Mulberry Retreat

26 Aug - 2 Sept 2022

Flat place, surrounded by trees, with packed baggage.

Near Atalbeitar, 30 km from Órgiva 🇪🇸
We were up to 16 people including 5 children between 4 and 11 years from two families. One night we slept in the same place as in 2020 and 2018 near Pórtugos. But on the second day we had to move due to a request from the police... Read more about Mulberry retreat in August 2022


Near Atalbeitar, 30 km from Órgiva 🇪🇸  

We were up to 16 people including 5 children between 4 and 11 years from two families. One night we slept in the same place as in 2020 and 2018 near Pórtugos. But on the second day we had to move due to a request from the police. We found a beautiful and secluded place close to the villages Atalbeitar and Ferreirola.

We did a hike every day, the area is very beautiful, with a lot of mulberries, figs, almonds, grapes. and blackberries. Close by there is a water source with much soda. It tastes like there's gas in it, we like it. In Atalbeitar and Ferreirola there are sources with normal water. A few meters from our place flows a river with water for washing.

We ate the fruits and almonds that we found and some raw food from our gardens. Only tahini, some seeds and vegetables were bought. Murielle and I used the seeds to make sun-dried crackers. After the retreat, Murielle and I hiked about 15 km from the Retreat to close to Órgiva. 


Saturday, 27 Aug 2022:
Children playing in a brook.
On the first day we make a trip upwards. The children play like crazy in the water - and are exhausted in the end.

High waterfall in a wild area
Big waterfall at "Junta de los Rios"

Sunday, 28 Aug 2022:
Flat place, surrounded by trees, with packed baggage.
After the police asked us to move because we camped in a national park, we find this abandoned place. We like it even more.

Murielle sitting on her isolation mat, with her sleeoing bag and other stuff, my place some meters further, rocks, trees.
Murielle's and my sleeping place. Now some of you might wonder if I have a new partner... no, no, Aim'jie changed her name to "Murielle".

Three people from behind kneeling at the water source.
The "Fuente Agria" at Pórtugos. We find it the most amazing water source around. It contains a lot of iron and soda.

I stand before a red rock, a bit water falls down, green climbing plants.
The water goes down into a waterfall. The red color comes from the iron.

4 persons showing their dark red hands.
After eating mulberries we are so beautiful colored... it's impossible to avoid it if you eat fresh mulberries in the Alpujarras.

Monday:
Anna does a handstand on an old house wall.  Daniel is sitting on a bench next to it.
Ana upside down in Atalbeitar. And Daniel upside up.

5 people are sitting under a ledge with a plastic tarp over their legs.
On a day trip it's raining a bit. We find protection under a rock and under plastic.


Almond trees that look a bit dry, they don't have many leaves. Three people are sitting nearby and are cracking almonds with stones
There are many abandoned almond trees right next to our sleeping place.

Tuesday:
I kneel in front of a water source.
The next water source to our place. It contains soda as well. It tastes like it contains gas.

Information panel about the water source in Spanish
Here they even claim that it has the most gas in the region. However, we doubt, after being in Pórtugos,

The water is "shooting".

Two people bathe naked in a natural pool surrounded by rocks and trees.
We make a day hike and find  this pool close to the village Fondales and to the Río Trevélez.

The pool closer, one person is bathing, two children are standing in front of it.
The children enjoy it... and are exhausted again in the end of the day.

A person bathes in a pool in a river in some kind of canyon.
The children are the first to find the way down to the river.

Two adults and two children sit in a row on a rock.
Tomtom, Haruko and her both sons...

5 year old girl sits on a rock with a straw hat and a bunch of grapes in her mouth and smiles.
...but she has also a daughter. It's here, enjoying the grapes.

Wednesday:
A yoga exercise, Christa shows a participant how to do it. There are three people, an almond tree and a green landscape.
Yoga class with Krista, an excellent teacher

Krista standing in a huge chestnut tree.
An old chestnut tree with a young yoga teacher

Three adults and five children sit and stand on a path, sometimes making gestures.
The families leave because of the children. One has a torn ligaments in the foot after a jump, another one an upside down stomach, one is longing for his computer games...

Thursday:
Tomatoes, grapes, figs as salad seeds in plastic cans on the ground and three people kneel around them.
Food circle

A mason jar still open filled with vegetables and water, a pumpkin not next to it and we see people kneeling.
Workshop of Murielle: we produce lactofermentation. We cut vegetables and herbs in pieces and put them in the clean glass.

We add water with 3% salt up to 2 cm under the top.

Two closed mason jars filled with vegetables and water, 1 red 1 more yellowish.
We close the glasses. We use this kind of glasses with rubber rings. They let CO2 out but no O2 in. Don't buy the cheapest ones!

Rocks and stones.
The fermentation is ready after 3 weeks. But you can keep them even several years. We store them here behind the stones for the next Retreat in August 2023.

Selfie of Murielle and Meenhard
Murielle and I leave, we walk from the Retreat to Órgiva. The other participants stay a few days longer.

My feet barefoot Muriel's feet with sandals and we see some thorns on the way.
I walked the whole week barefoot. Here are some cut thorn branches on the way. I'm slower, but I'm getting through fine.

Made of natural stones bumpy path.
It's an old way, made with much effort.

Murielle standing on a big rock, bent forward, in the background the sky.
Murielle is not going to jump... but to sit down.

Myriel is in front of a special character after Órgiva and in the other direction to Trevélez.
Only 2 hours and 20 min to Órgiva?? By the photo we notice: the sign is manipulated!

Friday:
My slleping bag on my isolation mat in high dry grass.
I slept well, I created a soft and flat sleeping place in the high grass.

Murielle with baggage walking over a small wooden bridge, green bushes on both sites.
After collecting many almonds, we run out of time because we have to catch a bus. But after this bridge, we get a road and a lift to Órgiva.


Next Retreat: 14 - 20 Aug 2023

Invite all your familiy and friends who want to spend a week with nature lovers! Details: see invitation.
 

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