Our Spanish Trip   

As part of a fundraising effort for the Hospice in Newry where I work as a social worker, I participated along with Marie Evans rsm and Oonagh Campbell rsm in a sponsored trek in Andalucia in Southern Spain, in May last. The group, thirty five in total, based itself in Ronda, one of the most populous of the “White villages” of Andalucia, and were taken by coach each morning to our walk site. We averaged around 13km each day, walking amidst some of the most beautiful and breath-taking scenery which this part of the Sierra Nevada has to offer. The walks themselves varied in levels of difficulty but I’m happy to report that I, and my two Mercy companions, were able to negotiate even the most challenging of terrain!

Lake in Spain

If any of you watched the Jamie Oliver programme last late April/early May, where he cooked in some European towns and cities, you might remember his excitement at buying and eating cakes from an enclosed Carmelite convent in Andalucia: Well, our hotel was just down the street from the convent and I can testify to how delicious those pastries were! Might be an idea for some of the wonderful bakers among us!

Ronda itself was very interesting but our trekking schedule limited the time available to us to explore it well. It’s divided by an almost 300 year old bridge known curiously as the Puente Nuevo, the new bridge. A bit like a woman of my years still be referred to as one of the “young nuns”! The bridge separates the town into old and new, the former evidencing a very distinctive muslim influence from it’s time under Arab control. It’s sad to see the remnants of some of the desperate attempts during the alternate Muslim and Christian conquests of the area, to eradicate as far as possible any signs of the others culture.

Scenery in Spain

Ronda also boasts one of the oldest bull fighting rings in Spain, the famous Plaza de toros, and despite protestations from both Oonagh and Marie, I simply couldn’t bring myself to visit its gory theatre.

One of the more ambitious walks brought us through the Natural Park of Grazalema, an area designated a “Reserve of the Biosphere” by UNESCO in 1977 because of the exceptional variety and wealth of it’s flora and fauna. We required a special permit to walk here with an experienced guide and we climbed among “Abies pinsapo” fir trees, living fossils that, according to the guide books grew in the Tertiary period. Vultures, eagles, including the Golden Eagle soared overhead and over 30 different species of orchids grew many of which could be seen from the path sides. Wow!

The experience was, surprisingly for some, deeply spiritual for many of the trekkers, as we wound our way along, falling in and out of step with each other and oftentimes walking in silent appreciation of the tangible expression of the Divine all around us. Oonagh and Marie learned a lot about the interconnectedness of all life over the few days and I was happy to offer some useful insights at times!!!

Dee McKenna rsm

Thanks to the generosity of our sponsors, and for the three of us that was many of you, the group raised a staggering £60,000 clear donation for the Hospice. We enjoyed ourselves enormously and agreed this was a wonderful way of raising money for a very vital service. If any of you are interested in reading more about the area we visited, just Google ‘Ronda’ or indeed ‘Andalucia’, it might even inspire some of you to make travel plans for next year. Happy trekking. Dee

Dee McKenna rsm
Northern Province