The "calima" haze clouded our sky during the whole weekend. This kind of haze occurs often in Spain when the wind brings dust from the Sahara Desert. You can instantly recognize the calima and decide whether to stay at home as it is not so healthy to be exposed to it for a long time, or just ignore it and carry on with your activities as always.
To be honest, I was not very happy with the thought that I was breathing all those small solid particles in suspensions like dust, sand, and ash but we anyway took a walk on Saturday afternoon.
Although the most affected regions in Spain are the Canary Islands and south of the Spanish mainland, as you can see sometimes we also experience it. It is like being covered with a grey blanket. In twilight, we see the sky and everything in yellowish and orange nuance.
But let's not think about that meteorological phenomenon. We are in the walking community ;) So, we went to the rural area of Altea, between the river and the mountain. The walk started in the parking lot near the little river but then we went to that part we had never been to before. My husband sometimes checked the route with the GPS but we have been choosing the paths mostly on intuition.
Maybe we had some doubts in moments like this:
...but everything else was fine. We didn't get lost and I found some nice surprises.
The first one was an acacia tree. I like its white flowers, they have a nice fragrance. But did you know that you can also eat its flowers?
Of course, you have to be sure that it is an acacia flower. Don't try it if you are not sure about it!
I have been eating acacia flowers since my childhood, the time when there were many more of these trees around. Nowadays it is not that common so I feel fortunate when I find one.
But I am also fine when I find loquat trees. The fruits started to ripen maybe a week ago.
Do you see the beautiful grey sky? 😑
I saw these loquats in some orchards but I didn't touch them. I promise.
Later I found a tree that was in no man's land. You see the fruits are small and not from those trees that the owners take care of. Compared to a small tangerine - these are super tiny loquats from a wild tree.
Despite the haze, the route was nice as we also passed by orchards with orange trees full of flowers. The blooming is not just nice, it also gives pleasure to our smell. The scent of orange flowers is special.
Being surrounded by orange blossoms is fabulous.
Also, lemon trees were blooming.
But that's not all. More surprises happened on this walk. Look at the next photo and imagine what she would say to you.
Something like Hello Hiver, how do you do? Welcome to my home!
She had baby goats. So cute little souls!
The only confusing thing was a donkey sticker and not a goat sticker on the door of the shed by this yard.
But then you see some horses and the confusion is even bigger. But probably it was all because of the haze and strong fragrance of the orange blossom. 😁
