This move means that, weather permitting of course, members and visitors can enjoy a game of bowls almost every day of the year. The new custom made facility has four rinks where the game is Outdoor Short Mat Bowls.

You can find details of membership, information regarding joining or just popping along to play, rules of play, how to get there and much more by visiting the Almijara Bowls Club website.

In Nerja, Día de la Constitución began with the official speeches in the Council Plenary Hall by the various political leaders. This was followed by a concert by the Nerja Municipal Band in front of the Town Hall and then the ceremonial raising of the flags, a task performed by young people who reached the age of eighteen years on, or round about, December 6th.

The Plaza de España was the location for the first Muestra Artesanal Villa de Nerja, a crafts market where one of the requirements is that everything is made by hand.

John Keogh of Hiking Walking Spain organised a walk for volunteers to the top of Cerro de Pinto (400meters/1300 feet), Frigiliana, to clear away rubbish left by careless and uncaring visitors to this beautiful area.

Twenty volunteers hiked to the top of Cerro de Pinto and cleaned an area close to the Cross, filling 35 bags of rubbish. But that was the easy part…..

The volunteers then had to hike back down the mountain, cross the Rio Higueron and climb back up to La Molineta with 35 bags of rubbish and put them into the waste collection area.

These people, Spanish, Irish, English, Scottish, Swedish, German, Argentinian and Dutch deserve a big THANK YOU from all who walk these mountains

People began drifting into the Plaza de Maro during the late afternoon for a scheduled six o’clock start to the festivities, although in reality nothing ever starts on time in Spain, not even TV programmes, and this event was no exception.

It is basically a question of for six o’clock read six thirty or seven o’clock. It makes no difference as everyone is well accustomed to Spanish timekeeping.

By seven o’clock the square was packed and the smell of roasting chestnuts filled the evening air. An orderly queue for the chestnuts began almost as soon as the coals were lit but once the first ones were ready the ‘orderly’ went by the board and it became more like a collapsed rugby scrum. All part of the fun, though, but no place for the timid.

There were two dance groups providing entertainment, La Carpa and the Dance Academy Cristian, and music was courtesy of the trio Sondelarte. Beer and tinto de verano was only €1 and the chestnuts and sweet potatoes were free, what more could you ask?

An excellent little village celebration and well supported. There was even a large group from Barcelona who took time out from their vacation in Nerja to enjoy the festivities.

MORE MAROWEEN 2011 PHOTOS

Crane is a Special Investigations Branch Detective in the British Army, based at Aldershot Garrison. Crane is disturbed by the horrific case of a soldier called Solomon who, after recently returning from Afghanistan, murdered his wife and 6 year old son and then committed suicide.

It seems Solomon was attending a local Church, which encourages people to join by offering salvation to its members. But as Crane investigates and the body count rises, events take a darker turn and he wonders what the Church is offering – salvation, or slaughter?

Wendy had to take early retirement from teaching due to ill health and moved to the Costa del Sol.

My inspiration for the Sgt Major Crane novels has been my love of crime writing (which I read voraciously) and my husband’s 22 years service in the British Army. So with a deep breath and fingers crossed I have finally decided to publish! Your feedback would be welcomed and if you enjoy the book, please recommend it to a friend.

Support your local author by downloading it now from Amazon for under a £1. You don’t need a Kindle. The eBook is available in multiple formats and can even be downloaded to your computer.

You can visit her website at: www.wendycartmell.webs.com

The exhibition is open from 12:00 to 14:00 and 19:00 to 21:00 and contains some very interesting pieces inspired by Andalucia and her trips through Mexico and Central America.

Simone Wiener hails from the Black Forest area of Germany and was a woven textile designer, studying at the Instituto Europeo di Design in Milan. She moved to Nerja with her family in the 1990′s and now dedicates her life to oil painting.

The exhibition contains works painted on various mediums, such as a woven palm mat, bags and even stones.

The parc is divided into distinct areas, these being Madagascar, Ecuatorial Africa and Southeast Asia, with each section containing a variety of flora and fauna.

The parc is well laid out and, despite being relatively small in area, you don’t get the feeling of it being cramped, either for the visitor or the animals.

During the month of August the parc is open from 10:00 to midnight every day with the ticket office issuing the last tickets at 23:00.

The baby flamingos (left) look quite funny little bundles of feathers.

Tickets cost €16 for adults, €11 for children (aged 3 years to 9 years) with under three’s being free and €11 for over 65′s.

There are two refreshment areas, the Africa restaurant and the Asia cafe-bar, both relatively reasonably priced although, naturally, more costly than in the town itself or on the beach.

There is a children’s play area and a Jungle Clearing where they hold regular shows and exhibitions.

During one of the shows, various birds and animals appear and run (or fly) amongst the gathered crowd.

A hairy armadillo, a deer, a porcupine, a bird of prey and a toucan were amongst those putting in a performance while I was there.

The animals, of course, were duly rewarded for their performance with items of food – they’ve probably got Max Clifford as their agent to negotiate an appearance fee.

For anyone who loves animals, and plants for that matter, Bioparc makes a great excursion.

