I was up quite early and posting on the blog. Later, when everyone came down, we had our breakfast and then got ready to go out to visit Casares to try to get a view of the griffon vultures which circle high over the castle at the summit of the village.
We negotiated the narrow streets and found a parking space and commenced the climb up to the high point of the village. Here the views were breathtaking way out over the country side and out to sea and as far as Gibraltar to the west, which is over 40 km (about 30 miles) away.
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| This photo can not capture the immensity and grandeur of the view from the summit of Casares |
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| Gibraltar in the distance and Don Quixote's nightmare in the foreground. "Wow! Sancho there's not one windmill.....but dozens of them, where do I start?" |
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| Some of the rocky landscape of this area. |
At the summit of the village there is a cultural center located in an old church, dedicated to Blas Infante who was born in the village.
From Wikipedia:
"Blas Infante Pérez de Vargas (Casares, Spain; 5 July 1885 – Seville, Spain; 11 August 1936) was an Andalucista politician, Georgist, writer, historian and musicologist, known as the father of Andalusian nationalism (Padre de la Patria Andaluza).
Infante was among numerous political figures who were summarily executed by Franco's forces when they took over Seville at the beginning of the Spanish Civil War. As both a regional autonomist and a kind of libertarian socialist, he twice "merited" inclusion on their liquidation list."
The griffon vultures circled sometimes high overhead and sometimes lower down, even below us on the parapet. It was not easy to get good photos of the birds but we did get some.
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| Griffon Vultures over Casares |
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| The two griffon vulture pictures above were not taken by me but are from Google Images |
On the cliffs below small sand-martin-like birds flew close to the cliffs an sometime landed on what seemed to be almost vertical surfaces. It is possible to approach this area from below by some form of 'reverse abseiling' up the cliffs by means of a ' via ferrata'. It s only for the ascent and signs warn of the danger of trying to descend this way.
The view down on the village itself is a wonderful jumble of white-washed houses and red tiled roofs which are more charming in their disorder than they would be if they were in some orderly arrangement.
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| The wonderful 'jumble' of whitewashed houses in Casares |
After spending some time at the high point, we retraced our steps down to the main square of the town where we found a small cafe to have coffee and regroup.
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| Casares town square on a busy Saturday morning - a view from our table in the coffee shop. |
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| The narrow streets of Casares and some of their residents. |
Then we reclaimed the car and drove on along very winding roads which alternately ascended and descended the surrounding hills until we reached the small town of Gaucin. Here MAC maneuvered the car along the extremely narrow streets until we arrived at the highest point it is possible to drive to where we found a parking spot in just the right place.
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| Gaucin from the approach road |
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| Views of and from the El Castillo del Aguila |
From here it was possible, via a rocky path and some steps to climb up to the castle, El Castillo del Águila ( the Castle of the Eagles), at the summit of the hill. Although the castle was closed at the time we arrived we did climb right up to the gates from which the views were wonderful.
From Wikipedia
It is the first town in the Serranía de Ronda that is on the road that connects the Campo de Gibraltar with the city of Ronda . It is one of the white villages that fit on the slopes of the mountains that host the Genal River .
Gaucín presents a varied landscape of cork oaks, holm oaks and pine groves, as well as shrub formations mixed with chestnuts and wild olives , as well as its orchards and rural houses next to the varied vegetation of its banks.
The town is located in the valley of the Sierra del Hacho, under the castle of the Eagle , which had great strategic value since Gibraltar was the defense of the entrance to the south. Built by the Romans , it was the Arabs who left the most traces in the enclosure.
Its streets, of Moorish design, adapt to the hill, where they settle their white houses adorned with bars and balconies, work of artisans of the forge. As for its monuments, the Church of San Sebastián ( 16th century ), the Carmelite convent, the Fountain of the Six Caños, and a series of manor houses (XVII-XVIII centuries), with carved doors and carved nobility shields stand out in stone.
The gastronomy is similar to that of other municipalities in the Ronda region. Typical products are pork products, artisanal sweets such as alfajores , white donuts, almond rosquillos and 'nun's sighs'."
After descending from the castle, we drove back down the winding narrow streets until we came to a small restaurant called Venta El Socorro where a table outside was available and we decided to have lunch there. The place has been around since 1950 so it should know what it is doing. We had a great lunch of lamb chops and chicken washed down with either beer of soda. The whole thing cost € 54.
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| The generous portions of chicken and lamb at Venta el Socorro |
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| Despite being situated on the main road out of Gaucin and not in the more peaceful town square, this was a great find and had lots of local atmosphere. |
We drove home, stopping on the way in various places to catch the last of the setting sun including the marina at Manilva.
Then we arrived home to spend a leisurely evening.
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