A magical place

#23 Sierra Alhamilla

The Sierra Alhamilla was our destination today, a nearby nature reserve in the mountains behind Aguadulce. The 45-minute journey took us 30 minutes along the familiar A-7 route, but the last 15 kilometers were challenging! Winding roads with steep slopes led us into the mountains.

The houses along the road became fewer, and the curves became more frequent. Driving a motorhome, even a small one, was sometimes not easy. But then we finally saw the Balneario de Sierra Alhamilla, a large hotel that took up almost as much space as the rest of the village. We parked our vehicle in a large open area where two motorhomes were already parked - it seemed like they had been there for a while.

While I locked everything up, Icke had already made her way to the hotel with the dogs. She struck up a conversation with an older woman, who happened to be the owner of the only restaurant in the area. The woman was washing her laundry in a spring and told us about the healing water that flowed from a rock wall. I went over and put my hand in the water - and quickly pulled it back - the water was hot! The woman laughed when she saw how startled I was. This water is 58 degrees Celsius. The area is of volcanic origin, according to Wikipedia, and that's why I know it. Somewhere underground, a few chunks of lava must still be smoldering - that's the only explanation for me. emphasis on "for me".

During our conversation, a middle-aged woman and her mother approached us. She saw Berry, Berry saw her, and they practically embraced each other. She kissed Berry, he smudged her black mascara all over her makeup - it didn't matter. I wanted to call Berry back, but the woman waved me off. She had been holding Berry's injured foot from the beginning. We explained to her in Spanish and English - mostly with hand gestures - Berry's traumatic medical history over the past few months. Her eyes welled up with tears. Then she touched Berry's foot, kissed it repeatedly, and whispered a few words. He remained completely still, which he never does. After about a minute, the woman stood up. She said she has 36 dogs at home and has never needed a veterinarian. She said she has certain abilities and indicated that she had taken on Berry's burden. She said it would take two years for him to fully recover. Before saying goodbye, she asked us to promise not to let a veterinarian decide Berry's fate.

Then Icke's new friend, the restaurant owner, spoke up: She asked if anyone here was interested in having some tapas, at least that's how Icke translated it for me, and so we went with her to the nearby restaurant. We were the first guests. We paid 6 euros for a non-alcoholic beer, a tinto de verano (red wine with lemonade), a cortado (espresso with milk), and two tapas - I'm not exactly sure what they were, but they tasted excellent. No wonder that two hours later, the restaurant was fully booked. A real insider tip!

During the two hours that the small restaurant filled up, we went for a hike in the mountains, of course with Berry's dog cart just in case. Our route can be divided into two parts: the first part was downhill, and the second part was uphill. Icke pushed the cart downhill, and Berry happily sniffed around with Pipo and Emmi in the vegetation along the roadside. Eventually, Icke said it was enough because she wasn't sure if she had the strength to climb uphill. And, she added, it would only be fair if we switched now, meaning I would push the cart, and she would take over Emmi and Pipo. Oh, and it would be good if I put Berry in the cart because it would be too strenuous for him to go uphill. She said it, put a nice flat stone weighing about 5 kilograms from the side of the road into the cart - and off we went. She held onto the handle and let Emmi and Pipo pull her up the hill. And I sweated behind her.

To be fair, she offered me to switch about halfway through the route. She probably sensed that my heart was about to give up. And when she thought about having to drive the winding roads back home alone in the motorhome, my Icke probably had second thoughts. Anyway, in the end, we hitched Emmi and Pipo to the cart with the leashes. Icke held onto the handle and let them pull her up to the plateau. I managed to make it on my own, crawling on all fours.

Despite all the effort, we agreed on the way back home that this place has something magical about it. The location, the view, the palm trees, the small Marian chapel, the mountains, the great restaurant, and the people we met here, all of it somehow deeply touched us. We decided to come back here again in the next few days.