Canyoning

Millions of years of erosion have gone into creating a natural wonderland of deep gorges and tumbling watercourses. Until recently these canyons were unknown landmarks, seen from above or from a map a strip of narrow contour lines charting the coarse of the river. With Magnum adventure we take you into these often almost unexplored areas. Imagine yourself swimming through deep gorges, jumping into crystal clear pools and abseiling over waterfalls. This is canyoning - fune, challenging & full of adventure. Available in two formats, either as an excursion within our Multi-Activity adventures or as a unique 8 day holiday, discovering 5 separate canyons in three very different parts of Andalucía.

Our Canyoning trip
We transfer by minibus daily to our start point from our hotel. All canyons involve a walk in, following goat trails and narrow footpaths along a water course to the head of the gorge. Equipped with wetsuits and harnesses we make our way downstream using a combination of scrambling, abseiling, swimming and jumping. Occasionally we use "lilos" (airbeds) to float down the river on. Our excursions take us from areas as diverse as Granada's Sierra Nevada to the Natural parks of the province of Cádiz.

Why Andalucía for Canyoning?
Limestone and more limestone. Andalucía's winter rains and consistent warm weather in spring, summer and autumn make this an ideal location almost year round. Grazalema in the Sierra de Cádiz, suprisingly has Spain's highest rainfall. In the Alpujarras melt water off the 3000m peaks of the Sierra Nevada fills the watercourses. Long days allow us to take our time as we explore the mountains and hills.

Is it suitable for me?
No previous experience is necessary. You must be reasonably fit, know how to swim and like a challenge. All the rest we will show you. On this trip you will be trekking, swimming, abseiling, jumping into pools and floating on air-beds down rivers. If you like the idea of this then this trip is for you.

Where do we "Canyon"?
We start in Granada's Alpujarra mountains, the southern face of the 3000m (10,000ft.) Sierra Nevada mountains. After an acclimatising and introductory day in the "Los Madroñales" canyon, we venture into the longer and more challenging "Garganta Verde". From Granada we travel to Málaga province and the Ardales Natural Park, an area of pine forests, huge blue lakes and limestone gorges. We walk and then descend the dramatic "Garganta El Chorro". After a rest day in historic Ronda (with an optional descent of the "Cueva del Gato" - a labrynthine underground cave system) we finish in what is possibly the most spectacular of all the canyons, the eerily named "Vultures Gorge" on the frontier of the province of Cádiz.

Where do we stay?
We use three different hotels/pensions all based in the sierras near our excursion area. Our accomodation may be in a small village pension, a converted town house or even a converted flour mill. Some of our hotels have swimming pools. All rooms will have their own bathrooms.

Who is our guide?
For safety there are always two guides accompanying our trips. One guide is always a native english speaker and our safety officer is Lolo Gonzalez, an expert on Andalucía's canyons and mountains in general. An internationally respected climber he has conquered many Himalayan peaks and has some Spanish first ascents to his name. Lolo is also the director of a climbing school.

National & Natural Parks visited on this trip are...
Sierra Nevada National Park, Grazalema Natural Park, Ardales Natural Park, Sierra de las Nieves Natural Park, Cortes de la Frontera Nature reserve.