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| NEWSLETTER July 2009 | |
| This edition: Morocco 2010, High Mountain at Siete Lagunas, Walking for Peace, Food Glorious Food! Autumn 2009 weeks -
and much more… |
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| Morocco 2010 - Castles, Canyons and Coast | |
 Napoleon's Hat Rocks at Tafraoute, Anti Atlas |
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| Next year we’ll be taking a look at the Anti Atlas around Tafraoute as well as strolling along the Atlantic coast south from the lovely port town, Essaouira. On offer are:- |
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“Castles & Canyons” Trek - Marrakech, High Atlas and Anti Atlas: this is a 10 day itinerary from Sat 20/2/10 to Mon 1/3/10 taking us from the fabled city of Marrakech, over the High Atlas to explore the spectacular scenery of the Anti Atlas range surrounding Tafraoute. It offers a vast range of contrasting experiences and activities. Also: |
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Atlantic Coast Trek - including 2 nights in Essaouira, and visit to Marrakech: this is a 7 day itinerary from Weds 3/3/10 to Tues 9/3/10 exploring the beautiful Atlantic coastline with its wild-life, plants and small fishermen’s settlements and the atmospheric fortified port and souks of Essaouira itself, a Unesco Heritage Centre. |
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For more on the Morocco treks |
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| Walking and Singing for Peace | |
 Songlines World Music Choir singing out |
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Bootlacer Janette Lee who has walked with us a couple of times over the last year is a member of Songlines, London’s largest World Music Choir. Songlines with Pontanima a Sarajevo based inter-faith choir are involved in a collaborative project - Bridge of Souls - to promote peace and intercultural dialogue. In September they plan a week in Bosnia to include workshops for adults and children as well as performances in three ethnically diverse towns, Sarajevo,Mostar and Trebinje. |
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| Over the course of the weekend of 15 and 16 August, from Saturday morning to Sunday evening the Songlines Choir are singing their way around the 75 miles of the Capital Ring - an amazing route through some of London’s loveliest places. The sponsored walk, culminating in a “wild and wonderful al fresco performance” aims to raise awareness and funds for the September trip. | |
| PERFORMANCE - at 8pm in Highgate on Sunday 16th ALL WELCOME. | |
| If you feel inspired you can join them on a walk through some of London’s finest green spaces - contact James Mills at jamestmills@yahoo.co.uk | |
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To find out more: - Songlines Walk the Capital Ring And:- Capital Ring Walk |
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| A trip to the Siete Lagunas - June in the Sierra Nevada by Shelley de Ste Croix |
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 Laguna Honda, Siete Lagunas, Sierra Nevada |
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Forget spas, retreats or meditation, the best way of de-stressing your body, mind and soul is to go walking in the high mountains! |
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| We walked up to the Poqueira refuge on Friday evening, and I could feel the stress and strain lifting away as we left behind the noise and bustle of the Alpujarra valley. It was with a huge sigh of relief that I had managed to organize a couple of days away from my busy life and work and that I was going to spend that time in the middle of stunning scenery with only fellow walkers and the local wildlife as company. | |
| The next morning, although the sky was cloudless, was rather chilly and I begun to wish I had brought my gloves and a thicker jacket with me! However, as soon as we started walking up and away from the refuge, we warmed up pretty quickly and there was no time to think about anything else other than what was in front of me! At this altitude, the season in late June is still the Alpine Spring with its spectacular bounty of wildflowers, insects and animals and soon the camera was out snapping away at all the unusual sights. Fiona pointed out lots of the natural features, plant and animal life and soon I had learnt a lot more interesting names and facts about the area. | |
| Having walked up to our highest point, over carpets of “Nevadensis” (star of the snows), we spied the first of the “seven lagoons” and decided to stop there on the way down for lunch. A tame young female Ibex shyly came up to ask for some food but was rather worried when I tried to offer her some! We settled down by a stream coming fresh out of the high peaks and bathed our tired feet in the icy water before greedily devouring the packed food we had brought with us, oh heaven! | |
| The descent was spectacular: we started off by a long double cascade of water with amazing views down the valley and ended up following the old farmer who was bringing his horses back from taking the shepherds up to high pastures. His sheep dogs soon gathered us up into the little group and, with their beady eyes on us all the way, we were carefully herded down with the rest of them! | |
