Trip to Cabra ⛰🌿🌳🍁

On Thursday 15th November, I had the great opportunity to go on a trip with 1ESO to the natural park in Cabra as part of their social science lessons. I was really looking forward to going as the countryside here in Andalusia takes my breath away and it’s so beautiful! It’s really different to home though. At home the countryside is more flat and a more vibrant green, and we do not have olive trees. Whereas here it is more mountainous, I love looking at the shadows of the mountains because it is magical and I also love seeing all the olive groves dotted around. I fall a little more in love with Andalusia every time I immerse myself in the landscape here. But I do miss an autumnal walk through field and along the river Thames back home. However, I feel very lucky to have gone on this trip to experience more of the natural landscape here in the province of Cordoba. From talking to lots of you, it appears you all seem to enjoy going to the countryside with your families at the weekend. 

The first stop on the trip was the natural park visitor centre which was a cute white Andalusian building. Once there we watched an audiovisual and had the chance to look around interactive exhibitions which talked about the flora and fauna, the landscape and the history of this natural park. It was interesting to learn a little more about the spectacular landscape and the species that inhabit the area. It also seemed that in this building there was good lighting as lots of you took selfies to document the trip 😂

The next part of the trip was a 3KM hiking trail so we could see some of the landscape we learnt about in the visitor centre, although for some of you I know it felt like 100KM based on the ‘moaning’ I heard. 😂😛 I was shocked at the landscape on this trail as it reminded me of home due to the autumn colours and different types of trees. Also, the sensation of trying not to fall down a sloppy hill brought back many memories of walks in the uk after it rained in the woods and the ground was damp. I really enjoyed admiring the stunning views whilst on the hike, the sun made it look even lovelier. But what I enjoyed the most was being able to speak to lots of you during the hike and getting to know you more. You all tried really hard to speak English and you are all improving lots. I especially loved when you worked as little groups to form a sentence in English so you could speak to me. ☺️☺️ thank you for making an effort, otherwise it would have been a lonely walk 😛 and well, practice makes perfect with English, so you did a great job. Thank you for teaching me the word raisin in Spanish too ‘pasa’ I’m now basically fluent in Spanish 😂👏🏻 

After the hiking trail it was time to have our well deserved snack, of course in true Spanish style... a bocadillo! The weather was perfect to enjoy the picnic area and it was nice to see you relaxed and enjoying being in the middle of knowhere. During lunch I also tried a berry from a tree that Jorge said you can eat (for now, I’m still alive 😂😝) and they were very tasty. Also, you managed to find a SNAKE!!! I hate snakes, they’re one of my phobias. But I’m still unsure as to how you managed to find it, but at least you got a true wildlife experience and it added to the ‘excitement’ of the trip. 🐍 

After lunch it was time to travel up to the summit of the Sierra de Cabra. I visited there once before and was looking forward to going again. I loved looking at the views from the peak, they are very beautiful and I enjoyed looking as far as the eye can see! I’m sure you got many Instagram worthy shots whilst there. Apart from admiring the incredible landscape we also learnt more about the landscape from Jorge, who spoke about what you could see from the top and some facts about the Sierra de Cabra. I wish I could go there more often as I love the feeling of feeling free and relaxed looking over the world below. I find being in the countryside is good for thinking things over, so I hope you enjoyed some freedom there. 

After the talk and some free time to enjoy the views, it was time to do a bilingual activity. I guess this makes this trip the first bilingual trip at Clara. You listened to my instructions in English and the acted out one of the Andalusian provinces that we could see from the Sierra. Then, the other tutor groups had to guess what province you had selected from the cards. It was great to see your little pieces of theatre, and I learnt that Jaén is famous for olives. The last activity of the day was a kinder egg hunt, which you all seemed very engaged with. I suppose the chocolate motivated everyone. But those of you that asked for clues in English had the better chance of finding the eggs. 👍🏻👍🏻💃🏽💃🏽 I’m sorry you didn’t find all of them. 

Above all, I had a wonderful day with all of you. I hope you learnt more about the landscape you’re so lucky to be surrounded with. What was your favourite part?? (Some of you told me your favourite part was the bus, but I hope you were joking) 

Enjoy a relaxing weekend after the adventure in Cabra and I’ll see you Monday. 💚