We drove west along the coast from Almería to Málaga and then turned North heading towards Santaella, Rik and Matilde’s site set in olive groves just south of Córdoba.
The coast road, although spoiled by acres and acres of polythene, was sandwiched between the sierras and the coast and followed a route of tunnels and viaducts offering spectacular views of the ocean. But when we turned inland the scenery was softer, the land more fertile and we were heading into familiar country that we had visited on our tour of Andalucia. We drove past the sleeping giant rock formation that had prompted prehistoric man to build the Dolman Cave at Antequera, on the opposite side of the valley.
We stopped for lunch at a traditional roadside hotel restaurant.
Behind the restaurant we found a lovely courtyard, complete with fountain and orange trees. 
