High in the mountains north of Malaga in Andalucia, Southern Spain are the Pueblos Blancos or White villages. The houses of these villages are all painted white and are stunningly beautiful set against the stark backdrop of the mountains.

Sedella is one of the White Villages and nestles between two peaks in the mountain range, La Maroma. It is only 45 minutes drive from Malaga and 30 minutes from the coast and yet light years away culturally.

Joan Aylesbury has lived in Sedella for many years and organises walks for visitors to enjoy the delights of this area including the flowers, birds, butterflies and wild life. She will introduce you to wild orchids, bee-eaters, vultures, swallowtails and ibex as you walk with Joan and stroll along winding mountain paths and ramble through orange groves, along rivers and maybe even to the top of La Maroma itself.

Joan is an experienced English guide with excellent local knowledge of the countryside and the people. She arranges walks that suit travellers abilities, the season and the time allowable.

She has designed six standard walks varying in length from two hours to eight hours. She also designs individual walks for whatever the visitor desires, climb to the top of Maroma for instance!

The whole region is teeming with wildlife and flora. Here is a small sample:

Fruit trees: including orange, lemon, avocado, nisperos, almond, pomegranate, olives, and vines

Birds: including vultures, eagles, owls, kestrels, golden eagles, buzzards, goldfinches, starlings, swallows, house martins, larks, buntings, thrushes, serins, magpies, wheatears, finches, warblers, fly catchers, hoopoe's, cuckoo's, chaffinches and partridges.

The flowers are stunning and include: snapdragon, French lavender, sun rose, geranium, mountain alyssum, periwinkle, poppy, fumitory, southern vetch, and sedum Many species of herb: camomile, fennel, marjoram etc. Animals: lizard, snakes, goats, wild goats, ibex, wild cattle, wild boar, fox, civet.

On the walks you will see many species of butterfly and of course, many species of cacti.