LAS CHORRERAS

For this Saturday’s guided walk, organised by the Patronato de Tourismo, we met at 0900 in Loja and drove to Venta de Santa Barbara, a little village about 10 minutes away, situated in a pleasant, sheltered valley.
The destination of the walk was to be Las Chorreras, the spectacular waterfall on the Rio Frio.
A clearly marked track from the village led us through olive groves and along the Rio Frio whose banks were lined with poplar trees and oleander bushes. Our guide told us that people used to use oleander as a means of catching fish easily. The plant is poisonous, so when branches were thrown into the water, the fish would die. Also along the riverbank were poplars, hazel trees, wild clematis and tamarisk.
Eventually we crossed the river over stepping stones and followed a path through blackberry bushes to the falls. The force of the cascading water has carved out of the rock below a deep pool. The water is cool, green and inviting, so many of the party, including all the children, couldn’t resist a splash and a swim.