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| NEWSLETTER May 2009 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| This edition: Big birds in the Alpujarra, Interview with local herbalist, Morocco 2009 - from sand to strand, Walking for Softies - story telling, strolls & siestas, Down on the Farm - agaves and acequias, naughty strawberry cake High Mountain week offer and much more… |
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| April walks - Big Birds! | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
 Booted eagle Poqueira gorge Sierra Nevada |
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With the snowiest peaks for well over twenty years to set off the burgeoning green this spring is proving one of the best for spotting raptors. Perhaps with all the greenery and insect life the guys higher up the chain are benefiting. The Booted Eagle (Spanish - águila calzada, Latin - Aquila pennata) above was captured soaring above the Poqueira gorge by Gwyneth Moss on a walk early this month. With a wingspan of 120 cm (almost 4ft) the Booted eagle is about the size of a buzzard, but more like an eagle in shape. It’s one of our migratory birds, wintering in sub-saharan Africa and coming here to the Sierra Nevada to lay its 1-2 eggs. Intrigued by unusual bird calls we glanced up to see a pair of short toed eagles (Spanish - águila culebrera europea , Latin - Circaetus gallicus) who were cruising very low above us on another walk higher up the gorge. With a 185-195 cm wingspan and almost entirely white underparts this couple were an impressive sight. The Short-toed Eagle is an accomplished flyer and spends more time on the wing than do most members of its genus. It favours soaring over hill slopes and hilltops on updraughts, and it does much of its hunting from this position at heights of up to 500 meters. When quartering open country it frequently hovers like a Kestrel - quite a mean feat for a bird this size. Another name for the beastie is Snake Eagle - no prizes for guessing that like the booted eagle it hunts reptiles as well as small mammals and birds - but snakes are its favourite food. |
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| Interview with Herbalist Claude Peyrou (Uni) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Yes, as a few folk have guessed - the mystery picture from the last newsletter was Paul shopping at Uni’s stall at the Orgiva market. The prize goes to Belinda Faulkes who even guessed what he was buying! Incredible, Belinda - claim your prize! Here’s a short interview with Uni who is one of the local herbal experts on our regular Herbalism and Walking week. Where did you grow up? In France - I’m from Paris, originally, a city girl from the generation of that mini-revolution in ’68. We thought we could change everything but it the end nothing was different |
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For more information on the week: HERBALISM 2009 |
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| FOOD GLORIOUS FOOD | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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A total contrast to our healthy no wheat, no dairy, no sugar recipes - here’s a deeply naughty, but very nice way to treat strawberries, which are in season here in Spain.
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Strawberry Refrigerator Cake Line a 25cm (10”) square baking tin with greaseproof paper. Crush the digestive biscuits (in a plastic bag using a rolling pin is one good way of doing this) then spread half in base of tin. Cream butter and sugar together until soft and fluffy, then beat in egg yolk and lemon rind. Whisk egg whites until stiff peaks are formed and fold into butter mixture. Spread this over the crumbs. Wash strawberries reserving a few for decoration, and slice the rest over the top of the creamed mixture. Whip cream and spread over top of strawberries, then cover with the remaining crumbs. Refrigerate over night. Unmould just before serving and decorate with the reserved strawberries. Share with those you love… | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| MOROCCO 2009 From sand to strand |
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 Camel waiting for loading - Morocco Desert Trek 2009 |
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In February, as promised in the last newsletter, we met camels. We walked alongside, depended on and lived with these amazing beasties. Now, my Mum, who has had an extraordinary traveled life for a girl from South Wales has always told me to treat camels with circumspection and distain (rather in the same way that they seem to treat us bipeds). I have to say that I have been won over by the camels of the Moroccan Sahara. I respect them. I am impressed by them - I even like some of them. I am also rather disgusted and dismayed (but still impressed) by the noises the male camel is able to make. During the reproductive season, male dromedaries extrude their soft palate, which hangs out of the side of their mouth like a red balloon. Copious saliva turns to foam and covers the mouth as the male gurgles with a background of drumming generated somewhere deep inside. It’s true - I’ve seen it, we saw it, we heard it! By the end of the trek we all seemed to be able to turn out pretty good impressions, too. |
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 Ascending Jebl Bani Desert Trek 2009  Agriculture, Jebl Bani, Desert Trek 2009 |
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But enough of my new friends. The desert trek was full of extreme contrasts as deserts tend to be, it seems; scorching sun to fresh cold shade; barren desert scattered with weird pockmarked rocks, spiny acacias and occasional nomad graveyards to lush green agriculture with paddies of chick peas and alfalfa surrounded by palm trees; plains that stretched out all day with hills that never seemed to get any closer until suddenly, up an escarpment and we were in amongst them; harsh desert winds full of flying sand to still blue evenings which became nights of extreme clarity with starry skies all the way down to the horizon (and I had thought I knew all about starry skies living in Andalucia); encampments in the dunes where we dined on tajines turned out on single gas rings accompanied by home made flat bread to sumptuous kasbahs with aircon, tapas with gin and tonics followed by French cuisine.
