janesadventures

  Sunday Up fairly early and I walk along the beach while Geoff is recording the Little Terns. Back to the van for breakfast then we leave the Mediterranean coast for Ribaute. It is a small village about 40 km inland, with a lovely river for swimming and when we were last there you could camp by the river if you went to the local Mayors house and asked permission. Well, not surprisingly it has changed somewhat – the river is still as lovely but there’s lots and lots and lots of people. It is a Sunday and it is hot but we are quite surprised how many people there are. It’s probably featured in the guide to ‘The top 10 wild river swimming spots in France’ or something similar. Nevertheless, the swim was lovely. As we leave the river, I try to recreate a photo taken in 1985 of Geoff sitting on the bridge. After a bit off faffing and strange looks from the local youth, I take a couple of photos but when we compare them to the one we are trying to recreate, we realise it is the wrong br

Friday Before leaving the high Pyrenees, we go back up the valley we were at yesterday for another look around and for Geoff to re-connect with Citril Finch and Alpine Marmot. Sit on some rocks for a while with a coffee and it’s awash with Lizards running around, chasing each other. It’s very good as I love Lizards. Citril Finch All of these lovely photos by Geoff   Leave the valley and drive along some lovely, very wooded hillsides to a campsite we are aiming for. Get there and it’s very deserted - if it hadn’t been for a couple of vans and tents we would have assumed it was closed. Park up in one of the free plots and go to the reception. That’s closed and there is absolutely no-one around. It is mid afternoon though and we think that maybe they are having a siesta so we sit outside the van for a while. After a couple of hours we go in search of someone and eventually find a lady who tells us the bar and reception will be open at 7pm and she’ll sort us out then. The site is a b

Monday Leave Albarracin and go back to Teruel, where we were in episode 2 to get provisions and do a bit of van maintenance (cleaning, tyre pressures etc) before making our way to an area where the habitat is known as Spanish steppe. We are heading for a wildlife reserve of El Planeron where there are Dupont’s Lark and sandgrouse, but before we go to the reserve we stop at the nearby town of Belchite. It is very hot and we are trying to find shade for the afternoon as we know there won’t be any at all out on the reserve which is a very dry, open environment with no trees. We manage to find a place to park under a small tree to stay for a little while. Late afternoon we go for a look around Belchite. It’s an interesting place as it has a ruined town next to the current town. During the Spanish Civil War, the original town was badly damaged and the local community decided to leave the ruins as they were, to remain as a ghost town as a memorial to the people who lost their lives and they