The Calima is a hot desert wind that blows straight from the Sahara, and today it has cloaked the mountain in an oppressive and heavy heat.
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There is no relief, even the breeze is touched by the fiery breath of its Tuareg origins.
The animals can only lay in a stupor pushed down by the torrid weight, and all animate life seeks the relative sanctuary of this lake.
The only denizens apparent today are those who soar high in the air above this layer of Saharan heat.
Looking up high into the dusty white sky, thousands of swifts scream, dart and hawk insects. While in the distance, the Snake and Bonellis eagles patrol along the flanks of the mountain.
Furthest of all the vultures sits atop a savage peak, its piercing eye scanning for the weak who will not survive this furnace of a day.
For me, I am content to sit and watch from the lakes edge at the ever changing palette of this wild ecology that I call home.
Photos: Presa de Almodovar. Courtesy of the author.