El Acebuchal: A Final Hurrah

This is the first blog entry that I have written after returning from our adventure in Spain, but there are a few loose ends to tie up to finalize this blog. With less than one week remaining in Spain, we made one final side trip within Malaga province. As I explained in the last post, Spain’s de-escalation plan allowed us to travel within our home province, but we could not leave the province until Spain exited the state of alarm. Since so many other trips had been canceled and we had decided to return directly to the United States instead of traveling further in Europe, we figured we should take advantage of the opportunity to visit some of the small, whitewashed pueblos in Malaga province.

We started the journey by riding the train to the Malaga airport, where I thought I had found a great deal on a rental car, which cost only $8 per day (more on that later). As we exited the train, it was like entering a ghost town. The airport was completely disserted, except for a few taxis that were waiting for the rare arriving passenger. The car rental shuttles weren’t even running, so we had to call the rental agency to come pick us up. After receiving our car, we departed for the Nerja region, about 45 minutes east of Malaga.

Our first stop was the Nerja river walk in the Rio Chillar, which seemed to be a little bit like a smaller version of “The Narrows” in Zion National Park. We had no illusion that we would be able to complete the entire hike, which travelled up the river and through narrow gorges, but we thought the girls would at least enjoy playing in the river. We parked in the appropriate parking lot and starting hiking towards the river, when we saw a sign that said the river was closed due to COVID-19. I was shocked. At this point all the beaches were open and I couldn’t think of a lower risk activity than hiking in a river in the middle of a protected natural area.  

Apparently walking in the middle of a river through a forest is a high risk activity.

We decided that we might as well hike down to the river, where we hoped to at least enjoy a picnic along the river. One man passed us in a car along the way and wagged a finger at us. We passed some Spaniards coming the opposite direction and commiserated about the decision to close the river. When we finally made it to the river, there was a police car stationed so that we couldn’t even make it down to see the water. Well, at least we had enjoyed looking at some beautiful flowers on the way down.

With our plan thwarted, we went to Plan B and chose an activity that is always a hit – going to the beach! The Nerja area is known to have beautiful beaches nestled between sharp cliffs. On this particular day, there was a strong breeze and the waves were too strong for the girls to go swimming, but they squealed with delight as they ran away from the incoming surf.

After picnicking and playing at the beach, we began to wind our way through the mountains to our AirBnb house, which was located in the tiny pueblo of El Acebuchal. This small town was deserted after World War II and was a hideout for political enemies of dictator Francisco Franco. The renovation of the town only started about thirty years ago. Our Fiat Panda bravely navigated the steep and bumpy dirt roads until we arrived at our destination, a charming little home nestled into the mountain village.

Instead of the Nerja river walk, we enjoyed eating and playing at this beach nestled between the cliffs.

 

The tiny town of El Acebuchal is hidden in the mountains of Malaga province.

I woke up early the next morning to go for a hike in the mountains. The trail started off winding through the forest until it exited into a more open landscape. I soaked in the dramatic views in the early morning light.

Watching the sunrise on an early morning hike.

After returning for breakfast, we took off for the day with our first stop at the Caves of Nerja. The caves seemed to be similar to Carlsbad Caverns National Park in New Mexico. There were clear, paved paths that led through caverns filled with an impressive array of stalactites and stalagmites. Evelyn and Lydia enjoyed listening to their own audio guides during the self-guided tour and felt very grown up.

The Caves of Nerja were filled with impressive rock formations.

For the afternoon, we went to a different beach that had some options for lunch. It was another windy day and once again the surf has too powerful for the girls. Had the waters been calmer, I would have loved to climb over the rocks and along the cliffs that bordered each end of the beach. When we were weary of the wind, we found a café along the beach where we enjoyed a nice lunch.

After returning to our little house in El Acebuchal, we met our neighbors who owned the adjacent bed and breakfast and bar. The father, who was originally from Belgium, was particularly friendly and gave us some insider tips for exploring the area. He even invited Lydia and Eveyln up to play in their private pool. However, the girls’ favorite thing was that the family owned two dogs. An elderly border collie allowed Lydia and Evelyn to pet her endlessly and the girls had fun bringing bowls of water for the dogs. Later in the evening, we ordered a couple drinks from the bar and savored some delicious tapas as the girls played with the dogs.

Playing with Charlotte the Border Collie was a highlight for Lydia and Evelyn.

When we told the bed and breakfast owner about our failed trip to the Rio Chillar, he let us know about a river a few kilometers away where the girls could splash about in a channel that was designed for measuring the river depth. I was a little bit nervous about the Fiat Panda’s ability to handle the rough roads, so I ran there the next morning to check it out. Satisfied that the car could make the trip, we packed up from our AirBnb and headed for the river. Evelyn and Lydia had a blast jumping around in the water and several hikers past through the area with dogs.

After eating and playing in the river, we wound back through the mountains one final time to reach the highway back to Malaga. When we returned the rental car, we received an unwelcome surprise. The employee who checked in the car notified us that there was damage to the keyhole on the driver’s side door. Though I had inspected the car at checkout, I hadn’t thought to look at the keyhole. I told the employee that I hadn’t even used the keyhole during the rental, but had always used the car fob to unlock the car. She replied that someone had probably tried to break into the car and caused the damage. My protests that we had stayed in a tiny mountain town with a population of 30 people fell of deaf ears and we were saddled with a 300 euro fine for the damage. Fortunately, I had taken out a third-party insurance plan that would cover the damage, but it still didn’t feel good to be scammed. So, buyer beware of the $8 per day rental car offer or at least make sure you have insurance.

Nonetheless, we thoroughly enjoyed our last adventure in Spain. I felt a deeper appreciation for the beauty and culture of Andalusia and Malaga province. As we headed back to Fuengirola, we knew that we had a huge job ahead of us to prepare to depart Spain, but we were thankful to have memories from this final voyage to carry along the way.