Notes:
Shopping List - With many shops in rural Spain
being closed on Sunday, or if you have a late flight on Saturday and are unable
to shop on your way to Cencerrita (latest opening is 10pm) - you may need extra
supplies. We will help you sort it out.
Dinner - especially the first night!- Cooking a meal when you've had a long day travelling isn't a
great start to the holiday - for 12 euros a head, we will cook your dinner
for you! A basic but tasty menu is available - also sent a couple of weeks
beforehand.
Arriving - We always meet our first time guests in
at the turn off from the Las Cruces road, 9 km from Cártama
Éstacion to
show the rest of the way to Casita Maria - getting lost on the last leg to your holiday
destination would not put you in the holiday spirit! For this reason, we ask
that you let us know your flight times so that we have some advance idea of when
we will be meeting you ... we then ask you to ring us after you have finished
your shopping (or getting your hire car if you are not shopping) so that we can
be at the rendezvous point at the same time as you.
If you don't wish to hire a car, we can pick you up from the
airport for 70 euros return - this includes stopping at a good supermarket to
pick up your provisions.
Rural Living
- You are staying in the remote Andalucian countryside and will encounter a
totally different way of life from the towns – but isn’t
that one of the reasons
you want to visit?! The nearest villages (Álora
or Cártama) are 13 kilometres (8 miles) away and take 20-30 minutes. Please bear this in
mind when planning any sightseeing - don't be too
ambitious when planning your itinerary as places like Granada and Seville
require lots of time to do them justice - it's no good arriving and then having
to turn straight back!
The final leg of the road to Cencerrita is
a typical Spanish track, whether you approach from the Álora or Cártama
direction. It is mostly in good repair, but a good deluge of rain can change
things. None of our guests have ever hired a 4x4 - though a car with high ground
clearance would be nice - such as the Ford Fusion, Citroen Berlingo and Renault
Kangoo. Most guests seem to have either Renault Clio or Ford Focus which are
more than adequate. It seems that the higher the category of car, the lower the
ground clearance is - this is not the place to treat yourselves to a Porsche
.... We run a 4x4 Opel Frontera, but generally, mostly for economy (the Frontera
is a serious diesel-olic) we use our Peugeot 206 which we find is pretty much up
to everything we can throw at it!
Shops are
generally closed on Sundays in the area. Carrefour and other hypermarkets are
normally open Monday to Saturday, from 10am to 10pm and don’t close for siesta
(often 2pm until 5pm ish). There are always shops on the coast open if
desperate! Mercadona is our favourite supermarket – they are all over the place,
but the nearest ones to us are in Álora and Éstacion de Cártama. They are open
from 9.15am to 9.15pm, also without closing for siesta. (If you go on a Monday
to Álora,
there is a market in the square) Banks and the Post Office only open in
the mornings until around 14:00.
Smokers:
Cigarettes/Cigars are not available in supermarkets so, if you haven’t bought
any from the “duty free”, you will need to find one of the specialised licensed
shops who keep normal opening hours (for Spain!). There is one of these on the
top floor of the parking at Malaga airport and also one in Estacion de Cártama.
(Please remember smoking is not permitted IN the casita!) There are also
machines in bars etc.
Sunday Market
- in Cártama Éstacion. This is mainly fruit, vegetables and clothes. The bread
shop nearby the market place is generally open (as is the shoe shop!!) too. Open
from about 10am to 2pm. About 3-4 km away from the market, there is a Venta
(country restaurant called El Tintero which is always worth a visit after being
to the market. Take a look on the Suggested Outings page.
Eating Out
- Meals are rarely served much before 9pm, although places are often open long
before then for drinks and tapas. As most are open on a Sunday evening, many are
closed on a Monday night. Don’t be in too much of a hurry as service is
generally on the “relaxed” side. They don’t expect you to rush your meal to make
way for the next sitting – the table is yours for the night! Many places have
menus in Spanish and English … but in some, the waiter will just reel off a list
of things they have … so don’t forget your phrase book! If the weather is right,
pick a table outdoors ... the Spanish are very fond of having a TV inside
blaring away whilst you try to talk ... anyway, outside you can “people watch” –
fascinating!
Weather We
are often asked what the weather is like at certain times of the year ... It's
impossible to say! Records seem to be being broken non-stop recently: the
most rainfall, the worst drought, the coldest winter etc ... However, we can
say, that apart from June, July and August, when it is always hot, you will need
something warm and preferably windproof if you’d like to sit out in the evenings
(and you will!). Whatever the month though, even in winter, in a sheltered spot
in the sunshine you would be unlucky for the temperature not to be over 25oC,
and often over 30oC, at some point of the day.
Health The
last thing you want to feel is ill on holiday so ....
a. Drink only water from an assured supply.
b. Be aware that on hazy and windy days you can still burn badly from the sun
(T-shirts in the pool have to be better than even “waterproof” protections)
c. Insects love fresh virgin skin ... bring your favourite insect repellent/bite
cream etc. (If you are suffering, try Cetirizina, available from the
Farmacias here for about 5 euros – a tablet a day keeps
the itch away!)
Privacy
We
take the matter of privacy very seriously – it’s why many of our guests come
here. Finca Cencerrita is certainly in the most beautiful spot ... you are not just
next door or overlooked by anyone! The Finca (it’s an old almond farm) has over
28000 sq metres and, apart from Casita Maria, there is an old farmhouse and our
little cottage – both of which are well away from you, suitably screened by
distance and the slope of the mountain. Just so you can see, on the left is a
photo looking at the Finca from across the valley. See! No close neighbours! The
finca is well off the beaten track. No one uses the track leading to your cabin
- it is for your sole use. The only time you would be “disturbed” is when we
must clean the pool - generally we can arrange to do this when you are out.
We do understand guests’ wishes for privacy – this is one of the main reasons we
created Finca Cencerrita! We are regularly assured by guests that they have
never found such seclusion anywhere else. However, with us living not so far
away, it does also mean that if you have any problems, help is not too far!
(We’ve had guests lock their keys and phone in the car, another had a flat
battery ... trying to explain, possibly in Spanish, how the hire car company can
find you is pretty much impossible!)
Should you wish to see the house’s website, click on
La Cencerrita
