Órgiva is a town in the Alpujarra range, south of the Sierra Nevada with the imposing Mulhacen (3,478m), and Granada, some 125km east of Malaga. It came to wide attention as the home of Chris Stewart, who briefly preceded Phil Collins as the drummer in Genesis and whose book “Driving Over Lemons” (subtitled “An Optimist In Andalusia”), about moving out and living here in the 1990s, was a big seller. There is a pleasantly alternative and cosmopolitan vibe in the area provided by the many visitors and ex-pats from further north. The names on the letterboxes of houses on the roads out of town are often English, German or Dutch. It is also on the hippy map, and there is the occasional crusty begging on the street. We know from before that the covered market is a treat, with a general shop for organic fruit, veg, serious bread, a range of hard and soft cheeses … and a stall with amazing salted almonds and the huge Muscatel dried and pippy grapes (must stock up before leaving). And the people are friendly, in particular, our AirBnB host …
The farm is on the edge of town and our digs are a ground floor apartment of a 2-storey building, with a medium-sized living room and kitchen, 2 bedrooms and a bathroom. All fairly simple, a bit dingy, but ok. No heating but a large fireplace and a stack of wood outside. Lots of wood, brick and small window , and tiled floors (no carpets) throughout:
Our AirBnB host, Cecilio, is an organic farmer, growing a range of veg and specialising in blackberries, from which come excellent jam, olive oil and vinegar.
The first week was rather dull and cloudy, so we hardly budged. We did go back the Baraka restaurant – the only place where I was once moved to write a TripAdvisor review. Their beef couscous and chicken tajine are still as tasty as we remembered from 2 years ago. Loads of tender meat with a whole range of veg and fruit: potato, carrot, almonds, prunes …
We both did a run from the farm down the Rio Seco, accompanied by the friendly farm dog, to where the smaller river meets the main one, and back. Easy downhill but – no surprise! – tougher coming up. https://www.strava.com/activities/3033080308
On a different subject, Jay’s January newsletter just arrived.
In the second week the weather improved dramatically and we took advantage of the blue sky to drive up to the end of the road at Capileira and do a good walk along the forest trails.
Excitment of the week was the arrival of 150 hungry sheep and goats to strip the left-over foliage from the greenhouse, which they did in spectacularly efficient style. The scene before and after:
Arriving and leaving:
Some mixed plant/farm/tree shots:
RB's journal 
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