In part one of the blog, I wrote about Calpe and the proliferation of concrete towers that make up the resort. It is hard to believe that a 15 min coach ride will take you away from all the noise and hustle of a busy tourist area and in to some charming villages, stunning views and peaceful walking trails over hills, valleys and through woodland.

The starting point for our first walk was the picturesque village of Tarbena which a local website describes as “a small village with winding narrow streets and number of natural water sources. The village is surrounded by almond groves.” The village sits on the side of a large hill and the surrounding land was terraced a few hundred years ago so villagers could grow crops and plant trees. Our guides, Mario and Juan Carlos told us that years ago these terraces were full of Olive trees but more recently the growers have turned to growing almond trees as this crop is more profitable. The up side of this is that I am told that almond blossom when it comes is wonderfully scented and beautifully white making it very picturesque.

Top: Typical Tarbena street ; Centre and bottom: Tarbena cafe with a display of antique radios on the wall.

Top: Mural on the side of house leaving Tarbena; Bottom: We thought this was an old Olive Press – out of shot is a large half barrel presumably to collect the olive oil.

Leaving Tarbena on the walk up to the castle ruins.

The path for the first part of our walk led us to the site of an ancient Moorish castle by the name of Sa Caseta de Moros, which sat above the village but is now a virtually unrecognisable ruin. There was barely enough there to enable recognition as a former castle, nevertheless the views from there were stunning.

Top: What is left of the Moorish castle above Tarbena; Centre: A view from the castle ruins. Bottom: Looking back to the village

From here our walk looped back towards the village before climbing on another path behind, taking us to our lunch stop in a gorge by the name of Cami de Sa Muntaya.

Top: The gorge of Cami de Sa Muntaya; 2. A panoramic view from the top of the gorge; 3. In the unofficial seating area at the gorge, someone had created this stone heart. 4. View over the valley shortly after leaving the gorge

Throughout the walk Juan and Mario would pause to highlight something in the natural world or birdsong. Lyn, equipped with her bird recognition app Merlin was kept busy listing new species she had not heard before. Our walk concluded with coffee back at the village cafe, sitting among the locals who were enjoying a long, wine soaked lunch.

Views of the Terracing cut into the hillside to grow almonds. This terracing is hundreds of years old.

Top: A rose in garden looking lovely. Bottom: Wild daisy of some description.

Us enjoying the views.

The village of Sella lies around 45 mins from Calpe to the north west. We were familiar with the road up as we had enjoyed a couple of holidays a few years ago in the nearby village of Relleu.

Once again the walk started at a cafe (there is a theme here) so after a short pause for coffee we headed away from the village along a quiet road leading into a valley. At one point we stopped to admire a natural stream which we were told was the source of a spring feeding a local river. Considering the Costa Blanca and much of Spain is enduring the worst drought in years, this little trickle of a stream gave some hope as it ran away down the hill. The walk continued in figure of eight pattern crossing the road close to the village before heading up into the woods and past a small lake to a purpose built picnic area with seating and a car park in a woodland by a tiny lake. We lingered here a while for lunch before the short walk back to Sella and a return to Calpe.

Top: On the trail out of Sella; 2. A view down the valley; 3. Interesting seed pods on this tree; 4. Us enjoying the sunshine

Three views of Sella on the first part of our walk

La Font de l’Alcantera – This is the source of the Alcantera Spring, a natural stream that flows down the hill from its source via an irrigation channel into a river and on to the Alcantara pool.

Lyn pauses briefly on the trail with Sella in the background

Home on a smallholding – the garden was full of vegetables but the dwelling was habitable but “needed work”

The crossing point of the route from Sella

Small lake fed by a waterfall

A ruined farm house built on one of the terraces.

Some more flowers seen on our walk

Our start point for our next walk was briefed as a 35 minute coach drive away, so imagine our surprise when we were dropped at Calpe Railway station, about 15 minutes after we set off, and right on the outskirts of town. Because of the narrowness of the road, and number of hairpin bends on the route up to our start point at Sierra de Olta, coaches were not permitted any further than our drop off point at the station, so we had an hour long road walk to the beginning of the woodland trail.

Views on the walk up to the start point of the forest trail at Sierra de Olta

It was a stiff climb on the road, past some lovely villas with excellent views over Calpe. We paused briefly on arrival at Sierra de Olta before embarking on our walk.

Images of the forest trail path up to the summit

The path continued to climb, getting narrower as we went higher. Luckily the hillside was heavily wooded which provided us with some much needed shade. The information board suggested that the forest we were walking through was home to a wide variety of birdlife, including Peregrine Falcon, Eagles, Dartford Warbler and Black Wheatear. There was much birdsong but seeing them is a different matter.

Just below the summit was a short rock scramble which opened out into a large flat wooded area and the summit of our walk. It was literally down hill all the way from here.

Top: The short scramble towards the summit; Centre: Pass de la Canal – The summit we were climbing to. Bottom: At the summit, the wooded glade providing welcome shade

Us at the summit just before our walk down.

After a short “banana” break it was time for the easier descent back to our start point. The forest path soon opened out into a clear path and later a wide rough track with amazing views toward the coast.

Top: Halfway down – time for a selfie!; Bottom: Nearly back, with Calpe in the background

At one point on a hairpin bend in the track we came across an old wreck of a building, possibly a farmers cottage. It was roofless and overgrown but still proudly bore the name of the farm on the wall.

Top and 2: The old farmers cottage bearing the nameplate. In the words of any estate agent, definitely a “doer upper” ; Bottom: The view across the valley near the old farm cottage.

The walk down provided us with some wonderful views of the coast line. Top and 2: Looking south towards the Med. 3. Further down we caught this view of modern Calpe laid out before us.

From our viewpoint looking west along the coast. In the distance is Benidorm!

We arrived back at the Sierra de Olta to find it much more crowded. Several families had arrived with a picnic, consisting of an enormous pan of paella which was bubbling away on an open fire and was shared with all of them.. The smell of the food drifting over to our picnic area was delicious, but we had to make do with our packed lunches, prepared at breakfast in the hotel! It was lovely to see families coming together in the outdoors to enjoy each other’s company in that typical Mediterranean way.

It was lovely to get out of the resort, away from the concrete jungle that Calpe has become, and be able to explore the surrounding hills and woodland. Our guides, Mario and Juan Carlos were excellent, knowledgable about the wildlife and flora and fauna in the areas we visited. There is much more to see and do in Spain, I am sure we will be back.