Hi all š
With this post Iām joining in at the Wednesday Walk challenge and Make me Smile challenge. That are hosted by @tattoodjay and @elizacheng every week on Wednesday.
Today I want to share with you my Walk with the Iznajar walking group to āEl Torcal de Antequera, Antequera MĆ”laga province, Spain
A National Park. We walked it 8 May 2015.
Photos are taken with my Canon eos 550D and 18-135mm lens.
I guide you through my photos and follow the time stamps. I show you the ROCK FORMATIONS, (figures in the rock), THE VIEWS, THE NATURE AROUND US AND THE PLANTS AND WILDLIFE WE ENCOUNTERED on our walk.
Location: 
But first a little bit of information about this Unique Place.
This information you can find Here in English! (and Spanish)
THE FORMATION OF THE LANDSCAPE
The Natural Park of El Torcal is characterized by the impressive karstic landscape made of limestone.
Its formation is due to a process that has lasted several hundred million years. For this we must go back about 200 million years, when much of Europe and the Middle East were submerged under the sea of Tethys, begins a process of carbonated sedimentation, caused by the accumulation and deposit of skeletons and shells of marine animals at the bottom of the sea that will last about 175 million years. These sediments have been accumulating and compacting at different levels, forming the horizontal strata of thicknesses of thousands of meters.
Towards the middle Miocene, as a consequence of the thrust between the Iberian plates to the north of the Tethys Sea and the African to the south, the accumulated sediments are compressed, deformed and fractured until emerging in a slow and continuous process that still remains. Once the relief emerged, the prolonged action of meteorological agents such as water, ice and wind on the limestone, modeled the spectacular karst landscape of El Torcal de Antequera.
The presence of Man in El Torcal dates back to Prehistory, specifically the Middle Neolithic, finding archaeological sites in the Cueva del Toro.
Letās start now our walk. Enjoy š
(itās worth viewing till the end, I know there are lots of photographs, but we also saw a lot)
There are 4 entrance free routes you can take, In my photographs the ruta Verde, easiest one and the ruta Amarilla, the longer and medium difficulty route. We did the longer one š
Here we walk into the Park, you see part of our walking group. I follow as usual behind, because I take lots of photographs from all the details around me. Donāt worry I wonāt show you all, but a nice selection.
Here you see clearly the rock formations, they are impressive. To think that they are sooooo old and were before under the Sea. Keep in mind we are very high up at this point.
The highest point in El Torcal is Camorro de las Siete Mesas (1336 m) in the Torcal Alto.
Some people even see figures in the rocksā¦ do you?
We walked past this in the path, is it a fossil? Or just another rock formation, it was bigā¦ say 3 of my feet long. š¦¶
Flowers everywhere as it was May and spring started.
Old trees with the amazing backdrop.
The top of the rocksā¦ towering high above you as you walk by. An eagleā¦ perhaps š¤
Look what we found up here, I didnāt expect to find cows š® they were following our group and I could take a few photographs.
Close up of the layers of rocks. This is largeā¦ so no close up needed.
We walk further and see all around us these magnificent rocks.
And more flowering bushes šø
Some cute succulents on the rocks and sandy paths.
In the distance we see everywhere rocks. The park is about 17 square kilometres large. So lots to see.
Even some trees high up, grabbing hold of the rocks and the cracks in between.
More flowers as we walk further.
Views towards the right.
Views on the left as we walk further on the path.
We encounter more and more flowersā¦ what a luck šø
Our walking group going steady š
Iām just amazed at the beauty of the area. The rocks and natureā¦
More flowers and even wild orchids we encounter now.
View in the distanceā¦
Lots of details and textures on and in the rocks. The moss that is growingā¦ the different colours.
But, what do I see nowā¦
Letās zoom in a bit.
A mother and its young on top of the rock. š
So cute āŗļø
This next area is rather green, grass and bushes all around us.
Little purple flowers next to some moss on a rock.
We walk further.
So much to seeā¦
More flowers.
Different rock formations.
Little buttercups and all kind of coloursā¦
Tree branches with thick moss/leeches on.
The group is walking on.
Details in the layers.
Do we see figures sittingā¦? what do you think?
Do we see faces in the rocks?
Is that the FAMOUS INDIAN? Do you see it?
Letās zoom in:
Yes, I see the Indian šthe eyes, nose and mouth. Sitting on the edgeā¦
More layered rocks.