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 Lunchtime salad - Desert trek 2009
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Following this, the Atlantic coast trek from the beautiful traditional port of Essaouira, was a gentle seaside ramble. We were lulled by the waves and the sound of gulls. We paced along flat compact sand, dodging the incursions of the seventh wave… and sometimes not succeeding. We scrambled over low headlands, picking bunches of wild rocket and snapping wild flowers and baby camels grazing loose with their mums and aunties. We discovered a marooned octopus in a rock pool hiding from the ever-present marauding seagulls. We found a dune higher than the ones in the desert…
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 Highest dune - Atlantic Coast Trek 2009
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Even the guides were younger, plumper and full of exuberant energy, not dignified wind-tanned desert chameliers. Each night there were cooking fires for the tajines - with all that Atlantic drift wood there was no lack of fuel here. The sound of waves was never far away - we even camped next to a waterfall - and Morocco, like Europe this year, has had plenty of rain to green up the spring growth - “twice as much as usual” Abdou told us …all that water!
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 Sorrel - Atlantic Coast Trek 2009
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Check out photos from the Desert Trek Photos from Michael Burke
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and the Atlantic coast trek Photos from Suleiman ______________________________________________________
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HEALTH is WEALTH | Citricidal and EFT
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A word to those who plan to travel in warmer climes where the water is a rare commodity and hygiene may not be all one might wish - CITRICIDAL!!! This alternative medicine, as you’ll see if you follow the link below is “a natural anti-viral, anti-bacterial, anti-parasitic & anti-fungal solution derived from grapefruit seeds & is used for a whole range of applications for ultimate microbial protection” - we recommend it!
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 Lilies from Gwyneth Moss
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We’ve been introduced to a fascinating area of healing by a couple of people who’ve walked with us in the last year. EFT or Emotional Freedom Techniques is a simple and powerful therapeutic tool that uses words to tune into an emotional disturbance which is then balanced and cleared using acupressure tapping. It is often called “tapping” or “the tapping therapy”. Based on common sense and new scientific discoveries about how the brain and body works and how memory is stored and processed, the practice combines Emotional Freedom Techniques with other effective approaches from complementary psychology such as Cognitive Behavioural Therapies, Neuro Linguistic Programming and Human Givens Psychology and is effective in helping with anxiety and lost confidence, stress related symptoms, limiting beliefs and self sabotage, compulsions and addictive habits. If you’d like to know more - Emotional Health ______________________________________________________
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This Autumn we launch a new Bootlace event - Walking for Softies - or | STORYTELLING STROLLS AND SIESTAS
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Based at the atmospheric Casa de Luz, the original bodega (winery) in the small market town of Pitres, this is a week at a gentler pace, designed for folk who enjoy being out and about in the Alpujarra without the challenge of too many steep mountainsides to negotiate on foot…As well as picnic excursions with short walks, and a visit to Granada, the programme for the week includes contributions from Bootlace’s resident storyteller (and softie) Geoff Mead who will join us to share his love of stories and storytelling:
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“Walking in the wild mountainous landscapes of the Alpujarra and wandering through the narrow backstreets and alleyways of Granada bring us right into the heart of “story country” – the very places in which local folktales grew up and in which archetypal myths and legends might just have happened. This week, I will be telling us some Andalucian (and other) stories including this one from Tales of the Alhambra.
