MacsTravel Blog

Earlier in the week I stopped by the local tourist information office in Ronda to see if they had any suggestions as to some day hikes that we might explore on our stay here. The tourist agent smiled, pulled out a map and began energetically drawing loops and lines on the margins of the map, sometimes venturing onto the counter, all the while pleasantly speaking in English and Spanish about the many options that were available. I left with a perfectly useless map and with the knowledge that, yes, there were some good hikes to explore.

One of the good things about staying in one spot for a few days is you have a chance to find some down time if necessary. We aren’t sure if it was a stomach bug or a tapas dish that was the culprit, but Robin lost a couple of days in Ronda. Other than nursing the patient, I had some unexpected time on my hands.

On day one of Robin’s illness, and after shopping for some necessities, I decided to poke around on some of the trails that lay below the cliffs of Ronda. I ventured down a path (indicated in tourist agent scribble on my map), just outside of the Bario de San Francisco where we were staying, in search of the perfect spot to take photos of the Puente Nuevo from the valley floor.

After a long, steep decent into the valley I was blessed with some fabulous photos of the cliff side and the Puente Nuevo.

The tourist agent and my own guidebook had informed me of a cliff side trail that would take me up a 100 meters or so to a lookout where I could make my way into the town and then find my way back to the apartment. And so I set off, climbing an increasingly steep and winding path.

At one point I encountered a flimsy wire fence that seemed to block any further progress. The older couple in front of me were scaling the fence so I followed, eventually passing them on the trail, continuing upwards past what seemed to be an active construction area until I finally arrived at the entrance to the town. An entrance that was blocked by a giant gate. A giant gate with a giant lock.

At this point I was cursing the tourist agent, the guide book, the older couple (who were now beside me, staring at the giant lock) and my own lack of foresight in neglecting to bring water with me.

I left the couple to die of thirst and headed back down, past the laughing construction workers, through the barrier and descended the 100 meters to the valley floor where I begin the long climb along the road back towards our apartment.

As I turned to head down a final stretch I noticed that I had accidentally stumbled on the Via Serrana portion of the famous Camino de Santiago.

The Camino de Santiago, of course, is one of Europe’s most well known pilgrimages and has become a bucket list trip for many. As you can see from the map below, there are many, many ways to complete the Camino de Santiago, with routes all over Portugal, Spain and France. Our friends Patti and Jeff are planning to do the Camino de Frances route to Santiago this coming May. As I rehydrated back at the apartment I thought, as I will probably have a few hours to spare tomorrow, I might as well do a small section of the Caminos Andaluces as a tribute to their huge undertaking!

It was another spectacular day, with sunny skies, temperatures in the high teens and a nice breeze. A perfect day for a hike. Robin was still indisposed (although slightly less indisposed than the day before) and so I made her some toast with butter (much appreciated) and got her some diet 7-Up (not appreciated- no substitute for Ginger Ale apparently, and what’s the deal with diet 7-Up anyway?) and prepared to head out on my mini-Camino. I discarded the useless tour office map, downloaded the Molinos del Tajo trail on All Trails (a great app- we use it all the time when we hike, except yesterday apparently), packed water and an apple and set off.

Part of this loop trail follows the Via Serrano, and it was fun to spot the occasional Camino shells along the way.

It was a great walk. I followed the advice of others who had posted about the route in the app and went counter clockwise, starting by walking up through the Old and New Towns before winding back down into the countryside and taking in the scenery from below once again. All in all, with some planned detours, it was a good 8km walk, with some significant climbing along the way. A beautiful way to spend a few hours in Ronda. And it was great to find a noticeably improved Robin back at the apartment.

Update: Robin felt well enough to go out for the evening paseo. We were treated to a fabulous sunset: could not have timed it better.

Tomorrow we leave Ronda for Cádiz. En route we hope to check out some of the other White Hill Towns.