Cueva Ambrosio belongs to the high, empty north of Almería province, on the dry plateau where Andalusia runs into Murcia, fifteen or so kilometres out of Vélez-Blanco. This is a landscape of broad, pale fields, almond and cereal farms, low limestone ridges and long skylines, with the pines of the Sierra María to the south and almost nothing built on the horizon.
Archaeologists know the cave as a site of the Solutrean period, the Upper Palaeolithic, roughly twenty thousand years ago, when hunters here worked fine leaf-shaped stone points and, in some places, painted or engraved signs on the walls. Ambrosio is regarded as an unusually early example of such art in this part of Spain, much older than the rock paintings of the shelters nearby, which come from a later and quite different tradition.
For a rider the pleasure is solitude. The roads out of Vélez-Blanco toward the north are quiet, sometimes narrow, often with stretches of rough patching, and you may see no other vehicle for half an hour except a farmer's pickup or a flock of sheep. Corners open out with the land, and the wind is a constant companion, pushing sideways on exposed sections and carrying a smell of thyme and dry earth. The altitude, about a thousand metres or a little more, keeps the summer heat down, but the nights are cold and the winters can bring frost, even snow, so start late and keep a layer in the bag in spring and autumn.
There is nothing at the site itself, so the practical side starts before you leave. Vélez-Rubio, about twenty kilometres away, has seven thousand people and several stations, and is the best place to fill the tank and eat. Vélez-Blanco and María, up in the hills, are smaller but have bars serving coffee and local dishes, in particular migas and lamb, and the almond sweets of the area. Good months are April, May and October; in July the plateau can be punishingly hot and shadeless, and there is little water along the way, so carry some.