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Legend has it that somewhere in Granada there is an ancient scroll containing the secret of a great treasure buried in the Alhambra, deep beneath the Tower of the Seven Floors. The chests of gold and precious stones are guarded by the statues of two Moorish warriors and can only be found by the light of a special perfumed candle but woe betide any stranger in the vaults should the candle burn down or blow out for then the walls will close in and the fearsome statues come to life. Many have wished to find the treasure: few have tried and fewer still have lived to tell the tale. Hear the story of Pedro Gil the poor water-carrier who through an act of kindness came into possession of both scroll and candle and who decided to try his luck…” Taking it easy with Bootlace, or a great introduction to walking in the Alpujarra! More on this week and Autumn walking ______________________________________________________
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DOWN ON THE FARM |
|  Five men watch, one man works (6 hours in)
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Cleaning the Cachariche - our acequia, (see glossary below), blessed by the lovely name Cachariche, runs from the Poqueira river below Bubion along more than 4km of steep mountainside before it rounds the corner into our valley. Every year it has to be cleaned after the winter’s rigours. On what seemed to be the hottest day yet of this April, one romanian, one czeck, one swiss, one argentinian, one englishman (that would be Paul), one madrileño, one alpujarreño and one welsh woman (me!) set out to continue the work started earlier in the week. First a strimmer (wielded by the stocky young romanian) passed along the overgrown, brambly banks. Then the rest of us followed on, variously forking out the debris, scraping the accumulated fine network of roots and soil on the bottom and sides into heaps with azadas, then flinging the heaps over the sometimes shoulder high sides with shovels. Occasionally fallen trees had to be cleared with a chain-saw, boulders which had slid into the channel were smashed (yes!) into manageable hunks and thrown out.
|  Paul and Julio look on impressed as Pepe lobs out a boulder he’s just broken up
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Paul and I were in the more mature section of the work party (why do we call it that - no balloons or jelly were seen) and acquitted ourselves rather well, I like to think… However we were happy to return home to hot baths and a little siesta after 6 hours with our neighbours and their proxies - yes, the young romanian, czeck and swiss were sent along as paid help by other (perhaps more canny) owners of the land watered by the Cachariche. Our water bills for the acequia are calculated using a pre-metric agricultural measure for cereals and land the celemín. Each cortijo has so many celemínes of irrigated land and has to pay so much per celemín per year. See glossary below if you really want to know more…
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 Agave flower spike - La Dominga, La Alpujarra
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We’re proud to announce a new arrival! After 24 years of growing more and more gigantic, snagging unwary passers-by and lately even the landrover on its immense spiky leaves, our agave is just about to bear the one and only flower of its life. Looking like an enormous asparagus spear, the budding flower is so large and grows so fast that it saps all the resources of the plant, which then dies, leaving a tall wooden seed stalk. The plant is called the “century plant” because of this “once a century” bloom (actually the plant lives an average of 25 - 28 years).
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The Mexican Agave Americana, the source of sisal for rope and coarse sacking, was introduced into Europe from about the middle of the 16th century. It is also known as the American aloe, although it is in a different family from the true aloes. It’s a common misconception (shared till now by us!) that agaves are cacti. They’re actually closely related to the lily and amaryllis families, not cacti at all. Look out for them in those Spaghetti Westerns made in the Almeria Desert giving a Mexican ambience to the films.
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In good conditions agave can grow up to 40 feet high (not a houseplant!). It’s used commercially in Mexico in the production of tequila, pulque and mescal, and was also an important plant to indigenous people, being used for medicines, fiber, needles, food and weapons. Here in Spain my neighbours use the upper part of the dried stalk to make strong, light ladders, the hollowed-out base makes a great drum, and I’ve also seen didgeridoos made from the middle of the stalk.
