Andalucian pot pourri: Part 2: Only mad dogs.....

What to do? The temperature is hovering in the mid-30's Centigrade and there's barely a breeze. I know, I'll go for a walk up the nearest mountain. What do Noel Coward say about Mad Dogs and the noon day sun?

Above where we staying is the Sierra de Mijas and this is criss-crossed by a well developed network of footpaths of varying lengths and difficulties. I didn't have the time to explore the highest track and contented myself with a few miles of the green and blue routes. For anyone interested, my starting point was the Puerto Colorado.

Each route was ostensibly well marked but, as seems to be typical for many places, the signs going out seem to be better than the signs in the opposite direction. In foreign parts, I always take the precaution of discretely marking (with a 3 foot Union Jack) the way I've come from so there's no ambiguity on my way back.  

Just missed it. Something was lurking in the middle of these grasses and took off when it realised I was there. Not a rabbit, about the same size but darker and with a definite long tail. Thinking about it, it might even have been a cat.  I don't often wear shorts as I've got too much consideration for other people to expose them to my legs and this was a time when I wish I'd stuck to my customary long trousers. Just about every plant and bush out there is sharp and wants to hurt you. 

The mountains are mostly comprised of marble and limestone and are extremely dry and almost desert-like in parts as there is little shade or water. The terrain is tough, with lots of rocks and sand and is slippery underfoot. It's not a place to venture without proper walking boots and plenty of water.

The views were spectacular and almost 360º. There were views across to North Africa and the whole of Malaga’s coastline. Looking northwards there are the mountains of Sierra de las Nieves. The sights are well worth the effort of getting up there to see them. 

I like walking when it's hot as the heat really brings out the scents of the various plants. Here there are some pine trees which gave the air a resinous aroma which, when intermingled with the aroma of rosemary, was heady stuff. All that, with the continuous ratchet of cicadas, makes the effort worthwhile. I can recommend it.

This part of the walk was a bit of a slog up to the trees at the top. The terrain reminded me of the garrigues of Provence in France.

Lots of these wasps around but, as far as I could tell, they seemed to be solitary, with only one hovering around each burrow.

Not too many butterflies around and I spent a good ten minutes trying to get a half decent shot of this one. It's not a species that we see in the UK and my guidebook tells me that it's probably a Great Banded Grayling.

There were very few birds around and this was the only one I got a shot of. I think it's a Pied Flycatcher but am open to being corrected.