It seems to have enjoyed good times in the 18th century when the influential Galvez family (who came from Macharaviaya) built a playing card factory there and sold the packs of cards in America. Strange tale. There is a large church in the village - San Jacinto - and a mausoleum to the Galvez family.
We went there some time ago, when we were exploring our local area. It was the sort of place that when you arrived, everyone stared at you because you were obviously so out of place. It felt rather intrusive to get out and do the whole tourist thing in somebody's face so we cleared off.
Apparently it is home to lots of artists because of its tranquility and peacefulness. Isolation is the word.
Anyway, last month it suddenly acquired a geocache. Even more interestingly, no-one seemed bothered to dash there and claim the First to Find. We clearly haven't quite got the geocaching bug because the first thing we did on arriving at the finca was not to dash off to Macharaviaya. In fact we had been back four days before we went to hunt down the elusive FTF - on my birthday.
Now while we had been before, my memory had clearly hazed over the detail. I remembered rolling hillsides covered with olive trees. I did not remember a vertiginious narrow road (it had actually improved since our first visit) that snaked along the top of the ridge with steep drops on either side and hugged the precipitious hillside on the ascents and descents.
'Oh that's it down there isn't it?' said my helpful chauffeur.
'I don't know and I'm not looking,' I said, eyes firmly fixed on the reassuring hillside to the right of me, rather than the vomit-inducing drop to the left.
Pretty place, nice location, great views ............. but if you have problems with vertigo and heights - be warned.
The cache was fun. I was glued to the GPS and announced we were getting near. A convenient parking spot appeared and we pulled in. We set off down the road and I suddenly realised we were getting further away from the cache. We turned round - and realised we had parked right next to the location. Duh.
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It was well hidden and in a good spot. I hope other people take the time to go and find it.
Other Landy travelling news: well, we have now tried out all the toll road stretches between Gib and Málaga. The toll road between Sotogrande and Estepona costs 2.90€ and in my opinion is not worth taking. Plus it has some horrid viaducts and tunnels. Even more horrid than normal. And the alternative coast road is pretty and usually not busy.
On the toll road between Marbella and Fuengirola, the cafe/restaurant at Los Altos de Marbella does great sandwiches - we got a bocadillo de tortilla para llevar (to take away) and it was great. They really had some excellent looking tapas too: some potato salad, a salad with tomato, onion and olives, and yet another delicious looking vegetarian one.
Down side, it is increasingly busy at this rest area at the moment, and the once tidy and clean toilets are no longer immaculate.
The rest area on the toll road that by-passes San Pedro is pretty quiet, and a great place to stop. I've only used the shop, so maybe I need to test out the bar food next time. It was pretty busy today though. The car parking area was quiet though.
Oh, and we sat in the border queue for half an hour today. No idea why. A first for us, we have usually been incredibly lucky with no queues.
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