We left the busy aire at Puerto Lápice, bound for Almagro. It was bright and sunny to start, but it soon clouded over and began to rain. As we were driving along the motorway we passed a trianglar sign warning of hail, and hey presto, the rain magically turned to hail just seconds later! Fortunately, by the time we pulled up in Almagro, the rain had stopped and we walked into the old town.
It’s quite a small town, with the focal point being the Plaza Mayor. It is picturesque, but judging by the number of souvenir shops it clearly relies heavily on tourism. We had a wander round and stopped for a coffee, which was the best we’ve had for a while.
After lunch in the van, we took the road south, into Andalucía and towards Córdoba, opting to keep off the motorway as much as possible. Along the way we noticed new warning signs we haven’t seen before, for the Iberian lynx. Unfortunately we didn’t see any.
Tonight’s stop is at an activity centre in the middle of a forest. Apart from what we assume to be the warden’s house, we are the only ones here. We’re miles from anywhere and so it’s very quiet and tranquil. There’s no phone or data signal either, so we’re completely off grid.
We’ve seen a heron casting its beady eyes over the pond in search of fish, red squirrels climbing the trees, and there are lots of birds like this one which we can’t find in our birds of Europe book – does anybody know what this is?
Now that it’s gone dark we can hear the owls hooting, and other nocturnal animals making noises. Being in the middle of nowhere there’s no light pollution, and as it’s a clear night the sky looks amazing with so many stars twinkling above us.
Tomorrow we will be back on grid, staying on a campsite not far from Córdoba.
Mike
Its an Azure winged Magpie or sometimes called an Iberian Magpie
Cheers Paul. We thought it might be a member of the crow family.