Day 7 Friday, March 8th: Don't call me Brendi

Our check out is 11:00, but we are out of the apartment by 10:00. Sunny day already and rising temperatures. Our next Airbnb is in Málaga which is in the Costa del Sol. Our first destination though is a hike from the town of El Chorro. Lana does a room check before we leave to ensure that we don't leave anything behind. Then, we walk to the underground parking garage located about 3 minutes away. We take our luggage with us even though as we need to return to the apartment to drop off the keys. We need the keys to open the parking garage door. This is our first time back here and we are leaving that garage with trepidation given how tight the spaces are.

Our hike located near El Chorro and known as Arabic Staircase hike or Escalera Arabe. You can see on the map it laid out in a rectangle against the third rock face area. It is daunting. The town shown in the bottom of the picture is El Chorro where we begin our hike. 

This is our Budget car rental and its very tight parking spot. It looks easy from this angle but getting the car down into this spot took a Formula 1 driver!

This is a harsh uphill and then time with the garage door opening. It is the angle onto the street that makes it more difficult. We made it without any damage to the car or our self esteem. Lana hits the garage door button so I can just drive the car straight up and out. 

It is a long drive from Granada to the very small town of El Chorro. For a good portion it is freeway driving with a speed limit of 120 kms/hour, although some cars are faster. Again, more olive tree orchards along the way. Eventually, we turn off the main road and onto small country roads. Lemon trees and orange trees are everywhere. Very rural driving with the roads barely wide enough for two vehicles. Many sharp turns, hills and winding around various hills. A number of farms with lots of huge roosters and some animals that Lana cannot identify. We reach El Chorro around 11:45 so we are ahead of schedule. It is a warm sunny day in this town of less than a hundred people.

Google Maps although I got here faster than estimated.   ;-)

View of the huge mountains behind the village of El Chorro. 

El Chorro has a train station! This is where the hikers are supposed to begin their hike. We find parking near the train station and order some food at the train station restaurant Bar Isabel. We need some energy before this long uphill hike. Lana orders a Lomo Adobado (marinated pork loin, cheese, tomato and mayo.) for 3.50 Euros. I order at Salchichón sandwich with a Cruzcampo Beer. We order a bottle of water and the entire casual lunch bill is 9.50 Euro. Both sandwiches are really what we would call Paninis. When taking my order the lady needs a name. I tell her my name, but she just can't get it. She writes down Brendi instead of Randy - too funny! It is warm enough we only need to wear our shirts. Some clouds in the sky but mostly sunny. A group of English rock climbers are sitting near us. We have food and some drink sitting in the warm sun so ready to go. Lana changes into her shorts - good idea!

The online directions for the Arabic Staircase hike are not easy to follow as they are not explicit as to where you find the start of the hike. It is called the Arabic Staircase hike as the story is this stone staircase high in the mountain was built in the 15th Century by the Mozarabs as part of their trading route. Who wouldn't want to walk on history? Plus, the views are supposed to be fantastic and it is a moderate hike in terms of difficulty.

We talk about which direction from the train station to head and go with a route we think makes sense. It doesn't, but we come to an Information guy down towards the river. He indicates that after the train station you find a street Haza del Rio and turn left and then right. That means we have to walk back towards the train station. Well, we keep walking along the steep paved road for about 2.5 kms of hot and steep upward hiking to no avail. Despite Lana telling me that we didn't see any signs that say Haza del Rio I solder on!! This can't be the hike so we turn around and walk back down the hill along the road. Along the walk there are rock climbers scaling the cliff faces, butterflies and lots of cacti. Lana takes her umbrella out.

We decide to enter the three star Garganta Hotel and ask for directions and maybe a map. We are in luck as the receptionist has a map and knows where we need to start. In fact, we need to go in the original direction, but take a different street. Yikes!! We are both hot and covered 5 kms already with 150 metres in elevation gain in the sun. We came all this way so we need to complete our goal. Plus, we discover we forgot our bottles of water so we get these from the car.

Example of cacti growing right beside the road. 

View of the cliff/mountain faces in the distance that are behind the town. 

Yeh! We have the right hiking route and a map! 

This entire area is a National Park and protected as such.

This is a map erected on the side of the trail.

Lana navigating the hike and at this point not with her umbrella up!

 Another map along the trail which is somewhat helpful. 

View from our trail.

Part of the smaller trail which is snug against the mountain face.

Many rock climbers along this route. We heard Spanish, English, French and German languages. Lana was feeling a bit sad that she hadn't packed her climbing gear for this trip. Would have been nice to get some climbing in for her!!

Check out this giant beetle on the trail and it is headed uphill!

Typical signpost we find along the route although we aren't sure of its significance?

This is the signpost we need as it directs us to the Arabic Staircase. The main trail continues up the mountain so you need to know where to turnoff and then take a new trail to the actual Arabic Staircase. 

Sign along the trail with the destination we are looking for!

This is the beginning of the famed Arabic staircase. For certain it is old and it does provide a much easier way to get up and down this part of the very steep mountain. We follow it for quite a ways and it takes you to a ridge and then across to another mountain top. 

This must have been a lot of work more than 500 years ago! Fairly normal step range, but after all those centuries you need to be careful where you are stepping. 

When the sun is shining Lana has her umbrella up. I have never seen a person hiking in these type of areas with an umbrella. In fact, I have never seen a person hiking anywhere with an umbrella. She does have beautiful skin though! She's a little obsessive about not getting any sun on her face. 

One of my favourite pics of the staircase.

This map along the trail really provides a great visual of where we are relative to the mountain/cliff faces behind El Chorro.

