January marks my birthday (not to mention a slippery slope from the Dry January resolutions) and since a couple of years, also a surprise trip or retreat related to it. Knowing how much I like unknown destinations, my partner planned this year’s surprise very well, so until the very end I had no idea where I’ll spend celebrating another year of health, prosperity and being alive. After last year’s municipal confinement where we couldn’t really go on any trip beyond Malaga, this year he could take me on a road trip all the way to the high mountain retreat in Andalucia’s Sierra de las Nieves (‘Mountains of the Snow’).

We stayed at the mountain hotel at about 700 m above the picturesque town of Tolox (visited with a local hiking group just before the confinement in 2020) and I considered the road trip up above a part of the exciting surprise, leading through steep and extremely winding camino.

Sierra de las Nieves welcomed us with the fresh, almost dizzying winter air. At the resort, we learned that this area is a well-known retreat for people suffering from respiratory diseases, as well as modern day symptoms of burnout. Not that I currently suffered from it, still we treated the weekend stay as a preventive measure, indulging ourselves into the nature: birdwatching and enjoying ‘0 km’ picnics (eggs, local produce) in the high mountain air.

We met less than 10 people in total, over the three-day stay, and most of them were very active elderly hikers and trail runners. One of them, a local, looking at the majestic landscape, complained that nowadays there is very few birds of prey in the area, while many years ago vultures would be soaring to the sky over the snowy peaks. Truth is, that we didn’t spot a single bird of prey but still, very colourful and exciting species such as: a golden oriole, red crossbills, black redstart, wood nuthatch and a great spotted woodpecker. All in all, there were more birds than humans wandering which made the trip worthwhile. Not to mention the quantity of sheep and goats roaming freely through the mountain ranges.

Sierra de las Nieves inspired us to continue binge watching a series ‘El Hombre y la Tierra‘, discovered earlier this month on Youtube, from the Spanish RTVE archives. The show is presented by Felix Rodriguez de la Fuente, a popular author from the 60s, who lost his life in a plane crush while approaching Alaska for the filming of his new series about the North American nature. He is considered a living memory of many Spaniards, the one who hijacked the theory of evolution to the programme even during Franco dictatorship, and the Youtube documentaries were uploaded during 2020 lockdown, maybe to cheer up everyone at home. Despite the fact that >50 years passed from some of the episodes, the stunning film techniques, the suspenseful narrative (a meme to some, nowadays) and his sheer love for nature prevailed and continues to inspire. I even considered learning an opening theme, which is a challenging symphony piece.