My Wednesday Walk “Dragonfly path along the Guadalmina river and dam”, Benahavís, Spain”

Hi all 😊

With this post I’m joining in at the Wednesday Walk challenge and Make me Smile challenge. That are hosted by @tattoodjay and @elizacheng every week on Wednesday.

Today I want to share with you my Walk Along The Guadalmina River and Dam on The Dragonfly path.
”El sendero de las Libélulas del Guadalmina” around the “Embalse de Guadalmina” Benahavís, Málaga province, Spain
I walked last Sunday 30 January 2022. Photos taken with my iPhone.

Following info I found on the sign in the next photograph.
”The Dragonflies of the Guadalmina path is a pleasant walk suitable for anyone who is reasonably fit and does not have any mobility issues. There is a lot more to dragonflies than meets the eye, and this route offers the opportunity to enter the world of these fascinating insects. As well as the river, the scenery and the typical Mediterranean flora, you will walk past some vestiges of times gone by like the lime kiln. In the past, you would have walked among mills, crops and livestock enclosures that are now left to the imagination. Throughout the route, you walk close to the banks of the Guadalmina, eventually skirting the weir to reach the road to Benahavís where the route ends”.

The walking path is about 3 km long. Goes along the river, then around the reservoir and dam and following a path next to the road, back to the start of the route along a few streets from the beautiful town Benahavís, Málaga province, Spain.

Located:

Let me take you along on my walk.
Here we go 😊

We start the walk at the parking lot next to the Benahavís sport grounds. And see the signs for this route. These are placed recently as are the new trees along the beginning of the path.

See the new trees. A black tube is connected to them to give them water.

On the right side of me we find these gigantic tree stumps. Let’s have a look.

With a face… do you see it 😎

We also find this machine… I never saw it before at walking routes. It’s for repairing your bike. With tools and air, you create by turning that handle. 🚲🚲

Let’s start our walk now. We pass some beautiful coloured rocks on the right. Yellow from the lichen and green moss.

On the left we find a sign with information about Dragonflies.

Spoiler alert… I did not see any Dragonflies, but the walking path is so beautiful. It gets better and better. I just had to share with you anyway. So please stay with me till the end. It’s worth it. 😉😎

We look back towards the start of our route.

And the path in front of us. Next to us a dry river.

Along the way we find cute little corners and steps to follow.

We find a Calera

What is it? The sign says: (slightly corrected)
”The Calera- The furnace was constructed by means of excavating in the hillside of the mountain a cylindrical shaped pit about 2-3 metres in diameter and 3-4 metres deep. It is usually internally covered with a wall made of granite stones, the layer closest to the surface called "the parapet" and it is formed by larger granite stones. In the lowest part of the pit the cylinder reduces its diameter in such a way that inside the pit, around it, a small stone bench or "poyal" which will be used as a base to rest the stones to be baked. This small stone bench is 70 cm high and forms the walls of the furnace caldron or "calderuela" where the firewood will be burned. A ramp is excavated by one of the laterals of the pit from the surface to the base, forming. "the mouth" of the furnace. This zone is called "the server" and it is where the lime burner loads the furnace with firewood.
THE QUICKLIME.
The "quicklime" is made by the calcination of the limestone to 1000 °C for a period of 20 to 30 hours. The quicklime is very caustic and it has a great affinity with water and when they come into contact it transforms into calcium hydroxide or "slaked lime" emitting a high hot temperature. The use of the quicklime for the manufacture of mortar has been essential to build solid constructions. Mortar is obtained by mixing slaked lime with sand and water.
When the mortar is formed, the quicklime hardens, recovering the CO2 in the atmosphere to transform again into calcium carbonate, recovering its original hardness, whiteness and impermeability.
The slaked lime dissolved into water is the "milk of lime" being traditionally used to whitewash the walls of the houses. This film has a white colour and it is waterproof, that is why it is widely used in our towns.
The milk of lime is also used to disinfect the trees, to prevent the putrefaction of the stagnant water.”

We walk further… our path to follow.

On the left we see a tower. It looks like a watch tower to me.

Along the path there are a few (not much) benches to rest and enjoy the views and sounds around you. It is very quiet here. You hear nothing.

Now we see the river is gaining some water. From now onwards it will have more and more water in it.

Details next to us in the rock walls along the path.

We see the tower now from closer by. Next to it a car. If you look very closely through the top of the bushes/trees. I can’t make out what it is exactly. It is on the other side of the river. So I can’t reach it.

The river itself has at this point gigantic boulders with very smooth surfaces. They are beautiful.

The flow is getting stronger…

View of the path in the back.

Next to us, actually below us as it goes down to reach the river. Again these very smooth rocks. They must be very old.

Looking in front of us you can see the river is next to us going down. We see here also a part of the Guadalmina Dam.

More as we walk further.

We are still following the walking path. The route is really good sign posted. Normally it is not in Spain. But as you see they are improving and adding signs to walking paths.

We reached ”Cañada de Juan Miná” it is where shepherds rested with their livestock.

This is still part of that area. Not in use nowadays as resting place for livestock.

We reach the side of the dam…

If you look closely to the left of the sand road, you see the wooden fence we walked on. The path.

Let me zoom in for you. Next to the rock wall above the river. I know… it is not that clear as you weren’t there with me. But I can try and show you 😉

As we walk passing the dam, we do not cross as we are walking around it. We see these signs.

The other side of the Guadalmina dam.

The reservoir, as you can see is almost empty. We had a very dry summer and winter here in Spain.

Our path further looking in front of us.

And to the back. On top of that mountain is a really big house located. You can see it from most of the walking route. They must have a beautiful view… I can imagine 😎

We pass some green fields, I don’t see any animals at this moment.

A little further along. We do hear some birds now but otherwise nothing. A very quiet path, it’s truly relaxing.

Details… I love details 🥰

View towards the dam as we walk around the reservoir.

In a tree I find this birdhouse. Just next to the path. Not close to any house… surprisingly.

We are crossing a bridge now. View towards the left.

View towards the right.

Next to the bridge… more details 🥰

A little further we find some flowers.

The view towards the dam.

More flowers. They are cute and early.

On the right next to us coming down the hill. (For when it rains it catches the water)

Looking back we see the bridge we crossed.

More flowers 😊

Now we will leave the path and walk next to a road towards the town. And over a sidewalk we see in the distance.

Looking back.

We see the sports grounds.

And enter the town of Benahavís.

The road down…

Looking back up you can see it is rather steep. Luckily it wasn’t the other way around 😎

In the distance we see a hotel next to the sport grounds.

And with this last photo of part of the town, I finish our walk and end my #WednesdayWalk and #Makemesmile… post. As we are back at the start from our walk today.

Hope you enjoyed my photographs of this beautiful walk in this part of the world 🤩

Thank you for looking and reading 😊 and if you liked my post, an upvote or re-blog is always welcome 🙏🏻
Any questions or comments, let me know. Always happy to help.

Have a great Wednesday all 😎
Grtz Jackie

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