We are, of course, totally ignoring the whole crusty question or debate of ‘animals in captivity’.

There are no cages as such in Bioparc and the whole concept is based on ‘natural environment’.

I spent a good three hours wandering around the Bioparc, although I would imagine the average would be around a couple of hours.

If you are on a day trip to Fuengirola then this gives you plenty of time to take in the rest of the town.

There are the beaches, of course, some wonderful ‘chiringuitos’ and there is even a castle perched on top of a small hill and overlooking both the town and the beaches.

The Bioparc website (in Spanish and English) is here: Bioparc Fuengirola.

You can see lots (over 250) more photos here: Bioparc Fuengirola Photo Gallery

The High Walk along El Camino Del Rey (Wednesdays as from August 3rd) is a great adventure! Technically it’s easy – this particular route is accessible for all average fit people. The walk is always preceded by full instruction (use of via ferrata kit) and the walk is conducted with full protection of lanyards and climbing ropes.

Price: €90 pp (cost per person includes guiding and instruction, all equipment (harness, via ferrata lanyards, helmet), refreshments and transport from/back to Nerja. Up to 6 people in group.

Participants will be collected at main bus station in Nerja, at 9:00 (in front of bus-stop for buses heading to Frigiliana).

For all of you who want to try rock climbing and abseiling, you will be shown how to safely use basic climbing equipment and how to climb on real, natural rock. The instruction, rock climbing and abseiling takes place in the perfect surroundings of the Rio Chillar gorge, very close to Nerja.

This excursion takes place on Thursdays as from August 4th.

Price: €45 pp (cost per person includes guiding & instruction, climbing equipment,
climbing shoes, lunch and refreshments and transport in the Nerja area). Up to 6 people in group. It is recomended to book in advance.

Participants will be collected at main bus station in Nerja, at 9:00 (in front of bus-stop for buses heading to Frigiliana).

More details – Tel: 633 654 328 or visit www.andalucia-aventura.com/activities.html

The festival was held in Pitres, the centre of La Tahá municipality. The municipality, 1,300 metres above sea level, has a population of just 800 people. More importantly, though, it has no access to the sea and the Virgen del Carmen is the protectress of seamen.

The celebration of La Virgen del Carmen stopped during the Civil War but residents are now determined that it will continue to be a tradition in the village.

This curious situation arose, according to local legend, at a time when the residents of Pitres were known as ‘barbarians’ and an influential politician of the time, believed to be Natalio Rivas, posed the question, ‘Barbarians of Pitres. What do you want?’

The reply was, ‘A sea port’.

Again according to legend, Natalio Rivas responded by saying, ‘Granted, you have it’, and La Tahá was symbolically declared a seaport.

This led to the twinning of Pitres with the port of Motril and the municipality of Carchuna donated a boat and an anchor, which is still on display to this day at a crossing in the town known as the ‘Paseo Maritimo’ (The Promenade).

However, as there is no physical beach or port, the homage to the Virgen del Carmen is purely a religious ceremony carried out in front of the effigy.

As a Guide here in the Sierra Almijara, I have often run into walkers with a Guide book in one hand and a look of utter bewilderment on their faces as they try to decipher what a writer was trying to describe.

These guide books are excellent tools but one basic tenet is often overlooked; they are no substitute for thinking for yourself, working out the route by using contours, measures, timing based on terrain and all the other things that go to making for a successful self-guided walk.

Mary-Ann was lost for 18 days, no more than 10 kilometres from the coastal town of Nerja with a population of 22,000 people and no more than 5 or 6 kilometres from Frigiliana with a population of 3000 people.

What a difference a Map and Compass Course would have made to her, her distraught family and the hundreds of volunteers who scoured the mountains searching for her, not to mention the huge resources used by the Police, Mountain Rescue among others.

The Axarquia or Eastern Malaga has been a remote and inhospitable place for centuries. Home to bandits, guerrillas and revolutionaries through the ages, this area is only now beginning to be explored by Spanish and foreigners alike.

These hills will turn you around and upside down. Without proper maps, compass, food and water you can be in serious trouble. Luckily Mary Ann was trapped close to water and was able to survive her ordeal even though she had no food for 18 days and nights.

Many people have built fine homes on the lower slopes close to the sea but only a few kilometres away are ravines, gorges, ridges and mountains of such silent, spectacular beauty that one wonders what the tourist agencies are up to for not promoting this fantastic wilderness more.

Perhaps they are afraid of many more Mary Ann Goossens getting lost in the wilderness only a few miles from civilisation.

When I began to take my hill walking seriously about 14 years ago, one of the first things I did was take a course on Map-reading and the use of a compass. My club, The Hillwalkers, who are affiliated to An Óige, ran and indeed still run, Map and Compass courses.

These days it’s very common for all major clubs to run these courses for their members.

Mary Ann got lucky last week. Without water close by, she would be dead. Her rescue was one of the really good mountain news stories this year, but it also highlighted what can happen in what most people regard as a “safe” hiking area, if you enter unprepared and without due respect for the environment you are walking in.

John Keogh

John Keogh Walking Tours

www.HikingWalkingSpain.com