Soportújar: Casa Forestal

Today’s walk to the Casa Forestal of Soportújar gave wonderful views, fortunately not yet affected by the predicted calima (winds from Africa carrying rain and red sand from the Sahara).

The forests above us here are interesting. Years ago when we cycled through the area, we thought that the carefully planted rows of trees were here to be harvested for their timber, but now we have learned that they were planted as part of flood control projects. They help to contain the damage done when the rivers that flow down from the peaks of the Sierra Nevada are overflowing with snow melt and spring or autumn rains.

Today’s goal, the Vivero Sombra (Shade Nursery) above Soportújar, was established in the early 1900s. This reforestation project and dams like Dique 24 (that we saw from our Cáñar walk) control flooding in the upper Río Chico basin between Cañar and Soportújar. The yearly torrential flooding threatened the Vega de Orgiva plain and the towns of Bayacas, Carataunas, Soportújar, and Cañar, and their surrounding agricultural areas - all places we’ve walked through recently. Now we can certainly picture how important these forests are!

No threat of rain today, though, so the cuckoo in the forest made Ned think of Delius’ tone poem "On Hearing the First Cuckoo in Spring".

Tomorrow we walk to a house just north of the Ermita del Padre Eterno, our next-to-last stay in the Órgiva area, with Lanjarón next week being the last. If you imagine a clock face with Órgiva in the middle of the dial, our stays fall at 12:00 (Cáñar); 1:00 (Soportújar); 2:00 (Padre Eterno); 2:30 (Walhalla); 4:00 (Tíjola); and 10:00 (Lanjarón). Each location has offered a different walk every day. We’ve been able to absorb enough of the geography and history of the area - and talk to enough people - to begin to get a sense of how the things we are seeing fit together. In May, we’ll move to the Upper Poqueira Valley and then over the ridge to an area totally new to us: the seven villages of La Taha.Læs mere