Moe is still under the weather with a cold so cycling for the two of us was off the menu for today. We decided to head inland from Vejez – Malaga. It was a warm sunny day but a heavy haze was present in the mountains.
Our first stop was lake Viñuela.
Lake Viñuela is set in the stunning landscape of the Axarquia in Malaga province and we arrived from Torrox in less than an hour. It isn’t actually a lake but a man-made reservoir which was formed by a dam being built across the Guaro river, one of the two tributories of the Vélez River that run through the area.
The other tributary is aptly named RíoSeco (Dry River), because there are so many months here without rainfall. At full capacity the reservoir can hold up to 170 million cubic metres of water and the surrounding lush pastures allow for thriving agriculture based on its olive groves, its vineyards and its cereal crops.
Prior to the creation of the reservoir, extensive archaeological excavations were carried out, producing evidence of Neolithic and Roman settlements, demonstrating the longevity of this area’s historic legacy.
Whilst the reservoir can hold up to 170 million cubic metres of water, it is looking remarkably empty. It is our first visit here so have no prior years with which we can compare. There was an area close to the lake where a number of campervans were wild-camping; a truly stunning location.
We then drove further up the mountains to the town of Zafarraya. Or at least a rocky outpost some 3km from Zafarraya.
Here is situated the cave of Bouquete de Zafarraya.
The cave is located at an altitude of some 1,100 metres in the foothills of the Sierra Tejeda. The cave opening is in the centre of the above image, about a third down from the top. We felt the track up to the cave was a little beyond our capabilities!
In the summer of 1988, during a series of archaeological excavations carried out in the south of the Iberian Peninsula, a Neanderthal jawbone was unearthed in Boquete de Zafarraya cave (Alcaucîn, Málaga) which, due to its exceptional state of preservation, is considered one of the finest pieces ever discovered in Western Europe.
The jawbone, along with a femur and other remains, belonged to a male approximately 40 years old and 1.61 m. tall whom archaeologists christened Zafarraya man.
We also discovered that the track running below the cave is a disused railway line – or via verde – running from Zafarraya to Periana. If only we’d had the bikes with us…
The Mirador provided the perfect place to eat our packed lunch.
Having missed out on the opportunity to cycle the via verde, we set off for the village of Alcaucin. The route was single track with a very steep descent and subsequent ascent into Alcaucin.
Alcaucin borders with the province of Granada. The municipality is situated approximately 54 kilometers north of the city of Málaga. The name was derived from al-kautín, the Arabic of “the arches.”
The village of Alcaucín extends its lands to the north of the Axarquía, between the mountains of the Sierra de Alhama and Sierra de Tejeda within the corridor of Periana. It includes the “Boquete de Zafarraya” an important mountain pass in the mountainous region of Axarquía. It adjoins the Sierras of Tejeda, Almijara and Alhama Natural Park to the east.
Some photos from our walk around this rather pretty village.
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On Tuesday, we had a fairly lazy start to the day and visited the local Mercadona to restock our fridge.
Later on in the afternoon Joe took off on his bike to the old town of Torrox. The journey there was all fairly “off-road” although the first section was very much “on-road” – just that it was a road to nowhere!
It looks as though the town of “Puerto Narixa” was planned for this sub-division of Torrox but little exists other than the access road which meanders up to and then under the A7 and finally onwards (via gravel track) to Torrox pueblo. In fact it looks as though it’s been as good as abandoned.
