NERJA, SPAIN: DARK CAVES AND BRIGHT RESORTS


“This is the balcony of Europe.” – attributed to Spain’s King Alfonso XII, during his visit to the Andalusia region after an 1884 earthquake

In 1959, five boys hunting for bats just outside the town of Nerja in the Spanish province of Malaga discovered the entrance to what turned out to be a series of caverns running deep into the earth. It started as an adventure, but they were soon terrified as they found the remains of humans and animals spread around the portion of the caves into which they returned with flashlights.

But it did not take long for the world to discover what they had found: a massive system of caverns that had been inhabited in prehistoric times. Indeed, the first set of human remains they saw were those of a female who was 18 years old at the time of her death, some 6,500 years ago. Within the caves were paintings of seals. These had been believed to be the oldest paintings in the world, having been identified in 2012 as being about 42,000 years old. However, more recent testing in 2017 indicated that they may be younger than that—perhaps “only” 20,000 years old. This would render them younger than another set of drawings in a cave in France and, more importantly, would mean that they were drawn by homo sapiens rather than Neanderthals. It had been believed, prior to the initial dating of the paintings, that Neanderthals were not capable of such symbolism and creativity. The initial dating of 42,000 years seemed to negate that belief, but now it is all in question again.

A view inside the cavern chamber
 Unfortunately for visitors like me, but fortunately for the survival of these fragile artifacts, the chamber where the paintings are located is closed to the public. However, other chambers are open, and I was able to tour the stalagmites, stalactites, and columns (formations where stalagmites and stalactites meet) found in these chambers. This included what has been confirmed by the Guinness Book of World Records to be the largest cave column in the world (actually, multiple columns that, over time, have merged into one.

The world's largest cave column
After the caves came a visit to the resort town of Nerja on the Costa del Sol. With beautiful beaches, an overlook that is known as the “balcony of Europe,” and a warren of inviting cafes and shops, it was a lovely way to spend an afternoon with what has been for this trip perfect weather. 

View of the Costa del Sol, from the Balcony of Europe

It was yet another stop in Spain that made me promise myself a lengthy land trip to Spain in the future.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

REYKJAVIK, ICELAND: BLUE, GREEN, AND GRAY

Image
“ There are few more certain tokens of ill than not to know how to accept the good .” – from The Saga of Gretti (a classic Icelandic saga) Despite what one may think, the blue in Iceland’s flag does not represent the sea that surrounds this island nation. Instead, it stands for the hues of the landscape, where even the green is blue-ish, and the thermal pools of water that seem to be everywhere are multiple shades of blue. And it most definitely does not evoke the sky, which seems to be a perpetual shade of gray. Or that may be just this year: we were told that May and June 2018 were the rainiest in the past 100 years. Despite the gray skies, our two days in Reykjavik were wonderful. My only complaint is that there wasn’t enough time to do even a fraction of what I wanted to do. So, Iceland is definitely on the “come back and stay a while” list of places. First on the agenda was to bathe in the infamous Blue Lagoon. In the midst of a lava field some 45 mi
Read more

NEVER AGAIN: BREENDONK

Image
  " What is done cannot be undone, but one can prevent it happening again. " - Anne Frank Hall of Remembrance Who are you? Are you the concentration camp nurse whose focus is to monitor the torture to make sure it stops just short of killing the person, or are you the nurse who quietly provides medicines to relieve dysentery? Are you the “responsible” (the prisoner designated as in charge of a barrack) who demands bribes from the others to get the larger pieces of bread or a sleeping platform away from the slop pot? Or are you the one who ensures that the weakest get a bit more food, and that facilities, such as they are, are shared equally? When faced with the unspeakable, do any of us know which among the untenable choices we will make? During WWII, some faced those choices and chose the best route available and others chose the worst. And millions of others faced no choice at all but misery and death. Those circumstances were encapsulated in a place
Read more

ISAFJORDUR, ICELAND: FISH AND SMILES

Image
Bolungarvik “ The inhabitants have always been considered hard working, fiercely independent and a bit quirky (like most of the people of Westfjords to be honest).” – from the Port of Isafjordur brochure, discussing the town of Bolungarvik. A pleasant expression on the face. A warm greeting. A dry sense of humor. This seems to be endemic among the people of the Westfjords peninsula of Iceland, where we have made our first stop in this island nation with a population numbering only 334,000. Some 2,700 of those people live in the town of Isafjordur where we docked, and another 882 in the town of Bolungarvik just up the road and through a tunnel. Isafjordur is the area hub, with two grocery stores, two bars, a government-run liquor store, a hotel, a university, and a variety of other establishments. Like the rest of Iceland, fishing is the area’s mainstay. The winters are harsh and covered with snow, and summers are pleasantly cool. The scenery is spectacular, wi
Read more