled in again for a few months.

Tomorrow we are going walking from La Azohia on the coast.  I will try to take some good photos.

Rabbits O - Magpies 2

So far the rabbit trap has caught 2 magpies but no rabbits have been encouraged into the trap as yet.

Two days ago, early in the morning, we heard the magpies and looked out of the window to see a fox in the garden.  How it got in we don´t know as Angel has repaired all the fences around his garden, our garden and the camperstop area.  It couldn´t find its way back out though and tried digging under the fence.  Eventually it headed towards Angel and Paula´s garden where the chicken hut is.  We went out to follow it and it then managed to jump over the fence into the rambla.  Yesterday I saw it in the rambla.  We are hoping it doesn´t try to come back for the chickens as Paula and Angel also have a new kitten.  They lost two cats last year, one killed by two dogs in their garden and the other we found dead in the rambla.


Latest news.  Two rabbits caught in the trap.  Angel was going to take them some distance away and let them free but Paula´s father came for them and (unfortunately for them) they went into the pot!

Rabbits

A few days ago our neighbour said that if we heard shooting early the next morning not to worry, it was only him shooting at the rabbits eating his lettuces.  Paula said to us that he wouldn´t be able to kill the rabbits, or anything else for that matter.

Today Angel arrived with a galvanised rabbit trap!  He hopes that he will be able to entice the rabbits into the trap and take them to Paula´s father for dispatch!

Watch this space!!!

Aerial display

At coffee time today we heard the Kestrel´s calling.  Both were flying around above us and we then saw a Booted Eagle.  The little Kestrel´s flew at the eagle and chased it away.  We are almost sure that the Kestrel´s have young in their nest, as they have been successful in rearing young for at least the last three years.  Sometime in the very near future we should see the young venturing out.

Biking in the area

Over the last few days we have been riding our bikes in different parts of our surrounding area.  Yesterday we took the bikes in the van to La Parroquia, a small village inland from Lorca and near the Almeria border.  We had a very good, but hard ride because of the hot temperatures.  Our route took us across a river and then up into the mountains.  On the route we saw a pair of Little Owls, a tortoise, two young Ibex (we think that´s what they were) and many Griffon Vultures.  Our return route was down a wide, white track from an Albergue in the mountains.  The track passed a quarry and when we finished our ride our legs looked as though we had been walking in flour.  We dusted ourselves off and then, for a treat, had a menu del dia in a local bar for 8 Euros each.

Golden Eagles

Well, we didn´t go to look at the eagles in the evening as Paula asked me to help her with her new sewing machine as the instruction book was only in English and Russian?  From there I helped her make some curtains and so didn´t have time to walk up into the mountains.

Two days later we went to see the eagles.   Although too far away to see clearly and too far for the camera zoom, we could make out that there were two young eagles in the nest.  One of the adults was flying around and perching in nearby trees.  We watched for about an hour and then went for a walk back to the car.

¨Golden Eagles

Yesterday we went out on the mountain bikes.  We stopped opposite some cliffs in Sierra Espuña known locally as the eagle cliffs.  We knew that the eagles were around in the area and within 10 minutes we saw an adult eagle circling in the sky and then heading into a cave in the cliffs.  Even from our viewpoint across the other side of a very deep valley we could hear the calls of young eagles as the adult bird entered the nest, but being so far away we couldn´t see anything.  Tonight we are going to walk up to the viewpoint with binoculars, camera and tripod and see if we can zoom into the cave and get a photo of the chicks and/or adult birds.

Watch this space.

Camino de Santiago and beyond

Well we are back.  We rode the Camino Frances in 12 days in some of the most awful weather we have every cycled in (see page Camino de Santiago).

From almost freezing on the Camino, this weekend we orienteered in the Albacete region in totally opposite conditions.  At the start line (in the forest) a thermometer read 34 degrees.  Many people (Spanish) struggled on their courses because of the heat.  Their bodies can normally cope with heat but because of the sudden change to summer temperatures they have not had time to acclimatise.  Hope the temperatures drop a little soon.

Because the weather was so hot during the race, in the evening when it was cool we were able to have an outside get-together.  One of our club-mates plays a guitar and sings and so does one of our friends from Barcelona.  We introduced them and they got out their guitars and we sat listening to them playing and singing until 11.15 p.m. - magical.

Camino de Santiago

Only a few days now before we leave to go orienteering near Burgos/Soria and then next Monday start our cycle ride on the Camino de Santiago.  After such a dry winter the rain has arrived and ha/s fallen as snow on some of the higher parts of the route.  Let´s hope that next week things improve,  the rain/snow stops and the strong winds we have been having recently abate.  Whatever the weather we are going to do the ride.

Everything is quiet

After the noise of a few weeks ago with the Cuckoos, Little Owls, Kestrels and Magpies, everything has gone quiet.  I suppose they are all now paired up and incubating their eggs.  It will be interesting to see how successful the Spotted Cuckoos were when the chicks fledge.

Sardinian Warbler

We have a male Sardinian Warbler living on our window ledge.  He hops off and on the ledge into the almond tree outside the window and flies off for a while before returning and pecking on the window.  Don´t know what it wants and why it has chosen to do this.  Will watch to see what happens.

