Málaga, Spain

This is our only port inside the Mediterranean Sea and only about 100 miles from Gibraltar. We visited there in 2015 and 2016, so check out those pages, because this time we took a ship excursion to a hike through a beautiful narrow gorge. The trail was called Caminito del Rey (small walk of the king).

Views of the Spanish countryside from the bus...

Olive groves were numerous, but then, Spain is the number one exporter of olives.

We had gained altitude and the hills were steeper.

After the bus let us off, we still had a bit of a walk to get to the start of the trail, including through this tunnel.

 
Our guide told us what to expect, while Dali, a crew member from shore excursions looked on. We all used the toilets, because it was a five-mile hike. We were issued disposable air-nets and helmets and then we were given a rules and procedures talk by the outfitter there. It's a one-way trail and everyone starts here and all the walkers go in the same direction, for reasons that will become clear when you see the path.

The real trail started next to a dam and indeed the trail was originally built in the early 1920s for workers of the hydroelectric dams on the river, so they could travel between the dams.

 
Various groups had different colored helmets--ours were blue. We could see the narrow gorge ahead.

 
Looking back at the spillway over the dam. We stayed close to the guide to listen to his commentary, even though he had a mic system and we all had headsets so we could hear him talk, because this way we could see what he was talking about.

 
The walkway transitioned from a solid cement walk to a board walk mounted to the side of the rock cliff. Our guide said that it was completely redone in 2015 and no one had died walking this path since then. Good to know! Here's a link with more details.

 
Again looking back at the dam.

There were some really interesting rock formations that had been carved out by water over time.

We headed downhill in this section.

Then the gorge opened up.

 
This bridge was part of the old structure and is where the king of Spain walked across it to dedicate the structure.
It's not used for anything today.

 
The path was on land for a while, but we could see another gorge ahead.

Looking straight down as we walked from the next suspended portion of the trail.

We had an interesting view of where we were going as the pathway followed the indentation of the rock cliff.

The old walkway is under the new one along this section of the trail.

Across the river was a train track that went through some tunnels.

 
Looking back into the indentations and looking forward after rounding that precarious-looking corner.

We approached the suspension bridge that crossed to the other side of the gorge. There is also a tunnel to use if weather conditions are too harsh for using the bridge.

Once in a while, we looked up to appreciate the beauty.

After the suspension bridge, there were stairs down to solid ground.

Looking back from the other side, you can see that the path continues along the rocky face and over the train tunnel.

An attractive lavender bush growing wild in the harsh arid environment.

Looking up at the bridge for the railway. We turned in our helmets and hair-nets and waited for a straggler who had not kept up with the rest of us.

From the bus again...

Back on the ship, this was the sail-away. It was a great day, and we'd added only about six miles to our total, but they were exciting miles with spectacular scenery.

A dusky sunset over the mountains. We'd sail out of the Mediterranean Sea and through the Strait of Gibraltar after dark, but our next port was still in Spain: Cadiz.