Friday 9 October 2015

Libearty Bear Sanctuary, Vulcan and Bran Castle

Last day of holiday in Transylvania. We visited the Libearty Bear Sanctuary and heard the sad bears' stories, then had a short walk through the countryside, pretty oak woodland with goats and goatherd, kestrels and shrike (red backed?) to the nearby village of Vulcan, before visiting Bran Castle.


Bran Castle itself is really pretty and not Dracula-y at all, because there’s no real link between the castle and the story, other than Bram Stoker saw a picture of it. There’s one room with a display board about the story, and another about Vlad the Impaler who is also often linked to the place (he marched his army past it a couple of times but never went inside) but outside is a different matter – half the village is given over to market stalls selling tat. I bought a couple of shot glasses and a mug for a grand total of £3.


Thursday 8 October 2015

Dumbraviţa Lakes & Brasov

Birdwatching morning at Dumbraviţa Lakes, where we saw
Black stork
Snowy egret
Little egret
Heron
Ruff
Grey plover
Sandpiper
Great crested grebe
Redstart
Collared pratincole, which the chap from the university and ornithological society of Romania got very excited about.



In the afternoon we had a tour of Brasov, and walked up the zigzag path to the hilltop that overlooks the town and has a large Hollywood style sign. The path was pretty, but a little slippy in places.

Wednesday 7 October 2015

On the Piatra Craiului Mountains

Distance: 11 miles
Ascent: 700m
Weather: most cloudy, rain late on
Chamois, nutcrackers, fungi, friendly cats, small brown frog.
 
From the villa we walked through the village and along by some houses, to a rough track that led down to the gorge. We hiked back up the canyon, turning off up one of the steep tracks just past Nicole Kidman's cave. There were chamois on the opposite hillside, way off in the distance. I managed to get a very ropey picture of them, but they were quite clear through the binoculars.
The path went into the trees and steadily upwards. It was very quiet and peaceful in the forest,  and there was sign of pine martens and lots of fungi.
 
A wide meadow opened up, where there were lots of little common button mushrooms, later on we saw masses of mushrooms and toadstools. We had lunch on some tree stumps, watching the clouds come in, then walked on up through woods and meadows to the Curmatura Cabin mountain hut where we had soup (choice of bean or veg) and a sit inside, it was warm and cosy inside, just the sort of place you'd want to cosy up on a snowy winter walk - but apparently the loos left quite a bit to be desired.
 
We came down by the forest road, being deforested in parts and much churned up,  back into the gorge. As we'd spurned the offer of getting the minibus down to fetch us, we had to walk back up the hill in the (by now) quite heavy rain.
 
 
 

Tuesday 6 October 2015

Horse Carts & Walk to Monastery Coltul Chililor

Distance:
Ascent:
Weather: misty
 
We walked from the villa down the road, in the mist, with occasional views of the woods on the hillsides, to the track near to the start of the gorge. At the top of the hill, the sun had just been starting to come out, but as we walked down deeper into the valley we were back into the clouds.
 
As the road levelled out at the bridge, we were met by our horses and carts, who, after a couple of false starts and some shouting at the horses, took us bumpily down the valley and through the outskirts of the village.
 
There were loads of sparrows and crows, some of them hooded,  probably due to the abundance of horses. After a stop to visit a shepherd's hut, where we met a shepherd and his flock and had some lovely fresh sheep's cheese, and a short run up a steep track, the horses stopped and we walked on.
 
The path went up a wooded hillside, and turned right just as it got steeper and more rocky. We took a grassy path up to a lane with a large Jesus sign, and then up to the monastery. Here we had lunch by their impressive wooden gateposts, and the monk let me have a look inside, as I had my hat on.
 
We walked back down, seeing lots of fungi, and met some dogs who herded us along. The farm donkey did some impressive braying.
 
On the way back, from the front of the horse cart, we had fine views of the valley, with buzzard, and a conversation with the driver, which was something to do with my hat, but beyond that I'm not sure. The only thing we really agreed on was that donkeys are eeyores. Some urchins hitched a ride through the village, which they thought a fine thing, despite the driver threatening them with his whip.
 
After coffee and cakes,  we took the minibus out deep into the woods,  then walked a while,  before crossing a rickety bridge over a stream to the bear hide. We were treated to seeing five bears, including a mother and cub, which was magical.
 
 
 

Monday 5 October 2015

Valea Prapastiilor

Distance: 12 miles
Ascent: 600m
Weather: pleasant morning, turning to rain at lunchtime, then thunder and lightning
 
From the village we walked along the lane and then turned off down a steep little path through beech woods to a track which headed around a sharp corner into a narrow, steep sided gorge. The gravel track climbed gently, with beautiful trees and overhanging cliffs on either side.  We saw a Ural Owl, a wren, and a cave where Nicole Kidman once had a snog (apparently - the film Cold Mountain was filmed here.)
 
Passing the end of Cat Gorge, the path became steeper and we zigzagged around into the gorge, climbing steadily. Lunch was had on some logs, just as the gathering mist began to turn into proper rain. The rain eased off for a while, as we walked through pine woods and out into a fine high meadow,  with fascinating fungi and signs of wild boars. Then the rain stopped being eased and we put our waterproofs back on and headed back along a grassy path back to the village. Four salamanders later, the thunder and lightning began, making the horses on the opposite valleyside panic, and the rain got really quite heavy.
 
It began to clear and blue sky beginning to show as we got back to the hotel, just in time for tea and cake.

Sunday 4 October 2015

Around Magura, Transylvania

Distance: 7 miles
Ascent: 400m
Weather: warm and sunny
 
Here we are in Transylvania, in the Carpathian mountains in the middle of Romania, for a week of walking and wildlife spotting.
 
Today we visited the local village which spreads loosely around our guesthouse,  seeing lots of fine views, with haystacks, sheep and guard dogs. We had lunch with some very friendly goats and a playful kitten. Saw a honey buzzard, a black woodpecker and a black squirrel. Also redstart, goldfinches and jays, shaggy inkcap (lawyer's wig!) fungus.
 
We visited a bat cave, where there were horseshoe bats, and a very low roof.