Two weeks away and return to Totana

We have just had a couple of weeks away in the motorhome.  We had an orienteering competition near Cordoba and then two weeks later the Spanish Championships near Plasencia.  Between the two events we spent our time bike riding in Extremadura, riding on the Via Pecuarias.  These are the old drove roads and, on the ones that we rode, are very easy to follow.  We also spent some time at Los Barruecos and Monfrague to see some of the birds that are around at the moment.  My hit-list includes Rollers, Spanish Imperial Eagle and Black Shouldered Kite.  Needless to say we didn´t see any of the above, but saw many Kites, Black Storks and Marsh Harriers as well as hundreds of Griffon Vultures and White Storks.

We are now back in Totana and it seems that our Little Owls are nesting again at the bottom of the garden.

We have to keep up the biking, the trip to ride the Camino de Santiago is getting nearer.  We only have about 8 days for bike riding before we set off North, first to an orienteering competition in Burgos/Soria and then to Roncesvalles where we are going to begin the ride.

Cuckoos

This morning we heard, and saw, the first "ordinary" cuckoo.



Great Spotted Cuckoo in the canes at the bottom of the garden

At the moment 3.15 p.m. we are watching the battle of the magpies and the great spotted cuckoos.  The magpies have a nest in a pine behind our house and two cuckoos and two magpies are flying round and round.  Not sure who is chasing whom.  We don´t know whether the cuckoos chase away the maggies from their nest when the female cuckoo is ready to lay or whether the maggies just chase away the cuckoos whenever they see them.  We are no experts, but it is very entertaining (and very noisy).  We have been walking with some British friends and a Spanish friend and whilst having lunch together at our house we were entertained by the above.  Angela, the Spanish friend, has never seen the Great Spotted Cuckoo before.  Needless to say, neither have the British friends.

Camperstop

Unfortunately, to everyone´s disappointment here, the camperstop has been closed temporarily due to unforeseen circumstances.  As soon as any further information is available it will be posted on here and on all other blogs and sites. 

We hope that it will reopen as we have met some very nice, interesting people over the last year.

Trial Run

Well, we are back from our trial run for training for the Camino de Santiago.  We rode through Sierra Espuña and climbed over 1,000 metres over the Collado Bermejo into a fairly strong headwind.  It took us 3 hours 20 minutes approximately to get to the camping at El Berro.  After a shower and a beer in the bar, we went into the restaurant Espuña for menu del dia with Mick.  We had a very good meal, salad and bread, crema de verduras or chicken soup, and plata combinado.  Pork, egg, chips, black pudding and red peppers.  We then had a pudding.  Together with wine it cost 9 euros each.

Later that evening we went into Mick´s caravan to watch football!!

This morning we had a celebratory breakfast in the campsite bar.  We bought croissants and other breakfast pastries, to eat after our toast and tomato. It only took us one and a half hours to ride back the easy, more level way.

If this is a sign of things to come on the Camino, we are going to enjoy ourselves.

Back in Totana

We have been away for a few weeks to Portugal and the Cadiz area of Spain for orienteering competitions, and then we were involved with the organisation of our region´s annual orienteering event the ´Costa Calida´.  In the meantime it seems that Spring has now sprung.  The Little Owls and Kestrels are pairing again and the Great Spotted Cuckoos are very, very active now, chasing the magpies away from their nests to lay their eggs.  It will be interesting around June to see how successful they were.

Tomorrow we are riding our bikes up to El Berro to have a meal with a friend before he leaves the campsite there to travel back towards Britain for the summer.  We are going to stay overnight at the campsite in one of their cabins and cycle back on Wednesday.  This is going to be the start of our training to ride the Camino de Santiago in April/May this year.  This is a 800km route from Roncesvalles to Santiago de Compostela.  We hope to be able to complete the route in 12-14 days.

Great Spotted Cuckoo

This morning at 10.30 I heard the calling of a Great Spotted Cuckoo.  I thought I had mis-heard at first because I didn´t think they would be about so soon in the year, but a few minutes after hearing the call I saw a cuckoo being chased away by a magpie.  All the local magpies are now on full alert, and will have to be vigilant for a while to come if they want to avoid being foster parents to cuckoos.  Let´s hope the cuckoos are successful!

Back to winter

Last week I said that it seemed as though spring was here.  Last Thursday (Saints Day in Alhama - Candelaria) it rained.  It rained and it was cold, and since then it has been very windy, which has made it feel very cold.  On the plus side, winter won´t last very long and already today it seems so much warmer.  The sun has the same strength and if you can get out of the wind it is very pleasant.  Hope winter has finished now!

Spring is here???

In the last week the birds have been very active.  The Little Owls are calling morning, noon and night and the Kestrels are also calling and flying around more than usual.  I think that because of all the good warm weather we are having they think that spring has arrived.  Yesterday, within half an hour, we had a chorus of Woodpecker, Little Owls, Kestrels, Hoopoes and, unfortunately, Magpies.  Will be keeping an eye open for the arrival of the Spotted Cuckoos, but don´t really expect to see them for some time yet.

Schools´ Orienteering 21st January

On Saturday 21st January Club Totana O will be putting on the first race of the annual event for Murcian schools.  This first event will be held at La Santa, an ideal venue for children.  The second event will be at Fuentes Del Marques (28th January), Caravaca and the final will be held on 18th February at Santomera.