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EN / 03 LA LAGUNA DE LA TIMES: Mirage Blue

Play blue blade between the olive trees. It hides, it appears, gets to hide. It faces two olive trees, slips away. Play with our eyes like a mirage. And not just today. Lake La Ratosa comes and goes with the seasons. Deep blue in spring and winter. Brown patch in summer and autumn. It is an area changing, mutable, subtle and delicate, fragile. Bulle life now. Clucks, chirps, hisses, rumors, whispers, fluttering, steps, splash, diving ... All of them compose the soundtrack, a natural symphony that human beings in time with the distant murmur of tractors, flowing fast and unusual AVE. The red soil, dark, in sharp contrast to the blue lagoon, with the pale green of the olive trees, the fluttering pink and white flamingos. We already have the soundtrack and the color palette. Now you just have to let go.

Narural Park of Laguna de la Ratosa

Ratosa The Lagoon Nature Reserve was declared in 1999, his features make it special. It is fragile, is in a highly cultivated man, was subjected to the whims of the seasons, emptied almost entirely in summer, regenerating his life in the winter and spring. It is also relatively small, with 24 hectares and its origin is in the drain causing natural groundwater aquifer. Its location between the cities of Alameda Humilladero and, within the Malaga province, bordering the Seville, makes its ecosystem suffer the rigors of summer heat to evaporate its contents until it almost disappears. This led to the Laguna de la Ratosa only has a small strip of rushes and reeds and, thus, no birds to nest in the vicinity, being a transit and food. Because of these singularities, access into the lagoon is strictly prohibited except for research purposes, and we need a permit for the Environment access. But this circumstance is only for experts, laymen will enjoy walking along the border much outside of the lagoon surface. We testify. Even with all the Ratosa Lagoon is part of a larger ecosystem which include, besides her, the lagoon of Fuente de Piedra, the Campillos and Archidona, which must be added, such as door entrance to the peninsula from Africa, the mouth of the Guadalhorce.

The walk, the silence and life

We parked the car next to the label of the lagoon of the Castanets. There we get a cloud of butterflies white, blue dragonfly, flitting along the banks of the lagoon. The soil is a deep red. After leaving the car we heard some squawking. Training of ten flamingos flying in vee us flies. Beat their wings with a soft cadence slow, rhythmic. They are very close, just be scared by our presence. Rotate in the air and cave in the shade of the trees. Observe carefully and distinguish water swimming on it to the first inhabitants of the Ratosa. In the lagoon one can distinguish up to fifteen different birds, among which are the great crested grebe, black-necked grebe, little grebe, heron, cattle egret, flamingo, eagle harrier, moorhen, coot, stilt, avocet, such as laughing gulls and the dark, or whiskered terns piconera. Walk.
Silence is a tool and an ally. Lagoon bordered with olive trees, we welcome two or three sprayers working on domesticated olive trees, walked in silence. Is this the only way to catch all the subtle sounds that surround us at every step a splash in the water, a dive, a hiss. glimpse of green rings of a snake fled from the main road, a yellow lizard almost half a meter long cross just five steps, a rabbit standing, motionless, static, in the foliage around the lagoon.
From time to time we stand and serve, we look in more detail and what appeared before us still moves with subtlety, in a unique dance and secret. Swaying reeds and cane, suggesting the blue surface of the lagoon. walked down a path of earthen used by tractors, road almost forms a natural perimeter around the lagoon. A corner and behind it, hidden in the tall grass bordering a group of white flamingos, large peak, the flaring pink. We got our binoculars and observe carefully. We took the camera and threw a couple of photos. Fear scare. We walked slowly, slowly, quietly. As we approach them, move on water, without fanfare, without an explosion of flapping wings, swimming smoothly. Slowly away, fine. A heron pecks the bottom of the water with them. We walked and the lagoon behind a vast field of daisies, lilies and poppies framed by the usual olives. We see in the distance, the AVE, as a smooth appearance, quiet and shooting across the skyline.
The aromas are subtle, sweet, fresh. Deep breath. We approached the shore everything that allows the reddish mud that surrounds the lake. We see more aquatic coots, black, white peak, swimming in vee followed by their chicks. Liban
lilac butterflies and daisies and poppies and flying here and there in an apparently erratic. Blue dragonflies buzz over cereal plantations.
But there is more, we do not see that we did not observe, but we know it is there, submerged, and that is as pointed Visitor's Window: The lagoon is Ratosa floristic interest due to the richness of species submerged vegetation and the presence of rare and endangered Althenia orientalis, aquatic plant living in shallow bottoms.
In parts of the lagoon cleared a, along the shore and given the brackish waters, are remains of white salt flakes, as a warning the proximity of the summer heat, the short life of the times, its existence whimsical and fragile, subtle. Walk. Farewell



silent. Still. We try to blend into the environment. Nothing happens at first. Then, little by little, life is back their routines outside the human presence and begin to hear a new clucking, a rhythmic flutter, the buzz of dragonflies, a trill hidden among the trees and the subtle hiss of a snake , the cracking of branches, the rustle of the reeds, the sound of crickets, our breath ... to be part of the fauna of the Ratosa.

