La piscina

I do love it here. Rural Spain is very natural and tranquil. Even in the height of summer the plants are green and the rivers flow. One of the favourite pursuits locally at this time of year is to go swimming in the natural pool on the river. Not too keen on swimming myself but I understand that it is great fun and very refreshing. I'm quite happy to watch activities from the sidelines. It was a new experience for Toffee. He told me afterwards that he enjoyed his stroll up to the pool and will probably venture in next time.

Factoid: There are some 1,8000 rivers in Spain. The Río de La Toba is where the pool in the photo is. It flows into the Río Guadalfeo. The source of the Guadalfeo is Mulhacén in the Sierra Nevada. The river flows through the region of La Alpujarra for much of its course and enters the sea near Salobreña and Motril after passing through a spectacular gorge between the Lujar and Chapparal mountains. Although it is often dried up by this point, its waters are often used for agricultural purposes. The Rules dam has been built across the river near Velez de Benaudalla, at the head of the gorge resulting in the creation of a large reservoir and the flooding of a section of the river valley.