Costa cave art

I waited in again for the gas bottle deliveryman to come, and he arrived eventually at one thirty, too late for me to spend a full day in Málaga, but not a day wasted. A number of CBS admin issues needed to be dealt with, and with telephone calls, that absorbed the time between breakfast and lunch.

As soon as I could, I started walking out of town, westward, on the coast road to La Cala del Moral. At a crossroads on top of the ridge dividing Rincon from La Cala del Moral, I noticed a tourism sign saying 'Cuevas del Tresor'. Intrigued, I followed the signs uphill for about a kilometer though a densely packed area of suburban housing, with the addition of several half finished structures of large hotels or apartment blocks filling odd spaces in this steep rocky terrain.

Just short of the hilltop there was a levelled area for car parking, in feont of a modern building, hosting both a local radio station and Las Cuevas del Tresor. But still no clue as to what the building was for.

At the far end of the car park is an open space in the hillside overlooking the cove of El Moral below. Here, interpretation panels said that the hillside was a conservation area devised to include only such native species as could have been found here 5000 years ago, and supplying plants from which paint used in cave paintings  could be made. Then the penny dropped, thanks to the panels. Here one can get to see cave art in situ, just like in the Ermita de Ulldecona, which I visited back at the end of July. Such a surprising discovery, right at the heart of a contemporary concrete hillside settlement.

The cave visitor centre was closed, its first evening tour would have meant waiting three quarters of an hour, so I walked on, since I was out for exercise. I saw a large flock of goldfinches roosting on a fence of wire netting, and get a few photos of three that didn't fly off. Later, walking ba k along the coast path to Rincon, I was also rewarded with a few shots of parakeets for the first time. Thousands of these birds live in trees along the southern costas, but more often heard than seen. I was delighted with the pictures I took.

On the way back, I learned from a poster that the days leading up to the Feast Of Our Lady's Nativity on the eighth will include prayers and processions to mark a patronal fiesta. An interesting prospect for the coming week.