Pico Coros

This was another incredible hike that Clive took me on that originates in Grazalema.  We started off by walking up to the reservoir which provides drinking water for the village.  We then walked through cork forest and I got to learn how cork is produced.  A tree has to mature before cork can be harvested and this can only be done every 8 or so years as it weakens the tree.  Eventually, the tree will die from this process. The hike culminates at Pico Coros, part of the Nature Park system in Andalucía which helps to protect the wildlife. 

On the north face and below us was a bright azure reservoir at the base of a rocky plateau which was used as a burial site by the ancient people who lived in this area.  We could only speculate on why they would haul their dead all that way!!! There are a number of interesting plants in this area, among them the Quercus ilex, which has spiny holly foliage on the bottom half of the tree as a protection from grazing animals and oval shaped leaves on the top half.  Very clever adaptation.

Ancient burial site

As we came around the south face, we took a lunch break and were entertained by the Griffon vultures who were taking full advantage of the air currents to just have fun and scavenge for food.  The colonies in this part of Spain are one of the few remaining in the world, due to a decrease in their food supply. The  vulture society is matriarchal; power passes down from the ‘queen’ to her daughters, and this female hierarchy has priority when it comes to eating.

On top of the world