Tel. +44 (0)1273 600030 (UK)
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All our guests are encouraged to visit the local villages and to use the amenities there, weekly street markets, food shops, locally produced crafts, bars and restaurants. We are on the edge of a national park perfect for hiking and rambling. We assist in contacting local professional guides who organise informative trips and even climbs up Mount Maroma, the highest peak in the Tejeda range.
There are bicycles and horses for hire in the nearest village Arenas. We are a husband and wife team with no staff and, when setting up the yurts or carrying out repairs or building works always use local people.
Apart from our own personal concern and initiatives directed at nature and its values, there are a number of interesting government schemes.
Above Sedella there is a bird sanctuary housing flocks of Griffin vultures, with a view to re-introducing them into the area. Wild boar and wild cats are protected (not always successfully), and Department of the Environment officials can often be seen in the valley checking on the wildlife and the resources.
In the past there has been a decidedly relaxed attitude among the local town-hall authorities when issuing permits for the random drilling for water. Nowadays, because of recent periods of very low rainfall, prolonged drought and the fear that the water table may have been adversely affected, things have tightened up and the granting of permission to drill is considered very carefully.
Although parts of the area are designated hunting reserves and, during the appropriate season, guns can be heard in the valley, there is not a lot of activity and, as a result, hares and game birds can be seen roaming freely, seemingly without threat. This year we have had the privilege of seeing a pair of kestrels nesting in some redundant holes in one of the outside walls of our house, not good neighbours for the resident sparrows. Spanish friends have told us that this species used to nest here, years ago, before we moved in. It would be nice to think they might come back every year.
Guests are advised to respect nature surrounding them. They are provided with bin for recycling and shopping bags to avoid the use of plastic. Kitchen waste is used as compost in the gardens and other items (e.g. cans and glass) are taken into town as and when. Although water, which is piped down from springs in Sedella, is plentiful, we use it responsibly and guests are encouraged to do the same.
There is mains electricity in the yurts and they are lit with a combination of energy-efficient bulbs, wind-up torches and solar lights. We make our own soap using our own olive oil and Aloe Vera from the garden, use environmentally-friendly cleaning products (Bosque Verde, Froggy) and even produce a mouth wash from an infusion of pomegranate flowers (an ancient belief).
We have bricks in the toilet cisterns to ensure half-flushes and the washing machine has controlled cycles. As our waste water system is organic we have a “no toilet paper” policy. The fridges are AAA rated. Toiletries are locally produced with organic ingredients. The furniture is good quality, second-hand and is procured locally, most times from charities.
Our gardens are organic and we grow fruit and vegetables which the guests are welcome to sample when in season. The olive trees and almonds are fertilised with dung from José’s goats and we use no weed killer. Last year we borrowed a neighbour’s pony to keep the grass under control but he has sold it. Have to think of another method this year. The wealth of spring flowers is spectacular giving home to lizards, ground-nesting birds, snakes etc. Bats live in a nearby abandoned house and birds of many species add their song to the sound of the bells on the herds of goats. There are two natural ponds near and the river has terrapins, frogs, toads and water snakes.
We invite every traveller who books a holiday via us to send in a review. Because we don't run the holidays they're completely independent and unedited... remember to read between the lines though, as two people on the same holiday can have different views!
