Wednesday 13th March 2019
We had been recommended taking a drive out through the Genal Valley, where several small villages are located in rugged landscape swathed with dense vegetation including, sweet chestnut trees. We can only imagine how spectacular it must look during the autumn months, when the trees would be laden with fruit and autumnal foliage.
We began our journey south on the A-369 from our campsite and before long we stopped at the Mirador del Pino, one of several viewing spots along the roads in the Serrania de Ronda.
The views back to Ronda, the mountains in the distance and the valley below were beautiful, unfortunately it was spoilt by the amount of rubbish which had be strewn all over the floor, due to the lack of rubbish bins and irresponsible people. Luckily it was the only Mirador we encountered that was like it.
My camera doesn’t do the long distance view justice.
A short drive from here and we turned off onto the smaller MA-7307, one of several MA roads that would take us on a journey to Alpandeire, Faraján, Júzcar, Cartajima and finally bring us back to the main A-397 San Pedro to Ronda road.
The roads were narrow, twisting and turning, climbing and descending all the time and it definitely pays to keep your eyes on the road. Luckily we didn’t encounter much traffic at all but it certainly wouldn’t be a trip we would attempt towing a caravan or even with a large motorhome.
The fabulous scenery and charming villages did not disappoint and one even without doubt was an unusual surprise 🙂
Alpandeire was the first village we came to. The present day village dates back to the 8th century. It was one of the first villages fortified by the Moors in the Serrania de Ronda region.
The village has become a meeting and pilgrimage point for people wishing to visit the birthplace of Brother Leopold of Alpandeire.
Next we reached the village of Faraján located at the side of the Genal River. Its name comes from the Arab ‘Farrajan’ meaning happy, full of joy. It is a mountain village, dedicated more to rearing animals rather than agriculture, apart from cultivating chestnut trees.
As we continued our drive we were somewhat surprised as we stopped to take photographs of the next village Júzcar . Everything we could see was painted blue!
Júzcar sits at the base of the Jarastepar Mountain in the scenic Valle del Genal.
We discovered that its appearance was due to the film The Smurfs 3D!
Since 2011 it has been known as the first Smurf Town in the world and now attracts a greater number of tourists and generates more income for the small community who live here. Whatever floats your boat I guess.
After a case of the ‘blues’ we headed off to seek normality. As we climbed higher we enjoyed spectacular views across the lush valley and could see our final destination, Cartajima.
The delightful village perched high above the valley was deserted and we couldn’t find a single place to eat or drink, which was a pity as we had set our hearts on soaking up the scenery from a table on the terraces. It was not to be on this occasion.
We headed back out of the village to join the main A-397 and back to the campsite.