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Published: January 12th 2008
What?!
Hanging out in the valley. El TorcalEl Torcal was easily one of the highlights of our time in Andalusia. We first read about it in that book again ‘1001 Natural Wonders You Must See Before You Die’ and decided to drive there from Granada. The place is similar to the rock formations at Punakaiki on the West Coast of New Zealand but on a much bigger scale. It is situated on the top of a mountain range behind Antequera.
The park covers 17 square km of the most amazing limestone rock formations we had ever seen. The rock formations are considered to be some of the most impressive in Europe and was one part of the trip that exceeded our expectations.
Quick geology lesson: (Thanks to the signs at the lookout!) The whole area was under sea until one hundred million years ago when movements of the Earth's crust forced it upward into hills and mountains up to 1300 metres. The limestone still kept its layered horizontal formation. Over millions of years the rain and wind have been able to chisel away at the layers to form incredible shapes.
We arrived in the afternoon (after visiting Ronda) and found that most people where leaving.
There are a couple of well sign-posted circular walks leaving from the car park. After we split off the main path to start the 3 hour hike we found ourselves completely alone.
The scenery was stunning and we spent most of the walk taking photos. The path wasn’t its best (considering it is the middle of winter!) and very slippery in parts but we still finished it long before 3 hours. The most memorable part of this trip will be the amazing silence that we experienced half way round the hike. It was an ear splitting silence that actually made our ears ring. We’ve never heard anything like it in our lives!
Neither of us could believe that an amazing natural attraction like this only received a tiny mention in the latest edition of Lonely Planet!
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