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If the flower stem is cut without flowering, a sweet liquid called agua miel (”honey water”) gathers in the heart of the plant. The leaves also yield fibers, known as pita, (also the name for the whole plant hereabouts) but better known to us as sisal, used for making rope, matting, coarse cloth and for embroidery of leather in a technique known in Mexico as piteado. In Morocco colourful embroidered kilims are woven from agave silk which is much finer. Agave syrup (also called agave nectar) has recently been marketed as a healthful natural sugar substitute.
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Four major parts of the agave are edible: the flowers, the leaves, the stalks or basal rosettes, and the sap. Each agave plant will produce several pounds of edible flowers during the summer that it blooms. The leaves can be eaten in winter and spring, when the plants are rich in sap, Before flowering the stalks, weighing several pounds each, can be roasted - they’re sweet, like molasses. To produce tequila the flower shoot is cut out, the agua miel collected and then fermented and distilled. When dried and cut in slices, the flowering stem forms natural razor strops, and the expressed juice of the leaves will lather in water like soap. The natives of Mexico used the agave to make pens, nails and needles. Incredibly useful plant!
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 Flower cluster, Agave Americana Glossary - Andalucian A to C for puzzled readers:- Acequia - from the arab saqiyah meaning water conduit. The Arabs brought the technology to Spain during their occupation of the Iberian peninsula. The technology was adopted by the Spanish and utilized throughout their conquered lands. Azada - name for the many different varieties of hoe or mattock used in Spanish agriculture. Balate (pron. bal-at-ey) - from the arab balat meaning stone wall supporting a terrace. Barranco - ravine, gully, steep sided valley…. Celemín (pron. thel-ey-mean) - In case you wanted to know: 12 celemínes make one fanega, and for some reason 5 celemínes make one hemina. So there you have it. A celemín is therefore the name for a box-like scoop for measuring a celemín of grain - about 4.6 litres capacity. And look! - that’s more or less the same as that well known Olde Englishe Measure - The Gallon! Oh, and a celemín of land equals 537 m², which as you’ve probably guessed is the amount of land normally needed to seed a celemín of wheat… Cortijo - farmhouse or agricultural buildings on a plot of land away from villages and towns. From the latin cohorticulum derived from cohors meaning court, enclosure, yard as well as the more familiar armed force, tenth part of legion. ______________________________________________________
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HIGH MOUNTAIN 2009 |
6-13 June 2009
This year’s High Mountain week, taking us into the heights of the Sierra Nevada in early June, promises to be a picturesque adventure with more snow on the peaks than we’ve seen for many years. With a few places left we’re offering the week at €499 (price is for one person sharing twin-bedded room and includes accommodation, full board, and guided walks). |
The photo below, looking towards the highest peak, Mulhacen, was taken early in April after a sprinkle of snow had fallen the night before.
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 Mulhacen from the Atalaya, Sierra Nevada
More information on the High Mountain week 2009 |
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| News from Orgiva EL LIMONERO for sale |
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 El Limonero Restaurant, Orgiva, the Alpujarra |
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Our favourite restaurant in the Alpujarra, the Limonero in Orgiva is for sale. Wes and Amanda Somerville have been running it successfully for 3 years but feel they have too many other commitments with their holiday cottages, the extensive land surrounding their home and their children to carry on trying to balance their time. |
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Wes and Amanda say - “If you are after a change of lifestyle to a warm, sunny climate with a vibrant and friendly community then this could be the move for you! If you are at all interested then please get in touch for a chat. We would be happy to provide support, help and information on all aspects of the business and area“. |
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Tel: (0034)958785868 Email: bigolive@hotmail.com |
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In the meanwhile, there’s a new Spring menu at El Limonero and Wes, Amanda and top camarero Jake, will continue to provide quality food and service to all their customers. |
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 Tasty starters at El Limonero |
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and finally… |
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A man was on a walking holiday in the Alpujarra. He became thirsty so decided to ask at a cortijo for something to drink. The señora of the house invited him in and served him a bowl of soup by the fire. There was a small piglet running around the kitchen, running up to the visitor and giving him a great deal of attention. The visitor commented that he had never seen a pig this friendly. The señora replied: “¡Que va! He’s not that friendly. That’s his bowl you’re using.” |
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| 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! |