We traveled west from Toledo to a small town called Navalmoral de la Mata. We spent our first wedding anniversary with a wonderful married couple in their small apartment. Our first night, they treated us to a wonderful dinner, and we chatted late into the night.
The next day, the couple had the day off, so they invited us to
visit Monfrague National Park with them. This park is long and skinny,
following the River Tagus. It is a dry scrubby habitat, with lots of
large shrubs and old gnarled oaks. One of the main attractions in the
park is the abundance of birds of prey. We took a short hike along the
central ridge that runs along the length of the park. At the top of the
mountain, we found a huge celebration occuring at the small church
located at its peak. It was just our luck that this particular day
happened to be a celebratory day for the church. People were dancing,
laughing, and enjoying a feast amongst the trees. It was a very happy
surprise.
We climbed the nearby tower before heading towards the river. At the river there are some large cliffs where the vultures and eagles prefer to perch. There were many bird watchers with their spotting scopes and binoculars. The sky was littered with enormous birds.
