Below us, a basilica worshipped by thousands, alongside us, a barranco that skirted the basement of Guimar valley, and around us, inspired intrusions of modern living. Araya was welcoming and a great choice starting with a steep uphill drive from the motorway. With such a choice of walks radiating from Araya we hit the trail heading up from Araya plaza and its small church, boasting an outside post box set up for requests to the Three Kings for the Reyes celebrations.

Los Brezos seemed as a good a choice as any for a heading. It was steep from the start but the locals took it in good cheer so that seemed a wise mode to adopt. This was another walking hot spot that I hadn´t visited for many years, and it looked wonderful.

Ingenious use had been made of old baths, and the creative twirls on the edge of a patio would have made my old metalwork teacher forgive me for my pitiful efforts. A wine press hinted at liquid rewards for the earlier pioneers.

Further up the trail, the views offered several choices of direction but a circular sweep seemed the best plan as the route headed upwards. The barranco (ravine) below had the remains of old cave houses hewn into the sides. On a hot sunny day like this it had its big plus points but the bad season rains must have been testing to say the least.

Beauty sprouted at every oportunity. with past hard work and tough lessons lurking not far behind. Taking the down turn, the more modern farms rose from the lower layers as the start point came into view after nearly three hours of testing walking. There´s plenty of variations to lure me back, and more memories to revive as the lower slopes spread into Guimar.