I don't take many notes along our hike/climb as more important to enjoy where we are and find the proper trail. We don't encounter very many fellow hikers though. Lana does a great job going at a good pace until we are closer to the turnoff for the Arabic staircase and she doesn't say too much about the accidental 5 KM warm up hike along the wrong route!! Ooops!! Water is important and enough food which she was lacking. She is very perseverant so that is a huge plus. We have something to eat (Lana's leftover half sandwich from lunch, an apple) and drink at the top of the ridge and then it is mostly downhill and back to the village after that.

In terms of timing, we arrived at the turnoff for the Arabic staircase at around 15:30. Apparently, it is at least 0.6 kms still to go. Very sunny and still pretty warm on the hike and at this elevation. So many birds chirping - very comforting. In addition, Lana spots two huge eagles soaring in the thermals above us! At the top of the ridge where we are sitting to eat we leave around 16:00 and arrive back at the car about 17:10. Lana did very well descending. The main trail is a fairly easy trail as it also provides width and texture for cars that drive up and park. 

In the village there is a super small Mercado where we buy a large bottle of cold water for 1 Euro. It is much appreciated after the long hike. Follow our GPS unit to get the correct route from El Chorro to Málaga. It is a narrow country road winding through the mountains where if you get behind a slow car or truck you are not going very fast. Many lime and orange tree orchards. Earlier on the trail I had received a text from our Airbnb host Antonio that he needed about 90 minutes advance notice so he could meet us at the apartment. After some communication he indicates he will be there for 17:50 so we don't want to be too late. At last we find a much faster road and then we see the city of Málaga in the distance.

We have some bad luck navigating as there are some barriers erected on our route which means we can't take the preferred route from our GPS. Lots of backtracking and some u-turns when in the heart of the city. It takes longer, but we do get to the street of the apartment and Antonio is patiently waiting. Somehow he knows it is us driving and escorts us to the underground parking entrance. Phew! Parking here is not easy, but we get it done and have our luggage/backpacks to get to the room. I believe we arrive at the street around 18:20? Antonio is a great guy and explains about the different entrance for his apartment building.

A little confusing but two apartment towers share the same entrance despite our apartment 25 (street address #) sharing with #27. You enter the door then either take the elevator or walk up one level of stairs (in address #27) and then take a new elevator or turn on a new stairwell and go up one more floor. Then you walk along a short corridor and out into a narrow courtyard and find the entrance to 25. Hmmm, not that confusing I guess. 

Well we are  both tired from the long hike(s) we are pretty excited about our new city. Our apartment is excellent! Another two bedroom apartment with two different bathrooms. Plus, Lana has a bathtub. Very clean and well appointed. Antonio has a bottle of red Cava on the counter and a complimentary large bottle of water. Plus, a fantastic map of this part of the city. We are in the historic centre of Málaga and according to our host this is where the tourists are and there is not much to see outside of the central part. He indicates on the map where we are and some places to visit and grab some food supplies. Plus, he spends the time to discuss recommended restaurants and writes all the information in my book. Lana asks about a spa and he even knows a good one to recommend. 

We both need to get the sweat off and into city clothes. Plus, figure out our food destination. We choose a recommended tapas place Casa Lola and it is about a seven minute walk. Why this place? It has tapas so we want to compare to our previous experiences in both Sevilla and Granada. Antonio had indicated if you order a cerveza (beer) you will get a free tapas (maybe)? When we arrive at this restaurant there is a queue so it must be popular. Not too long of a wait and we are at a table with high chairs. Pretty big menu although all in Spanish. By now we have figured out many of the dishes. This menu actually has the drink choices on it! Lana orders her favourite new drink being the Tinto de Verano:

online pic

I order a Vino Dulce Moscatel (sweet Moscatel) that comes in a small glass. Plus, we order a small bottle of sparkling water (agua con gas) as we are both still thirsty. Free tapas do NOT come with our drink orders but we do get a small plate of green olives which Lana says are quite delicious. For food we order three dishes and each were pretty good and arrived reasonably fast (hey, we are hungry here). The total of our bill is 20.20 Euro and we are not keen on much of any tip given our specific server wasn't too efficient. This includes a San Miguel bottle of beer I ordered and it was much appreciated today. We were approached at 21:00 and told our table was reserved for the same time so we needed to get going.... not impressed with that. 

Online pic of the inside of the restaurant. 

Our dish of four Croquetas (Croquetas Variadas Media) for four Euro. Four different potato flavours: tuna, bacalao, squid and ham. The squid was delicious. You can see the complimentary olive dish that Lana mostly finished until a server took the plate before she was finished. 

Order of Pinchito Gamba (shrimp) that comes with an aioli sauce. The shrimp was perfectly cooked. We used our complimentary bread to sop up the olive oil and dip into the leftover aioli. 

This is a very interesting looking dish! Cojonudo Jamón (eggs on ham on bread). We both loved this dish and I am sure it appeals to many tourists like us. Lana thought it tasted like breakfast. 

This area is full of people! Plus, it is a Friday night in the big city. Málaga and the Costa del Sol is super popular with British people and other northern Europeans given its temperatures and beaches. Yup, it is a walking area which is much appreciated. So many restaurant choices here and apartments/hotels. We tried the Supermercado Dia but it had just closed. We return to our apartment around 21:30 and Lana is into bed pretty quickly watching tv. After a short time I check on her and she is fast asleep!

Stats: 28,000+ steps, 21 kms and 167 Floors (610 metres elevation gain). My Fitbit Ionic wristwatch stopped working towards the end of the hike as the battery died. Plus, I kept pausing it and then forgetting to re-activate it when I got walking again.