Hey all!
I’ll be visiting Spain for five days, February 4th through the 8th.
Any recommendations of good places to iNat? or will anyone be there and want to meet up?
I like to observe pretty much anything. I focus on plants, but I also love birds, spiders, and reptiles.
Cordoba and Granada are already on the itinerary, but there is room for another stop or two.
I will have a car (but a fuller itinerary) the first few days, and after that no car but an open schedule.
this is rather general. What are you interested in? Do you have a car? I live in Antequera and am always interested in meeting up, because I’m always alone. Write me a PM
Cheers
Susanne
Editing post to answer your questions. And I will send a message!
5 days isn’t much time at all. I’d suggest not trying to pack in as many places as possible and spending the time in a smaller number of places and exploring in more detail.
In urban areas you’ll find lots of ivy-leaved toadflax, wall-rue, and liverworts in damp areas.
I’m more familiar with the central and northern parts of the country, but Granada has a park bordering on the city and a big one in the mountains nearby. I’d suggest exploring either or both of those. The mountains will probably be the prettiest though, even if a bit more difficult to get to.
I’m definitely interested in exploring.
Would the mountain park have lots of people? I’ll be traveling on my own for the second half of the trip, so I don’t think it’s smart for me to be too far from public spaces.
I don’t know, I’ve not been to that part of Spain.
The park is the Sierra Nevada National Park, it should be easy to find info on it for travel.
There are daily busses for €5 each way and the wiki page for the park is here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sierra_Nevada_National_Park_(Spain).
Looking at the map there are a number of hotels up near where trails start. It will probably be somewhat snow-covered this time of year though.
thanks! I’ll check it out for sure.
And snow is a bonus! in Israel we’re lucky to get snow twice a year. it’s one of the few things I miss from New Jersey.
El Torcal de Antequerra is a fantastic place to visit.
February is not ideal for plants, but the landscape is amazing and you’re bound to meet some goats.
http://www.torcaldeantequera.com/en/
+1 for Sierra Nevada. There is also good country on the south side of it along the Alpujarras. Lots of endemism, and probably less snowy than near the top, given the dates.
I can only speak for the province of Malaga. Certainly I agree with liesvanrompaey about the Torcal de Antequera. Amazing landscape and Spanish ibex, probably vultures and ravens. For me winter means birding and good areas are the laguna de Fuente de Piedra (in summer more than 10,000 breeding pairs of flamingos), the lagunas de Campillos and the mouth of the Guadalhorce in Malaga near the airport.
But with just five days you might be busy enough with Cordoba and Granada.
You have had lots of recommendations from Spanish folks. I do not know Spain, but I have read that there is a big marsh at Seville, not too far from the area you are visiting. Marshes are always a good place to find a diversity of life. For what it’s worth…
Marismas del Guadalquivir or simply Las Marismas (Google) is apparently what it is called. I have never been there, but I have heard about it.
So, rough schedule is as follows, for now:
Feb 3 arrive in evening
Feb 4 Cordoba – Jewish Quarter (got to learn more about my Jewish roots :)
Feb 5 Granada – Alhambra tour
Feb 6 Granada / Sierra Nevada
Feb 7 Malaga
Feb 8 Malaga and fly back home
I’m really looking forward to it. I’ve only been in Europe a few times, usually on layovers, never for over two days.
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