Latest Trip to Andalucea Oct 29th to Nov 16th 2019

Latest Trip to Andalusia Oct 29th to Nov 16th 2019

Ps I'd just like to mention another Blogsite I previously used ... cant remember why i stopped using it,  I think I lost my password!  https://bushcraftfishingecologygardening.wordpress.com/  lots of interesting stuff on there too !

I shall call this trip the "Uncovered Trip" as two of my abodes ... Camp Rana on abandoned land near Malaga and my abandoned cottage in the mountains had been discovered .

When winter comes i find i start to get very depressed. I have suffered bipolar disorder since the age of 24 and it is particularly bad in winter. I have been reading a book on Lapland and the Lapps have a word for winter depression " Moreskye" it comes during the three months of complete darkness arctic regions experience. Its a little comforting to think that my depressive condition has been affecting people since prehistoric times and is not just a recent phenomenon.

Anyway I was wondering was it a good idea me returning back to Spain after a not very good previous visit where i found quite a lot of people in Spain didnt much like me. The Waiters in the mountain Canteen i frequented didn't like seeing me on what looks like to them a permanent holiday whilst they work very hard serving customers all day. It was hard to explain to them that I am signed off due to my bipolar making me hard to employ and that i get sickness benefit. Also The Iranian girls in a hotel bar i was frequenting on the coast also made it plain they disliked me , partly due to my bout of heavy drinking and smoking I had fallen into and washing my clothes and body in the hotel swimming pool shower, after coming down from the mountains.

Anyway like I've said I was a bit dubious about returning to Malaga after seeming to upset quite a few people but as I stepped off the plane I knew immediately i had made the right decision as warm air enveloped me and the early afternoon sun shone on me. What a different to the cold wet October country i had just left . My previously depressed and lonely spirit lifted within me almost instantly !

I had been suffering very bad depression  up till my flight out to Malaga . The previous week was a bit better as i was staying at my parents and was exploring the welsh countryside by bus. I took an excursion to Penybont (?) in the welsh mountains by bus which was good scenery . Just across the mountains from Lake Vyrnway .

Upon arriving at the airport I didn't hang around . A couple of security guards had spotted me ... same as last time i arrived .. they still remember my bipolar episode where i created a small bonfire on a metal cafeteria table in the airport back in July . I immediately started walking from the airport towards Camp Rana . As I was going along the moving walkway i saw someone iv known a long time Big Dave from Scotland standing In his usual place .  he asks Tourists if they can spare 4 euros as hes missed his flight. And he does actually use the money to flay back and forward to Uk and other countries. Hes had a bad childhood including time in prison and has never worked . Anyway since i first met him maybe eight years ago i have toild him God loves him and prayed for him and every time I see him i see slight improvements in his life . This time he had lost a lot of weight and grown a beard and haircut was looking like a normal person it was very encouraging to see, and i put it down as answer to prayer . We had a quick chat and i continued on my way to Camp Rana.

When I arrived at the area of the Camp i saw immediately signs that someone had been there as some canes had been moved which block the entrance. Camp Rana is in a large thicket of brambles surrounded by river canes and a boundary fence cuts through the middle of the camp with a hole in the fence so i can pass from one area of the camp to the other . 

Anyway as I entered my camp i saw that the hole in the fence had been opened ( I usually wire it closed ) I went through the hole from the lean to area to the other part of camp and found out how the camp had been discovered. A bulldozer had gone right through the huge area of scrub and brambles in a straight line until it came to my hidden camp in the corner of the plot of land. I was happy to see that none of my stuff in the camp had been touched or taken away. Two big plastic boxes of books and other useful stuff. Bags of clothes etc. I was also amazed to see that many of my plants Asclepius for monarch butterflies, sugar cane and even some of the tomato plants had survived  my two months away . There had been some heavy rains which had supplied enough water. I thanked God for looking after them .

I think it was the next day I went and found the one man who still works on the mainly abandoned area ( he is a mechanic who uses one of the several large old warehouse buildings). I introduced myself and told him in Spanish that i was the person who's camp had been uncovered . He didn't speak any English and  explained that the bulldozer was clearing under the telephone wires and i think he may have said they were doing work there though I'm not sure if i translated that right. Anyway he basically insinuated he wont say anything and knows nothing  and im not causing any problems. He couldn't guarantee the future of the area though as its not in his hands .

My plans are now to continue there and possibly make a small veg garden where they've cleared as no one goes down there or would have much reason too.

9th and 10 November 2019 Undercover trip To Ardales Park and Discovery of Prehistoric Dolmens.

The last time I was up at the Reservoirs at Ardales Natural Park  I sensed that I was becoming unpopular with some of the local people particularly some waiters in the Kiosk i frequent , due to them having to work very hard whereas I appear to be on a permanant holiday . I decided therefore it would be expedient to make myself scarce from the area for a while and maybe spend more time in new places and only occasionally spend time there ... in fact even just at weekends would be an improvement. 
So it was with some trepidation that i headed up to Alora by train my first port of call on the way up to the reservoirs. I had been away for about two months .. back in the UK at Camp Ibex and my Flat  in Cornwall and at the Rondoval Camp in Gloucestershire. This should have given sufficient time for them to think i was not on holiday . I havent fallen out with anyone in Alora as of yet as I never spend copious amounts of time there however whilst i was going into the Chinese Shop to buy candles I saw two ladies from Ardales mother and daughter S****a and S*******na both who i was very fond of... but sadly i dont think its reciprical  any longer and they ignored me ... possibly they didnt see me but im sure S****a did look at me and see me. 

Anyway I got the bus up to El Chorro the lady in the Station Bar, about my age and attractive , is one of the only people who is friendly and seems quite balanced and she was frindly to me as always , i must ask her name . I also saw a rock climber instructor I know who was slightly civil . 

Anyway after a nice Tuna Bocadillo at the station bar and charging my phone I got the bus up to the reservoirs at Park Ardales. The coach driver was surprised to see me perhaps he thought i was never coming back and he wasnt unfriendly. I got off at the Kiosko hada quick cup of coffee and headed towards my cottage. Unfortunately there were people working near the entrance and also the security guard had seen me so i decided to go to the cottage at night . I instead carried on towards my favourite Lake the Guadalteba Reservoir. This involved going past the two aforementioned ladies place of work one of them the daughter was sittig outside. I decided altough once we had been very friendly to not acknowledge  her as i walked past . The feeling was very awkward and i was glad to have gone further along the road towards the reservoir.   This is to be continued in part 2.