Читать книгу Coastal Walks in Andalucia - Guy Hunter-Watts - Страница 9

AUTHOR’S PREFACE

The first time I get a glimpse of the sea on a walk my step feels lighter. It’s as if the vastness of an ocean view offers a perfect counterpoise to the immediacy and physical effort of walking a mountain trail. And who doesn’t feel more in touch with the Big Picture when walking beside the ocean? If walking is good for body, soul and mind, then surely coastal walking is even more so.

A few years back, while researching another book, I came across the stunning footpath along the Atlantic Coast close to Tarifa along with other trails close to Gibraltar. Later that year I explored the Sierra de Míjas and was again bowled over by the beauty of its footpaths. If these walks were new to me, I already knew many of the trails in the Almijara mountains close to Nerja and others in the Sierra de Ojén above Marbella. These walks were the kernel from which this guide was born, a book whose aim is to describe the best walking trails close to Andalucía’s southern seaboard in seven of its most beautiful Natural Parks.

The routes chosen are close to some of the region’s prettiest villages and most are circular itineraries. All walks described are within the capabilities of anyone in good health who walks on a regular basis. That said, some routes involve steep ascents and descents and just a few have sections which might be described as challenging. The Subbética chain is a grandiose and rumpled swathe of sierra: it was never my aim to skirt round these mountains to create easier walks but rather to take you to the heart of the matter. Walkers looking for a broader spread of sometimes mountainous walks throughout Andalucía should look out for the companion guide to this book, Walking in Andalucía.

If you’re resident in the area covered by the guide you won’t be more than a two-hour drive from most trailheads and often much closer. And if you plan to travel to southern Spain for a walking holiday, within these pages you’ll find the makings of a memorable week of walking in any of the seven regions described.

The compilation of this book has been a journey of discovery, and the magnificence of the trails, which lie so close to the Andalusian seaboard, has been a revelation. To walk out and discover these oceanside paths, gorges, river pools, high passes and peaks is one of the greatest experiences that this multi-faceted region of Spain has to offer.

The Sierra de Alhama close to Nerja (Costa Tropical, Walk 29)