Spain - Extremadura and the Gredos Montains: May 2005 iBirdz |
![]() After a week at El Olivo we drove to la Lagunilla, a "villa" close to Candeleda in the foothills of the Gredos Mountains. The price of the villa was ~ £400 which was a little expensive for thee people but would sleep six thus lowering the price per person. The house was set just off the road with a decent size garden containing nesting Spotless Starling, Azure-winged Magpie and Nightingale amongst other birds. However, gas was supplied by bottle which if in need of changing was down to the visitor and drinking water was either collected from a fountain in the local town or bought in bottles. We opted for the latter. |
![]() In Sepulveda we stayed in the "Hostal Villa de Sepulveda" which was clean and fairly inexpensive but was noisy at the weekend and the food was pretty lousy (and expensive) apart from the sandwiches. On the whole the food during our stay was not that good. We spent two nights in Sepulveda, looking for the elusive Dupont's Lark at the Ermita de San Frutos and walking in the Duraton Gorge, then travelled back to Barajas airport via another pass in the Sierra de Guadarrama called the Puerto de Navafria. Our navigational aid was the Michelin 576 regional map of Extremadura, Castilla La Mancha and Madrid and for site information we took "A Birdwatching Guide to Extremadura" by John Muddeman, "Where to Watch Birds in Spain" Sociedad Espanola de Ornitologia by Lynx Edicions and "Where to Watch Birds in Southern and Western Spain" by Garcia and Paterson. Muddeman covered most of the areas we visited with the exception of some of the Gredos mountains which was in Lynx Edicions. Most of the information on The Duraton Gorge was gleaned from trip reports on the net. For further detailed information on each of the three areas visited please click on the links below: |
![]() The Spanish were not the friendliest bunch I have encountered but as only my dad spoke Spanish to a degree this may have been where the problem lay. As it was not in a tourist area hardly anyone spoke English. Therefore, if you intend to visit the area I would suggest that you brush up on the language. |
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