Links and tips

Links: We take as reference the website of the Tourist Board the Costa del Sol and the website of the Government of Andalusia, Visitor window. To learn more about the municipality in which lies the lagoon of the times, you can visit the link in the blue sky for Alameda .

Time: The best time to visit the lagoon is Ratosa between the months of February and June, below the gap changes due to evaporation and it is a broad sheet of water in spring is transformed into almost a summer salt and autumn.

Photo: shown in this section is a complete collection of photographs to post.







Location: This Google map can reference the exact location of this natural area, located between Alameda , Humilladero and Seville town of Roda de Andalucía.


View Blue Sky Color "Natural de Málaga" in a larger map

Cheer/dance Competition Fan Signs/noise Makers

IN / 02 empties URA OF GUADALHORCE: A secret

are outlined in the background, the mist in the morning, like insects and arachnids of complex long legs, silhouetted against the sea, against the mountains, moved slowly forward in his footsteps as ghosts morning, as extracted from War of the Worlds by HG Wells. Before them, the huge cranes at the port of Malaga, here on our first plane, the marsh. The meandering sinuous orilleros, which describe closed curves, spirals curled in on themselves. The mirror a gap here, Escondida, another there, the Great, reflects the morning sunlight. You can hear the echo of the cries, trills, clucks of birds and a rumor of drudgery that causes the traffic on the dark road that language is the A7. Here lies a secret, a world cut trails and paths from which you can hear the murmur of the city off, a natural treasure accessible, where the errant flight of birds silhouetted against the sky along with these other metal birds they will land at the airport Pablo Ruiz Picasso. A secret that many times we have seen in our comings and goings, we have so often glimpsed between the guardrail of the highway, so often we have intuited from the rush of everyday life. Here the mouth of the Guadalhorce river and its union with the Mediterranean, is a swamp full of life, ponds, birds, small mammals, insects, flowers and plants. A mestizo territory between the sweetness of the river and the salty sea, a peaceful oasis which lies between Malaga Torremolinos capital. The Natural Park of the mouth of the Guadalhorce.

The Natural Park of the mouth of the Guadalhorce

Guadalhorce River is a stream filled with scents of orange and lemon running through the bowels of Manchester, the terraces for drinking fruit and vegetable plantations and vegetables to lead to the sea. Then play the river and the Mediterranean that overlaps game where nothing is what it seems. A fragment of the sea becomes sweet and the last stretch of the river becomes salty, reversing the roles and creating a unique ecosystem.
mouth of the Guadalhorce The Natural Area was named in 1989, and its 67 hectares and contains a wide variety of avian fauna. Given its strategic position between Africa and Europe, is part of the area of \u200b\u200bscale, rest and food for countless migratory shorebirds. This place has the distinction of having been modified by humans and its current appearance is due first to a burdensome interference and after reconstitution. In the seventies the extraction aggregates for the construction laid bare at the mouth of the river a series of gravel pits (A gravel pit is a natural reservoir of gravel. The deposit of this material at these sites is due to transport suspended in an aqueous medium, after deposition and consolidation. Geologically can come from the transport of particles in a glacier in a long time, or the current of a river, lake, underground streams flowing abroad then. Consequently, the material we found is a barren boulder, not edges sharp as those found in canterasy exploiting mines. Wikipedia dixit) which began to be colonized by diverse flora and fauna. In 1989, protects the space and in 1998 began a long task of conditioning to achieve the look that today presents. The artificial lake complex is crossed by two main paths of 1.5 kilometers long and contains 5 each viewpoints from which to look inside the marsh. In addition, this natural area is the stretch of wild coastline largest in the province of Malaga.

The secret

is shocking to find this paradise just 7 miles from Malaga city. The wetlands are surrounded by an urban environment and a developed, nevertheless retain the essence of his natural temperament. Perhaps due to its location. Simply access a bridge. At its headwaters, the river Guadalhorce is halved and the natural setting is surrounded by two major streams that flow into the sea. The bridge is closed to the degree No traffic and is reached from the estates of Guadalmar. Once across, we enter a world of false calm. We are equipped and remain silent for several minutes. We isolated the sound of cars, we isolated the sound of the planes, we isolated the hum of the city and we heard the water splash, clucks and squawks, whispers in the grass, chirping, fluttering. We close our eyes and let the first morning sun warm the skin. Breathe deeply, we open and see the green glow of the marsh, dark ribbons of meandering, the misty blue of the sea, mirror reflections of the gaps. Laguna Grande, La Casilla, Escondida, Eucaliptal, Coastal waders, Rio Viejo ... We get into this intimate secret Malaga.


