janesadventures

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