Caminito Del Rey

 The tunnel entrance.

 Look for the walkway.

 Kitted up and ready to go.

 The valley between the gorges.

 You can see the old walkway underneath the reconstructed one.

 This is the massive rock wall at the south exit. The river flows between the wall.

 The destroyed fortress in Ardales.

 Ex-Californian Pat and his house and lawn.

 The church tower.

Taken from the bus as we left, you can see Pat's Garden of Eden up top, the clump of trees on the left side of the hill immediately right of the fortress wall.

Friday, September 8^th.

I was up and out of the Elcano Hotel by 5:30 for my tour of Camilito Del Rey. I had to get to the centre of Malaga to the meeting place. I walked for about 20 minutes along the dark deserted streets before flagging down a taxi, which cost me 7 Euros for the 20 minute ride.

I was the first there and then in about 15 minutes other people showed up. Our coach and guide Daniel showed up at 6:30. We spent the next hour driving around the streets of Malaga, Torremolinos and Marbella picking up other people from their hotels, before driving north through the very hilly, arid and pretty countryside. We passed orchards of lemon and orange trees before arriving at the north entrance at 10:15.

Cominita Del Ray, which means King's Little Walk, because the Spanish king walked the route in the early 1900's to see for himself the wonders of the new dam. This is a place where the Guadalhorce River runs through two gorges divided by a valley. They built a hydroelectric dam here in 1902 and constructed a suspended walkway along the steep walls of the gorges so that hydro workers could access any area of the river if needs be. Eventually they built a new hydoelectric plant further down stream and this one became obsolete. For a period of time the walkway was abandoned except for adventure seekers and rock climbers, however, it became increasingly dangerous as rust and neglect caused it to fall into serious disrepair. There are videos on YouTube of people hiking it and showing how much it had fallen apart. Then in 2000 three hikers got to the end and ziplined from one side of the canyon to the other to exit the gorge. Unfortunately the rust eaten bolt on the far side gave way and they fell 100 metres to their deaths. The government closed the walkway for 15 years. Eventually they repaired and rebuilt the walkway at a cost of over three million Euros and it reopened for tourist traffic in 2015. Today it is one of the three most popular destinations in this area of Spain. The walkway is now completely safe and is an easy 7 kilometres walk from the north to the south exit.

We entered the trail through a 200 metre tunnel and then along a path to the entrance. Here is the one thing they have not completed yet, the washrooms. There were four toilets in a small building and there were lots of people lined up to use them, as there are no toilets along the route. Apparently there will be a new welcome centre with lots of washrooms opening next year. While I was waiting for the group I spotted a man carrying a large professional camera rig. I asked what he was doing. Turns out he is British and this is becoming a major tourist destination for Brits and he was there with a crew to shoot some footage for a travel company. We fell to talking about the industry and how it has changed since I worked in it and he told me he had been to Toronto to shoot a documentary on stripping newscasters back in the late 80's, ( I thought that was an Italian phenomena, not Canadian).

After we were all ready we were issued helmets and we were on our way. The suspended walkway is at times over a 100 metres above the river and provides many spectacular views of the canyon, the mountains and the river far below. I didn't find it scary but it would be if you had a fear of heights.

When we exited we all gathered again by the coach and drove the short distance to the small picturesque town of Ardales for lunch. I had brought a few snacks with me and used the hour to explore the village. It is built on a hill and the streets are narrow and steep. I saw that there was a big church at the top of the town and the ruins of a fortress, so I walked up. It was very hot and I took my time. When I got to the top, the church had a plaque outside explaining its five hundred year history and I could see the fortress was nothing but a couple of ruined walls. I heard a man speaking English and when I walked by he said 'hola' and I responded in English. Turns out he is a Californian who has lived abroad for decades. His name is Pat and he told me a little history of the village and the fortress that is attached to the house he is living in. He invited me in and showed me around the house which is really old and the walls of stone and mud are falling apart. The place has been abandoned for a while and needs a lot of repairs. He explained that he is fixing it up to live in and to bring his Japanese wife and daughter over. He showed me his little 'garden of Eden' where he grows pomegranates, oranges, lemons and figs, which were ripe, so we ate some and he told me to take some for the return trip. I would have gladly spent a few hours talking to him, but I had to get back to catch the bus. I walked back down and was indeed the last on board.

We drove back to Malaga and we were dropped off first. I went to the city bus stop and found there was one from there right back to my hotel, so for 1.30 Euros I arrived 'home'. I changed and headed for the beach. I spent the late afternoon and evening having a beer, a swim and dinner at the same restaurant as last night. This time I had calamari.