Ride
The trails are well marked, the roads are earthen and plain, perfect for a light jog, walk on mountain bike or simply walking. It is an ideal natural environment to go with children given the potential for bird watching and other mammals, to see insects, find trails, etc.. The signs ask for two things. Do not walk away from the main roads and be silent. Silence is the best way to meet the avian fauna. Many birds rest in their nests in the bushes and the thickets and only with our journey and take flight awaken surprise and amaze. We crossed our path with a pair of cyclists and a pair of runners. Everything remains rested. Shooting with the camera here and there, observing plants and quietly discussing this or that species. Is a relaxed walk. On the right, just 300 meters away there's viewpoint Laguna Escondida and here is our first contact with the local fauna . We sidled up the wooden gazebo, accessible to the lagoon through its windows cut. Slowly. We read in a panel on process of creating this complex lagoon, its discovery, its particularities. We sat on wooden benches, well prepared for the use of a tripod. There we see a small flock of ducks. Click-click-click. Remain silent and let ourselves be carried away by the influence of light reflections on water. We read that according to the times in this ecosystem can get to see the heron, the egret, the cattle egret, the heron, white jar, the little grebe, the runner duck, Audoin's gull, osprey, black storks and kingfishers. Enjoy the tranquility of the birds dive in the morning breeze ...
continued our journey, in silence, slowly. We see traces of birds and reptiles across the earthen lane, recent wet. Cross from here to there as reminders of ancient wildlife, subtle volatile and capricious. We arrived in our walk to the viewpoint of Laguna Grande, located on top of a promontory. Paradise opens before our eyes. A small sea and closed together and coastal scrub. A sheet of low surface water, barely a meter deep where they play to that of survival group birds, ducks, waders. We sighed and let the sun reverb dwell in our eyes. Before you throw a few pictures, we see the landscape. Beyond the substance of the cranes and the old fireplace. Here the bushes, colorful flowers. This is the secret of the mouth of the Guadalhorce, so huge difference in just a few hundred meters away. Of nature with urban feral unleashed in minutes, only to cross a bridge. We
the sea. We get lost in subtle waves. Retraced the road traveled and came to the fork that will take us to Old River Road, where we walk to his side, looking for subtle curves of its meanders, its particularities. And the Laguna de la Casilla where he began the reconstruction of this unique and delicate, fragile and powerful. We walked in silence. We passed two runners, we looked to their viewpoints, photograph. Discussed in whispers. We open the sea. We get lost in reverie.
A doubt assails us ... What is the secret from the outside, on the other side of it protecting the streams, away from the bridge?

Outside

Leaving of the marsh and headed for a dirt track to the sea, almost straight. A wall of tall reeds from seeing inside the natural area, it hides and protects it, spoils and seems rocking it when it sways in the wind. We follow the river between lilies and daisies, among lit and immaculate white violets. We hear Chapalean some ducks when we approach them, how they dive into the water to be surprised. We sense the presence of other birds and small flocks we see some sticks in the air, evolve and turn abruptly, landing on the ponds of the road, bending to drink. The sea, just before us, its reflection. We passed more cyclists more athletes. The smooth flow of the Guadalhorce misleading accompanied our walk and seems to bring the perfumes of the Hoya de Málaga, orange and lemon, orange blossom sweet aroma that permeates the spring. Reaching the sea began to sense another sound, the beating of waves on sand. Spikes swaying grasses. Two fishermen cast their lines into the Mediterranean, smoke a cigarette, resting on a chair colors. A boat save the stream and take Malaga. We look back and see the secret of Malaga, powerful and delicate, subtle, strong and poor. The city hovers behind the marsh, with its tall buildings, with its harbor cranes as a spider. Farewell



observed reflections of the lake, mirror and between the moving kaleidoscope herons and ducks, disturb the placidity of the water surface with its splash, with its ephemeral paths marked on the marsh . Take flight and tame a few feet away. Cluck and become embroiled in disputes in which one always loses. Fly with their wings wet, damp and silhouetted against the blue sky. We sit on wooden benches at the observatory, unhurried mimetizándoos with the environment, acquiring the mild pace of their breathing, their green and dark tones. We took off slowly suit intrusion and feel, to slow down, one more.

links and tips

Links: We take as reference the website Tourist Board of the Costa del Sol and the website of the Government of Andalusia, Visitor window. The mouth of the Guadalhorce is located very close to Malaga

Photo: shown in this section is a complete collection of photographs to post.



Location: This Google Map se puede referenciar el lugar de este paraje natural, situado entre Málaga y Guadalmar.


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