This is a pleasant stroll which can easily be done in a couple of hours although you will probably spend another hour taking photos or just staring at the views off the cliffs at the end. Try to choose a clear, sunny day. The starting point is a small car park is located on the left around Km 19.5 of the A2233 road from Barbate to Caños de la Meca. The first stage is just a wander through the forest. Of particular interest on this walk are a number of different kinds of finch, a kind of juniper mainly found here and in Doñana, the weasel and the fox (both pretty elusive).Another elusive and maybe surprising inhabitant of these woods is the Egyptian mongoose which is in fact established in many wooded areas of SW Spain and southern Portugal. Now, if you remember your Kipling and the story of Rikki Tikki Tavi, where there is a mongoose there must also be a couple of pretty mean cobras around… Oh all right, that was just to see if you were awake. There are apparently two kinds of snake in these woods (though I’ve never seen either): one is the horseshoe whip snake which despite its sinister name is not venomous and a fellow called the Montpellier snake which is the most common venomous snake in Spain and can grow to two metres in length. Before you get too worried, it usually goes for lizards and rodents and will only hurt you if you somehow manage to get some part of your anatomy into the back of its mouth where the venom fangs are located so short of grabbing one and attempting to stick your fingers down its throat, you’re not in much danger. That info comes from: http://www.cyberlizard.plus.com so if you do get bitten, don’t blame me! Seriously, if you have ever seen a large brown snake squashed on the road and wondered what it was, it was almost certainly a Montpellier which is much more likely to be run over by you in your car than to do you any harm.
There is also a herb or shrub in the woods that smells like curry! I kid you not, it just wafts across the path now and then as if you were walking past a curry house. If anyone can identify it and satisfy my curiosity as to what it is, please e-mail me…
OK, back to the walk, the path meanders between south and southwest through the woods on sandy soil so open shoes are not recommended. The path often splits and rejoins itself and there are few markers but it is easy enough to follow and there are no obvious alternative routes until you reach a wide, straight, man-made clearing (possibly a firebreak or emergency access) with a lovely view down over Barbate and the Atlantic. Our path goes straight across this clearing and carries on to a watch-tower called Torre del Tajo. This particular tower is one of a series built in the 16th century to warn of marauding pirate ships but the idea was based on a much-older system along the North African coast which could transmit a message from Morocco to Egypt in just a few hours. Beyond the tower, head for the cliffs and just wander around and enjoy the views! The closest access is almost immediately behind the tower but the most spectacular are to be found by heading around to the right where one outcrop gives you breathtaking views back to the lighthouse at Cape Trafalgar or for miles over the sea down the coast.
For more photos, see: http://www.luzhomes.com/en/walks.php
This is a pleasant stroll which can easily be done in a couple of hours although
you will probably spend another hour taking photos or just staring at the views off the cliffs at the end. Try to choose a clear, sunny day. The starting point is a small car park is located on the left around Km 19.5 of the A2233 road from Barbate to Caños de la Meca. The first stage is just a wander through the forest. Of particular interest on this walk are a number of different kinds of finch, a kind of juniper mainly found here and in Doñana, the weasel and the fox (both pretty elusive).Another elusive and maybe surprising inhabitant of these woods is the Egyptian mongoose which is in fact established in many wooded areas of SW Spain and southern Portugal. Now, if you remember your Kipling and the story of Rikki Tikki Tavi, where there is a mongoose there must also be a couple of pretty mean cobras around… Oh all right, that was just to see if you were awake. There are apparently two kinds of snake in these woods (though I’ve never seen either): one is the horseshoe whip snake which despite its sinister name is not venomous and a fellow called the Montpellier snake which is the most common venomous snake in Spain and can grow to two metres in length. Before you get too worried, it usually goes for lizards and rodents and will only hu
rt you if you somehow manage to get some part of your anatomy into the back of its mouth where the venom fangs are located so short of grabbing one and attempting to stick your fingers down its throat, you’re not in much danger. That info comes from: http://www.cyberlizard.plus.com so if you do get bitten, don’t blame me! Seriously, if you have ever seen a large brown snake squashed on the road and wondered what it was, it was almost certainly a Montpellier which is much more likely to be run over by you in your car than to do you any harm. 