| Back in the village of Trevélez, (the highest in Spain), we drank a welcome coca-cola whilst waiting for the local bus to take us back home. And then, before we knew it, we were back in town, the shops still open and people rushing around as if nothing had ever changed. That night, however, I had the best nights sleep for ages and dreamed of cool snowy peaks and high mountain lagoons…. | |
 The pale green Star of the Snows |
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| FOOD GLORIOUS FOOD | |
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The only thing I can possibly think of to eat when temperatures here oscillate between 27 and 36 degrees centigrade is GAZPACHO. So here’s my version of that perennial (here in Andalucia at least!) cooler. Take: |
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1kg FRESH TOMATOES or if unobtainable the equivalent tinned
200G TOMATE FRITO* (or 2tbsp. tomato puree) |
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I’ve left out the white bread which is traditional - you can add in 200g of yesterday’s baguette if you want a more authentic effect! The flavour of gazpacho is enhanced by using good extra virgin oil and sherry vinegar – but the ordinary, common or garden varieties will do the job too. Sometimes I vary things by using balsamic vinegar. Experimentation being the soul of cooking! |
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| Peel and roughly dice cucumber and onion. Wash and chop pepper and tomatoes. Peel , crush and mince garlic. Place all these ingredients plus the tomato frito, olive oil, basil and vinegar in liquidizer and blend thoroughly. Adjust to taste with salt, pepper, vinegar and oil, adjust thickness with water. Fast chill with abundant ice cubes or leave in fridge for a few hours. | |
| Traditionally this deliciously refreshing and vitamin-packed soup is served with a side dish of finely diced raw onion, capsicum peppers and cucumber and croutons to sprinkle on top. | |
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| Stumbled Upon… I got lost in the surf while searching for some fresh Sierra Nevada flower photos - but look what I found! | |
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The note which goes with this photo roughly translates as - |
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Go here to lighten the spirit, enjoy some beautiful photos and see where it takes you! There are fantastic images of the whole world out there - |
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| Autumn in the Sierra Nevada | |
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If you fancy catching some sun this Autumn - we’ve corralled some for you here in the Alpujarra with four carefully crafted walking weeks for you to choose from - |
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| Storytelling, Strolls & Siestas or Walking for Softies 26/9/09 - 3/10/09 (BL149) - for those who want to take it easy and a great introduction to Bootlace, this is a week at a gentle pace with storytelling and a visit to Granada. | |
| Autumn in the Heights 3-10/10/09 (BL150) - for keen hill walkers, a week of higher level walking based in a remote farmhouse in the Sierra Nevada National Park. | |
| Walking from Casa Rif, Cañar 17-24/10/09 and 24-31/10/09 (BL151/152) - for keen hill walkers who want to experience a touch of mountain village life | |
| More information on these weeks | |
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| This edition’s competition - Where is Paul standing? First correct answer and most amusing answer each receive €25 discount from their next Bootlace holiday (except Moroccan and Yoga/Detox events) | |
 Where is Paul? |
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| DOWN ON THE FARM | |
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Due to staff illness and union action over fulfillment of statutary holiday leave, in this edition there will be headline reports only about farm doings.
Beef toms - coming up nicely and about to be turned into pisto which will join the green beans in the freezer. Artichokes and volunteer pumpkins escaped from Orgiva but doing nicely in the mountains - also coming up nicely… Chicken house - the long stalled work on the new accommodation has got off to a good start thanks to sterling work from Mr S Primarolo in barrowing down the sand and cement and mixing up what is technically known in the trade as a nice sticky mix - oo-er missus! - Special thanks to Janys Rees and Eric Howell for helping us get ahead of the weeds this year! Latest agave photo - now at least 14 feet tall! |
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 Agave in flower |
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| And finally - | |
| My grandmother started walking five miles a day when she was 60. Now she’s 97 years old and we don’t know where the hell she is. | |
| To contact us about Walking in the Alpujarra, Sierra Nevada, Andalucia, Spain or Morocco - or to share some walking jokes, use the form below - thanks! |
