Friday June 30 – Charro Gorge and Nerja

Hot and sunny today.

Left Ronda and headed out through the countryside.  Sunflowers and castles and lovely scenery.

Our destination today is the Charro Gorge.  The turnoff toward the road was very bumpy and the last 12 kilometers (7.2 miles) was more potholes than road.  Then it turned out that the road to the gorge was closed at this end.  So back over the potholes and bumps back to the main road, heading toward another road.  We had to stop and get directions from a restaurant, or we would have never found it.  

Another 1.5 miles on a dirt road, and ¼ mile hike to this end of the gorge.  We only walked in about ½ - ¾ mile or so, but it was a spectacular view.  The walkway was built into the side of the gorge, suspended out from the cliff several hundred feet above the river in places.  And you had to watch where you stepped since there were occasional holes in the walkway.  The gorge goes for several miles.  And the walk ends at railroad tracks that you must walk on, thru a tunnel when no trains are coming, to get to the town at the other end.  Due to the detour, we did not have time to walk the entire gorge.  

However, on the drive to our next destination we did stop at another town at the far end of the Gorge where it opened out.  We could see the walkway suspended on the sheer wall of the mountain and the bridge.  

After some photos, we continued on, stopping at Antequera to visit the town.  

Then it was on to Nerja, on the Costa del Sol – sun and beaches.  

We found a cheap hotel (Residencia Mena), room with a kitchenette and a view of the Mediterranean.  

We picked up food for breakfast and lunch.  And Jessica found a shop selling Egyptian perfume bottles that Mary liked.