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On the road by 9.40am, we waved Camping Rio Java goodbye. A good site all told for the 40 Euro’s (approximately £33.00 GBP), pitches a bit small but well worth the two nights stay. We toured up the coast road, passing the turning we took yesterday to The Rock, and followed the signs for Malaga.
Woolly says – it was a bit of a boring drive, with areas built up around the road we could glimpse the sea every now and then through the concrete jungles of Marbella and Malaga, but the sun was out so we sat back and let Oliver pound over the miles. With 97km to go we started going through the mountains and the views changed dramatically, with the road sweeping left and right we were steadily climbing. The further we went the greyer the clouds and the colder it got. It was good to arrive at Antequera and stretch my paws. Pulling into a McDonalds for a quick coffee we gave up waiting to be served after twenty minutes and agreed that coffee could wait but the archaeological site might close for siesta. Driving up and then back down the road we seemed
to have missed it completely, Ian reprogrammed Auzzie James to find our points of interest and we went back up the same road and saw the site straight away! Our quest for the day were the Dolmans of Antequera. Entering the reception area a nice man told us it was FREE and gave Jo a leaflet before showing us to the video area. I was enjoying the video but Ian and Jo said it was a little bit basic for them and I had to follow them outside.
With Woolly muttering away we took the short walk to the Menga Chamber. The three chambers we had come to see are the finest examples of European Megalithism. They are the first form of monuments ever conceived, being built about 6500 years ago.
Woolly says – That would mean some of my relatives might have been around, cool. The Menga was built as a symbolic and ritualistic monument to honour the huge mountain in front of it known as the Sleeping Giant. It is made of massively big stones and although only a small part can still be viewed it was an impressive piece of building
work. Following the footpath we made our way to the Viera Dolman which is a corridor tomb. Its domed centre roof is made of one single piece of stone, that must have been heavy to get up there! Although small it really gave me an understanding of the skill and sheer hard work that these must have taken to construct it given the era and the lack of cranes or any other form of equipment. To find our next Dolman we drove Oliver back down the road and through several roundabouts before finding ourselves at the back of a Pallet Company, a barely visible sign pointed us in the right direction and we drove up the path to park. The Tholos of El Romeral had a similar entrance to the Viera Dolman but proved to be much bigger than the previous two. Jo told me that this was a false cupola Tomb and was the longest of the three by 10 metres. Inside we again fund a domed room with a smaller room following from it, standing and looking I could almost feel the builders around me heaving their heavy burdens into the tomb, sweating in the heat but with
the belief that it would pay tribute to their giant. All three are real finds and I can only salute the inspiration that it must have taken to contemplate building them.
Having admired the sheer graft that these chambers had taken we looked at the skies, bigger black clouds were forming and the temperature was dropping close to ten. We decided on a change of plan, instead of staying close by for the night we would head to the next stop on our list, it meant a long drive but with the lure of warmth and no rain to contend with, it was an easy choice.
Woolly says – We set off through the mountains again, the scenery was spectacular, with millions of olive trees looking like they had been braided onto the earth, snow on the peaks and funny road signs to warn drivers, it was a great drive. We could see for miles and miles as the changing landscapes flashed by. A quick stop for coffee to make up for our lack off one earlier in the day, I wanted a bun but at 8 Euro each (approximately £6.50 GBP) I didn’t
even dare to ask. As we wound our way through the Sierra Nevada landscapes we started to glimpse the sea again, finding the site down a one way track which would never have fitted Georgie wasn’t a problem, getting tent pegs in was. Throwing everything back into Oliver we set off again hoping to pick up a site along the coast road. Camping La Garrofa didn’t sound the best of names but we went for it, the pegs proved troublesome but with Ian banging away we seemed to be pitched and set for the night in no time. Although the site looks a bit worse for wear it’s clean and the sea is literally on the doorstep, a lovely way to end the day looking over the miles and miles of ocean in front of us.
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