MALAGA GROUP WEATHER UPDATE Sunday 5th October 2014: Good morning......shouldnt you lot be in church???......Hands up all those that took a drive up to the top of Los Reales yesterday!!!......Very good, its nice to see my advice being ignored!!!.....But that does not perturb me, today I take you to another enchanted area of the province but first your weather!!!......Today its going to be sunny!!!......Well that was easy!!!.......Oh, forgot to add that there will be fluffy cloudlets in places and its going to be warm.....which helps if you go to the place I will be taking you shortly!!!.......Tomorrow there is a slight difference in your weather.......Tomorrow its going to be sunnier!!!.......and there was you lot thinking weather forecasting was Rocket Science!!!.......and Tuesday is looking sunny too and the rest of the week is looking the Bees Knees as summer well and truly returns!!!.....Overnight tonight we are expecting that drop in temperature but even thats subdued leading us all into a sense of weather security.......but lets wait and see whats on the menu for next weekend first!!!.......So, with all this sun about today lets take a drive to the sulphur spring that is the natural Roman Baths in Manilva!!!.....For those of you in the Manilva area you may already know about this natural swimming hole but you will be surprised just how many people dont know where the baths are......Whats more, there is no entry fee!!!.......So, a bit of a history of Thai sulphur spring......The warm waters of this spring feed into the Rio Manilva. The Rio Manilva is one of the few rivers in Malaga that flows all year round. The sulphur spring flows out of the Sierra Utrera, a karst rock system that resembles that of the stunning El Torcal range up near Antequera......Contrary to what often gets reported in some web based content on this Sulphur Spring, the original Roman Baths was not at the spring itself.......The natural spring waters high in sulphur content was ducted via a canal down to the area called Castilla near what is an old castle structure. Much of the canal has now gone but if you do visit the spring and take a walk just downstream along the edge of the Rio Manilva you will find the relatively good remains of the old Roman Aquaduct that used to take the spring waters over the river to flow down towards the coast!!!.......Anyway, these days the spring is covered by a brick arched cover and you have two options in which to enjoy what is regarded as the natural health benefits of this wonder!!!......Option one is to swim into the small cavern that covers the spring......its dark, smells a tad of sulphur (rotten eggs) but is an experience!!!......The next option is to partake in a mud bath!!!......Yes, the clay based bank of the Rio Manilva is naturally high in Minerals and if you follow the spring down to the Rio Manilva itself and paddle into the river, on the far side you will see the clay bank and where many a person has helped themselves to a face lack or three!!!.......So, how does one get there???......I prefer to access the place from the main coast road as opposed to via the toll motorway but either will do!!!......From the coast road you need to turn inland from the roundabout next to the Lidls Supermarket!!!.......Follow this road past the fair ground/Sunday Market and just keep going following the Rio Manilva which remains on your right!!!........After 3 Kilometres you will pass the Roman Oasis Restaurant on your right and above you will loom the concrete structure that is the toll road (They say that at the Roman Oasis you dine under the stars but its actually the car headlights on the Toll Road above!!!).....as you pass the Roman Oasis and under the toll road structure the main Tarmac road takes a turn to the left and heads up towards the Manilva Junction and Toll Booths so what you need to do is turn onto the gravel road that hugs the river which comes up on your right just before the toll road viaduct......Continue up this track (driveable) for nearly 2 kilometres.....you will pass another venta, it will bend left and right and you will pass a small chapel and some derelict buildings and eventually the white dome structure that covers the spring will be seen below the road......there is likelihood that other cars will be parked in the area as the spring can be popular at weekends!!!......The area is not necessarily well maintained as the spring is actually within the borough of Casares but is only accessible via Manilva but it is well worth a visit!!!.....If you are feeling adventurous follow the Rio Manilva upstream for some amazing rock pools or, just before you pass the Chapel there is access to an amazing gorge for a nice walk that takes you to the top of theSierra Utrera!!!.....So, enjoy the sun today and maybe the healthy waters of the Roman Baths in Manilva......It is an amazing Province is Malaga and perhaps next weekend we continue this theme.....what say you members???......Jim Fraser, Director, Costa Lot Tours for the EiALERT NETWORK!!! :)
Posted on: Sun, 05 Oct 2014 06:42:30 +0000
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