When I found out our first trip abroad would be a hiking one, I was worried. The last time I had gone on a hike was probably over five years ago. I had no idea what to expect and was stressed the whole week leading up to the trip. What if I didn’t pack the right clothes and I was too hot or cold? What if I struggled to keep up? I was excited to see the mountains and be in nature but was scared of not knowing what to expect. To my surprise, however, this weekend ended up being my favorite one since being abroad!
Saturday morning, I met up with the others in my program, and we got on our bus taking us to Alpujarra. Staring out the window, I watched as the shops, apartments, and buildings dwindled until they were completely replaced by open fields and highways. After 45 minutes, we turned off the highway and began our ascent into the mountains. The bus crept up the side of the mountain, winding back and forth on narrow roads. We passed through multiple small villages, or pueblos blancos, spread throughout the Alpujarra region.
The view from the bus of the mountains and one of the pueblos blancos.
We finally stopped in Capileira, a small town with a few lively restaurants, a chocolate factory, and the coziest, family-owned hotel. We quickly dropped off our backpacks before meeting our guide. Finally, our hike was beginning.
The outdoor area of our hotel connecting the different rooms! Everything was so colorful, from the lounge chairs to the flowers planted throughout.
Crunch. I listened to the sound of the gravel as I placed one foot in front of the other. We were on a small path surrounded by scraggly trees and bushes shielding the view as we followed our guide. I listened to my friends talk about their past week in Granada as I thought to myself that it wasn’t too bad so far. Granted, we were only 5 minutes in. As I worried about the remainder of the hike, the trees melted away to reveal the landscape. Every other thought flew out of my head as I stared at huge, rocky mountains in front of me, stretching endlessly.
“¡Es muy bonita!” I exclaimed as we all stopped to take it in fully.
The most breathtaking view from the beginning of our hike.
At that moment, I had never been so happy that I had chosen to try something new and go on the trip despite my fears of inexperience. I picked up my pace, excited to continue on, even if it was uphill, to see more viewpoints like this one. Spoiler: I got lucky. The majority of the hike was flat and downhill.
Now that I wasn’t thinking about the hike and was actually focusing on it, I looked around in awe and excitement almost every 5 minutes. I wanted to burn the landscape into my memory, but recognizing my limitations, I opted to take a million pictures instead. 213 to be exact. As we walked, we passed by a grassy field with goats and sheep grazing peacefully.
The adorable sheep and goats in a field right next to us! One even came right up to the fence, and we could make out all of the details on its face.
Onward, we marched for about three hours until we finally stopped at a small picnic area. There were stone benches and tables scattered around the clearing, with splotches of sunlight filtering through the trees surrounding the area. We sat down to eat lunch, my legs feeling instantly relieved as I sat down. I was surprised I hadn’t even noticed the tightness in my legs until then.
The others in my program and I shared our favorite sights from the hike as we downed the food we had brought. Tip for any vegetarians: I wasn’t sure what to bring since most people were bringing deli meat sandwiches, but I packed a plant-based burger, and it was super easy!
After lunch, our guide led us down a narrow pathway surrounded by bushes and shrubbery into a small rocky opening by a waterfall. I already thought I had seen everything in the mountains, but I was surprised by this hidden marvel.
Our guide explained to us that the iron in the area turns the water and the surrounding rock a bright orange!
Seeing this orange waterfall in what reminded me of a more tropical forest area was incredible. I had spent the entire morning seeing open, grassy fields, rocky outcroppings, and scattered trees among hills, but this was the first time we were seeing a more forested area.
I had a lot of expectations going into this hike. I thought I would be severely behind because of my inexperience. Wrong: We went at a leisurely pace, so you could really take it all in without feeling too winded. I also thought I would mostly be seeing hills and grass. Also wrong: There was so much variety in the landscape and some wildlife! Finally, I thought there wouldn’t be much to do in the small villages scattered throughout Alpujarra. Wrong again: These villages had shops, cafes, restaurants, houses, and the most lively and welcoming people.
Always say yes to new experiences during your time abroad!