Peña Escrita is a national park in the mountains just north of Almuñecar on the Costa del Sol. The area offers many exciting walking trails with great views overlooking the mighty Sierra Nevada massif but above all: located in a gorge lined by mountains is a zoo! At an altitude of almost a 1000 meters above sea level you will find hippopotamus, porcupine, kangaroo, gorilla, baboon and several other types of monkeys, lions, tigers, camels, several types of birds of prey, packs of the Iberian white wolf, brown bear, and several other wild animal species. Despite that it can be really cold in the winter with snow and all and really hot in the summer all of the animals have adapted completely to the climate whether they are of Iberian or of foreign origin. Everything up there, except for the fences that are heavily electrified for some of the animals of course, are made with the very best for the animals in thought and the visitor comes second and have to make an effort in order to get around up there to look at the animals. It is allowed to drive a car along the steep, narrow road as it is quite strenuous to walk for any longer stretches up or down in the gorge. Please notice that even if the distance from Almuñecar seems short looking at the map you will have to calculate at least an hour for getting there on narrow serpentine roads.