The brown metal things (I use things if I donāt know the English wordš) are to protect the newly planted baby trees from the goats and cows. You can see they stood against them.
Sharing some more flowers with you all.
Wild orchids.
Tree roots on the rocks.
Here you see some broken layersā¦
We are reaching the end of our route. A little bit further we have a view point around us towards the coast and inland towards the beautiful city of Antequera.
A little furtherā¦
We are getting a glimpse of the viewā¦ layers of mountains in the background and the haziness.
WOW what a view we have up here!
Beautiful. You see the different colours from the farm lands below.
A little map from what you can see at this viewpoint.
As we walk towards the end of the route this is the view next to us, there is also a visitors centre and a restaurant with old antiques.
Let me show youā¦
Inside the restaurant we find:
A lot š¤
Some details:
On the outside wallā¦
As you can see all antiques are farming tools and memorabilia.
And with this last photo of a cute detail from the restaurant, I finish our walk and end my #WednesdayWalk and #Makemesmileā¦ post.
Hope you enjoyed my photographs of this beautiful walk in this part of the world š¤©
Thank you for looking and reading š and if you liked my post, an upvote or re-blog is always welcome šš»
Any questions or comments, let me know. Always happy to help.
Have a great Wednesday all š
Grtz Jackie
Unless stated otherwise: All art and photos used in my posts are taken, created and owned by me. If you wish to use any of my photographs, please contact me first. As I have used some commercially myself. We donāt want that you or somebody else gets into trouble š So please donāt use them without my consent.
Wow, these are some very impressive rock formations, I didnĀ“t know you have such a magical place in Spain. Reminds me of these rocks from my Czech homeland :) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adr%C5%A1pach-Teplice_Rocks
Anyway, I am happy to feature this great post of yours in my next upvote giveaway for more visibility and also drop some TipU support here :) Keep up the good work.
@tipu curate
Spain has quite some hidden gems. Trying to share some of them here. Bit by bitā¦Thank you so much @phortun š much appreciated!
I just looked at the link, it has really some resemblance. Looks the same sort of the rock formations in your homeland. As this happened millions of years ago when Europe was under the sea. These formations could be pushed up at many locations. Thanks for sharing that info with me.
That is really nice to hear as a newbie š thanks, I keep doing what Iām doing. š love to engage and share my posts with the world.
Upvoted š (Mana: 40/80) Liquid rewards.
Such beautiful stones š
Thank you so much @valera7368
Por favorš
ššš»
The rocks are fascinating. The main image honestly made me think youād travelled to Nevada or somewhere over in the USA. it might be because many of the western films I watched as a kid were filmed in Almeria, Spain
Which may be nowhere near where you are!!
!PIZZA
Never been to that side of the USA so farā¦ but I will one day šThank you so much @nicklewis it is really interesting that most people that viewed this post recognise the rock formations from other places in the world.
Almeria is about 280 km away from where I am š I did visit it and went to Cabo de Gato. Itās truly beautiful there.
Funny that and to be honest there are places here in the UK that bear some resemblance too. I've not been to the US yet and it feels a bit bad. Hoping to travel there with work, as we have an office in Washington DC.
Almeria is great, we went there about 40 years ago, I was only a kid at the time, so can't really remember it that well.
Really, didnāt know there are places like this in the UK. Visited the UK a few times. But havenāt seen it all of course hahaha
Sounds like a plan, hope you make it over there with your work. Itās worth exploring.
Long time ago 40 yearsā¦ I do must say it has changed the last years. Around Almeria there are a lot of green houses āpollutionā to grow vegetables, they where everywhere even in the nature reserves. Not allowed of course but they still build them.
It was a shameā¦ the once beautiful nature was gone for the most part. You only saw glass everywhere.
It's a good place to use your imagination. I see the sitting figures in the rocks, they look like they are squatting and I see some of the faces. Neat spot!
Yes it truly is @leaky20 you can play along with what your imagination lets you see š so nice that you see the figures and faces. šæšæšæ
The rock formations look amazing. Kind of like natural architecture with all the forms your own fantasy can see in them. Thanks for this :-)
Thank you so much, it is just like natural architecture and natural sculptures. If you look closely you can see a lotā¦ let your imagination freeā¦ š
You are so welcome @timoremoti š
Such fascinating rock formations! Love that one that definitely looks like a petrified prehistoric fish, or something.
