In the Autumn of 2001, after spending two weeks visiting Ecoforest in Southern Spain, I had a phone call from another good friend Tony, who had also lived at 'Hales' & 'Bartons'. He was at a point where he needed more funds to support him while he finished writing his book & he was talking about selling the land that he had in Spain. Having spent a lot of time in the past discussing the various elements with him that constitute the book, I felt that it was important that it got written. It is a basically a big jigsaw puzzle incorporating human evolution, natural diet & the effects of straying from this diet; on hormones, brain development & conciousness. This then leads on to our current imbalance between the two hemispheres of the brain, the symptoms of distorted thinking, attempted fixes that previous generations have attempted (including alchemy) & onto potential fixes that we might try today. Anyway, I'm a fan & so much so that I offered to buy a third share in the land to save him having to sell it all.

 Tony is a well qualified plantsman who specialised in tropical & sub-tropical species en-route to his First class honours degree at Edinburgh University. Lets just say that I trusted that he wouldn't have bought a poor piece of land, so I didn't feel a need to see it before I said "yes".

 Tony then called me again a short while later & said that he & Rob, a raw fooder who was interested in buying another third of the land, were going out to Spain to spend a few days there. Did I want to go? It was one of those short notice things, but I'm getting quite used to living my life spontaneously these days, so I booked my ticket too. It didn't seem that long since I had been out there before, but the mountains above Estepona where Tony had his land were very different from where I had been at Ecoforest. Whereas the land there was at quite a low altitude & surrounded by a large collection of little fincas, up in the mountains there were steep slopes, many more trees & far fewer habitations.

 To get to the land we travelled north from Estepona up into the mountains. The southern slopes were well populated, even at the higher altitudes, but when we reached the top, the road there was a sign announcing that were entering a National Park. The tarmac road bore right here, but a rough track turned off to the left & this is where Tony drove us. We then seemed to descend down through trees for an eternity, around bend after bend on this rough road. With the heat & the plastic smell in the hired car I was feeling pretty sick, but I was still able to appreciate the spectacular views.

 After half an hour or so we drove past a well established permaculture site run by Ruth & Rory, a beautiful place we were later to visit on the way home. However, this time we continued on down the valley. Eventually, Tony turned us down a little track & finally pulled up next to a caravan. We had arrived!

Even in the winter, the heat at midday can be pretty hot there & so I was pleased to see so many trees providing shade. From the place at which the caravan sits, there is a spectacular view out across the valley & down to the river. It was truly beautiful & I just sat down to enjoy it. Later on we explored a bit & I discovered that we had neighbours on both sides, but not in any kind of an intrusive way. Over the river there was also a terraced area with citrus trees on it. Beyond that, there was plenty of big trees & virtually no habitations. Drinkable water sprang from the mountainside just above us. We walked up the river & I didn't see another finca anywhere, just lots of mature trees, mainly cork oak & pine.

 The land has a lot of potential, but has been abandoned for some years. Many of the citrus trees are dead or dying from lack of irrigation, although incredibly some were still fruiting. A few of the bigger trees were falling or unsafe & needed dealing with. Also the Acequia had been damaged during the building of a road (excavated spoil is apparently just bulldozed down the hill), so the irrigation had dried up.

Areas of the slope clearly need new trees planting. Some Albizia (fast growing nitrogen fixing trees) that Tony had planted a couple of years previously were thriving despite the lack of care. It seemed that they were well suited to the situation, so it would be good to plant many more of these along with maybe some Tagasaste too, to help stabilise the slope. Some of the citrus would probably benefit from a pruning & for less healthy specimens, cutting them right back & re-grafting them could at least provide a temporary crop while new trees grow on beside them.

 The Acequia was quite badly damaged in a couple of places & due to the steep nature of the slope, there would be quite a lot of work involved in repairing it. A better short term solution may be the purchase of a Hydraulic Ram Pump which could raise water from the river to a holding tank (unusually the land has rights to draw water from the river). From there it could be used to water the trees via a series of irrigation channels, or as seems to be popular in the region, a set of black water pipes. However we achieve it, irrigation is vital for trees & plants on the land through the summer months.

 There are a few spots on the land which are big & flat enough for a dwelling such as a yurt, but it might be better in the longer term to look at using the local rocks to build a stone shelter. There are the remains of several small structures on the land & under local building regulations, you are allowed to rebuild these without any legal opposition.

After spending several days there I was disappointed to leave, but at the same time I felt unable to do a great deal at the time because we didn't have the resources we needed to hand.

 After all my ideas & plans, I still to this date haven't returned to the land. Part of the reason for that is financial. I could go for a short trip with a few things, but I wouldn't be able to achieve much there & flights as we well know, are far from ecological ways to travel. Travelling by van via the ferry would allow me to take a lot more with me, including my yurt & to stay a lot longer, but ferry tickets & fuel for such a round trip would cost me in the region of £1000. Two travelling together could split the cost, but neither Rob nor Tony have large slices of time to spare at the moment... either! Then there's the question of funds to sustain while I was out there. The land is a long way yet from being able to provide anyone with enough food, so a lot of it would have to be purchased. Even though there is the possibility of trading work for some food up the valley at Ruth & Rory's plot, I wouldn't rely on it. But even if I don't get back out there for a while, I can still spend the intervening time putting together some design ideas ready for when I do.