This is better than shredding paper!

In Spain, we'll be staying in an apartment at a converted cortijo near Antequera, a town about 40 km north of Malaga.

The closest natural attractions are El Torcal,
a limestone outcrop that's also a nature reserve
and El Chorro, a limestone gorge that's been cut by the Guadalhorce river.
Both of El Torcal and El Chorro have trails and footpaths to explore....



... so there's no excuse at all for staying unfit.



Of course, Faith is ecstatic about the botanising possibilities that will be right on our doorstep. By going at this time of year we're aiming to get plenty of spring flowers before they're burned off by the sun; last time we came to Spain, however, we had bitter winds and rain in May!

All the locals said that the previous weeks had been glorious, and the day that we left for home was pretty good, too. I'll pack the waterproofs, just in case!






With a month to play with, we also plan to cross over into Morocco, for a few days at least. This will be a chance to imagine what Andalucia might have been like under Arab rule. Chefchaouen, in the Rif mountains east of Tangiers, is one of the places that the Moors and Jews from Spain settled after they were expelled by Ferdinand and Isabella in 1492.