Yes thought so too, a fish or something like that. šThank you so much @clairemobey they truly are.
Impressive photographs of rock formations!
And you were able to capture a mother deer and her young...
and the many wild flowers. I bet some people may have missed those!
And the restaurant... so many arti crafts, hehehešŗ
Take care š Happy Wednesday, @littlebee4!
I couldnāt remove more photos. This was just a little part of what I captured on my walk.Thank you so much @silversaver888 and for seeing everything I posted. š all details!
Happy Wednesday āļø
Take Care.
So sorry I missed this last week I try to catch all the WW posts but clearly I missed some or at least yours and what a pity such an amazing place you shared with us
the scenery there is spectacular with those rock formations so rugged and highlighting the power of nature,
Loved the goat and baby on top of one of the rocks and the beautiful flowers
Love all the antiques especially that horse
Thanks for joining Wednesday Walk :), I truly enjoy exploring the world virtually each Wednesday seeing walks from all around the globe and feeling I am there and experiencing it all myself, such as I did in your post just now :)
I can imagine that you miss some once in awhile as I do notice the Wednesday walk is getting popular and more and more people are joining in š itās nice to see.
I love joining in and the whole community feel here as do the others. šThank you so much for going back to my post @tattoodjay šš»š it is much appreciated.
Itās one of those places you always will remember walking there. Itās just stunning. And to imagine the history about it.
Thanks againā¦
Have some !LUV
Ohh yeah how could one not walk there and not be imagining what the walls had seen and what has happened there over the years
and for sure the Wednesday walk has grown far more than I could ever imagined it has, not that I am complaining i love visiting the posts each week, and now I need to make sure i am more careful and do not miss posts
Yesā¦ a perfect place for that.
Hope it grows even more @tattoodjay šš š¤š»
ššš
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It must have been a magnificent walk! Everything about the scene is stunning, and your words, so much to photograph! Thank you for sharing this with us!
Thank you so much, and you are welcomeā¦ Iām happy to share!It truly was @lovelyscape š
Congratulations, your post has been added to Pinmapple! šš„³š
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Want to have your post on the map too?
Thank you so much @pinmapple š
Wow, what an impressive rock formation, such a beautiful scenery you brought to us today @littlebee4
I have never been to this place, but it would be definitely worth visiting it!
That restaurant is a real museum hahaha. Cool place š
Itās stunning. I do recommend a visit to it. Also the city of Antequera itself is worth a visit. When I lived in Iznajar, Cordoba I visited many times.
Next to the city you find the āsleeping Indian mountainā another landmark to see.
It had so much āstuffā a minimalist would get claustrophobic hahaha š¤£
š š š hahahah, what a comparison hahaha, that's funny! cool š
Hm, sleeping Indian... is it because it resembles a face, that mountain?
We have here Sleeping lion (El leĆ³n dormido) mountain.
Cordoba will have to be visited as well once, just not during summer, hahha, It is an oven, right?
Thought it was funnyā¦. šš
Yes, it resembles a face nose pointing up. It looks like an Indian face from the side they say. Profile. Apparently there is also a story behind it. Maybe I do another post one day about it and Antequera city.
Cordoba is beautiful too, visited a few times when I had to start my paperwork after moving to Spain.
Policia Nacional and INSS.
It is tooooo hot in the summer, wouldnāt recommend during that time. Spring or autumn is best.
Yes, profile, that is was I thought. It really looks like a face from profile.
Oh, a story? Cool!
Yeah, I suppose that summer is a big no for Cordoba. For visitor. For people living there, well, maybe they are used to those temperatures.
I have Dutch neighbours that are living here just for six months, from late autumn to late spring, then they go back for six months to NL, just because they can not stand the temperatures that the Spanish sun is providing :)
The people living there are used to it and know how to deal with the heat āļøāļøāļø
Iām not one of them.
Even here on the southern coast, in the last years it is getting āTooā hot š„µ
Not healthy anymore.
Yes, expats everywhere here also that just stay for the nice weather and then go back north.
wow that looks amazing. it reminds me at Grampians Nationalpark in Victroia, Australia with all these granite rocks
I just looked it up. The large rock seems the have the same build up like here. Very cool. Thanks for sharing. šThank you so much @betterthanhome š
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