Dublin Walking Club Testimonial
Here is a piece the chairman of Dublin Walking club recently wrote for us. You can see more photos and group comments here .
Recently (April ’12) sixteen DWC
club-members spent a most enjoyable week in Andulacia, walking in the mountains
of the Sierra Nevada/Alpujarras ranges. Our trip was arranged through IBEX TREX (a small English-based company
run by Dan Shaffrey), which arranged accommodation, transport, baggage
transfers, packed lunches, day-trip to Granada, etc.
In the late 15th century,
this area was considered almost impenetrable when the Moors retreated there,
before their final expulsion from Spain. Our walks passed through many areas
still accessible only on foot and pack-mules were frequently seen in use. We
stayed in four traditional high-mountain villages i.e. Capleleira, Mecina,
Trevelez and Cadiar. These have retained a typical Moorish character. Houses
were flat-roofed and painted a brilliant white. Days were quite warm
(20°-25°C.) but, at 1,500-1,800 metres, nights were crisp and cool. All around
were steeply-terraced groves of olive, walnut, etc. There was much evidence of
sophisticated Moorish irrigation skills e.g. canals at high altitudes,
distributing snow-melt water. However, we also passed through vast areas of
arid scrub-land.
The hotels used were very comfortable
and served excellent food. Each was of a rustic but individually quite distinct
character. This particularly applied to the atmospheric Alqueria
de Morayma hotel complex (where we spent the final two nights.)
Dan Shaffrey (assisted by his also very-fit father,
Joe,) led all the walks. Along the way, he provided a flow of informed detail on fauna and flora, local
history, and culture. Our walks brought some spectacular vistas e.g.in the
Poquiera Gorge, the La Taha area and the Rio Trevelez valley.
The most difficult walk was on a glaciation cirque
between Mulhacen (the highest European peak outside the Alps and Pyrenees) and
the Alcazaba mountains. Challenges were posed by the altitude (approx. 3,000 m)
and the need to cross several snowfields.
In the course of a week of bright sunshine
(low-to-mid-twenties C.), the elusive ibex (near the village of Berchules) and
soaring booted-eagles were sighted. The almost –invisible Golden Oriole and
cuckoo were heard. The ‘Bat-tailed’
and many other species of butterflies (e.g. Painted
Lady, Moroccan Orange Tip, etc.) were all about in the lush river- valleys.
Numerous snakes and lizards crossed our paths, harmlessly, but we avoided the
larger Oscellated Lizard as (perhaps
needlessly) we feared its bite!
Our ‘day-off’ consisted of a day-trip to Granada
city, with an emphasis on the Alhambra. We had a memorable tour of the Palacios
Nazaries and learned a little more of those who had shaped the Alpujarras
landscapes many centuries before.
All-in-all, then, IBEXTREX provided a really
enjoyable week for us, ‘hands-on’ , with challenging walks through unforgettable
countryside.
MW/GA
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