GEOCACHING is the new hi-tech craze sweeping the world. It's treasure hunting twentieth century style - and where better to start searching than in the incrediblly spectacular landscape of the Guadiaro Valley?

Geocaching uses two recent technologies - Global Positioning Systems (GPS) and the Internet.

A GUIDE to the bars and restaurants of the queen of the pueblos blancos.

As you drive up towards the tiny village of Montejaque, nestling in the shelter of El Hacho, the mountain that dominates the top end of the Guadiaro valley, little do you imagine that this pueblo blanco of a mere 1000 inhabitants, boasts 15 bars and restaurants distributed around its narrow streets.

THE village of Benoajan is rightly famed for the caves which are well signposted around the area. South of the village of Benoaján heading towards Cortes de la Frontera, a side road leads off on the right, serving as a car park. The opening times are not well advertised and many a tourist turns up to find that the last tour of the day has commenced. Try your luck when they open at 10am or when they open again after lunch at 4pm. Two guides are normally on duty and they take tours of up to 25 in each group. As the tours last around an hour, you will have to wait if you miss the guides, who lock the doors to the caves behind them as they set off on the tour. Still, the wait is beautiful, as the benched area looks out across the Guadiaro valley 670m above sea level.

THE entrance of this cave can be seen from the railway as it heads north from the station two kilometres away. It's called the cave of the cat as its entrance is said to look like a cat's head. Perhaps it does, though the present author failed to see it. This cave is the terminus of an underground river that rises four kilometres away as the Rio Guaduares, which takes an underground route from the other side of Montejaque, from the Cueva de Hundidero ('fallen'), only recommended to skilled potholers. Famed for its potholing experience, it has been the scene of many deaths as rising waters trapped the unprepared.

APPROACHING the village of Montejaque from the Montecorto junction, the first point of note is the medieval bridge of Canada del Cupil. This once served an old cattle way that ran from Ronda to Seville. A Moorish lookout tower once stood on the hill above, but little of the tower remains. The road leads to a steep curve left and below is an impressive site, of a large dam without a reservoir. Though some water collects in the winter, the engineer in charge did not realised the implications of trying to build a reservoir in limestone country. In theory it seemed a good idea, as the Rio Guaduares collected a lot of mountain water during the winter months.