The heat of the previous day lingered overnight and by the time we woke up it was already too hot to eat breakfast in the sun.

This time, rather than race to the cliffs, we took our time, had a snorkel and let the shade move onto the cliffs and cave of Can Baba.

The drive into the valley is always exciting, but even more so when a tortoise crosses the road in front of you!

After a hot hike up, the cool of the cave was bliss. There were no other climbers when we arrived, so we sat and enjoyed the quiet ambiance while watching swallows dive from the roof and whizz pass us with an audible rush of air.

It was a peaceful moment just sitting and looking, and it was a while before we actually started climbing!

We climbed a few routes on the outer edge of the cave which give brilliant steep climbs, but not wildly overhanging like inside the cave. After our first climb, some other teams arrived and the vibe changed. The silence was broken. We ended up moving away into the cave so did finish with one little taster of the tufa climbs on offer. It was fun, but the steepness blew my arms away!

I’m going to blame the distraction of the arrival of noisy climbers, but near the top of one of the routes, I took quite a dramatic fall. I had two fingers locked into a small vertical crack, while I balanced on my feet. There were no footholds, and I was maintaining contact with the rock purely with friction as I began to move up. I guess a foot slipped and without warning I was suddenly airborne and heading downwards! Clare caught my fall and as it was so steep, I only slightly knocked my ankle as I took off. But my poor finger that was in the crack took the brunt of it as it was unable to hold the shock loading. Not only do I have a big ‘flapper’ of skin now, but it’s seriously affecting my coffee drinking ability!

With a sore finger from the fall and exhausted arms from the overhanging cave walls, we beat a retreat back to the beach in time for another great cool down snorkel.

Can Baba Climbs:

– Full Pocket, 6a+***

– Uzak Zürafa, 6b+*** (popped off the crux move! – back to ground then restart!)

– Kumpir, 6b+** (cool tufas)