Wolf-watching in Zamora

The other day my uncle invited me to go wolf watching to Zamora as a birthday present. The next day after my kayak training I took the bus to Madrid where my grandfather would collect me. When I arrived I went to have lunch with my grandparents and after lunch my uncle and my cousin came for me. So off we went to Zamora.

We arrived late at night to the little village where we were staying and soon found our hotel. The next morning we got up at half past seven and went outside to wait for our guide.
As soon as we were all ready we started off for the wolves. Our guide went in his car and we went behind with ours. There was a moment in which our guide slowed down a bit and then continued. When we got there he told us he had slowed down because there was a wolf in front of him and he was waiting for it to get of the road. And we had passed by with out even realising !!!

The viewing place was about seven hundred meters from a spot where carrion (a dead donkey) had been set out for the wolves. Some of the people that were already there told us that they had just been watching some wolf cubs in that same place just before we came. We waited in the cold with our telescopes, and suddenly realized that some blokes had parked there cars just in front of the place where the wolves were expected to appear. So our guide went to them and told them off for being so close. After waiting and waiting our guide thought that they wouldn't come out. So we went to try somewhere else.

The new place had views over fields that at the end of a forest. There we waited and waited and still we saw no sign of wolves. The only thing we did hear and see were deer. It was the deer mating season and there were lots around. So the time came to go back to the hotel and have breakfast.

Later on our guide took us for a little walk outside the village and explained a bit about the wolves there: habitat, food, breeding, population, etc. We also saw wolf footprints and droppings.

After the walk we went back to the village and had lunch. Just before we went I played football with my cousin and had a last look around the village.

It was time to go. I had had a lovely time and I wanted to stay longer, but at least I knew I'd be back for more.

These are some of the photographs I took on the walk.

How to keep a Hamster

My hamster was given to me about two years ago. And thanks to him, experience, and research I've discovered this:

Hamsters are quite solitary mammals. They need to chew on stuff constantly to stop their teeth from growing and suffocating them. If they don't have anything to chew on they will chew on metal bars, plastic, fingers or whatever comes close.

They have a very short lifespan, from two to two and a half years. They don't like living in pairs, sometimes they can hurt each other or even kill each other.

Their menu is composed mainly by seeds, fruit and vegetables, although they shouldn't eat anything acid like orange or kiwi. If their food is varied and their health is good they can live up to three or four years (but this is rare). Having babies will shorten their lifespan. But if they do, the babies should be removed as soon as they are independent or otherwise they will start fighting for the same territory.

This is a very very short video of my hamster eating lettuce.

Hellboy

Yesterday I went to the cinema with a friend. We wanted to watch Batman but it was only on at five o'clock and it was already eight. So at the end we agreed to watch Hellboy. Most people had seen the first one and told me it was very good but I hadn't watched it because the cover didn't convince me.

The film was great. It had lots of action, a good script, and a good story.

Hellboy is a big red tough guy that was made in an experiment. Now he works for an agency that is trying to stop a king elf from uniting a deadly metal army that will destroy the humans.
Hellboy and his three companions have to find clues about the wicked elf's evil plan and stop him.

The only thing the elf needs is the three parts of a crown that his father had made along with the metal army. These three pieces together would activate the army and would bring chaos to humanity.

Rating: 90% -> 100%

The hideaway

Two years ago some friends and I found a place in the woods and we made it our special meeting place. We had some chairs and a table and a little stream down the middle. It was going perfectly until some other kids broke it to pieces. After that it all started to go all wrong. The meeting place was what kept us all together. So we started looking for a new one. We looked hard but found none, so we gave up. We stopped looking and we each did our own thing.

One day one of my friends and I were having a walk thinking about the idea my friend's dad had given us. He said that they used to have a hideaway inside a bramble bush. He also said they had cut out the inside of the bush and made it hollow so they could be inside. We were walking alongside a bramble bush and we went through a little passage and looked to the right. Our eyes met and I knew we were both thinking the same thing. It was the perfect spot for a new meeting place. If we only had the patience to perfect it it would be excellent. So we went back and told the others.

The next day the work began.

My brother and I took some pruning scissors and started cutting. Two hours later we were already half way through. The branches we cut, we used as a little dam to hold the water in the stream. We also used the dam as a bridge.

The following day we finished the clearing and cleaned it all up. That same afternoon we brought some tree stumps and lay them around. A week later we found some cut up branches and set them up in different places.

We enjoyed it until summer ended. After that we couldn't go weekly so the bush grew and covered it all up.

This summer we cleared it all up again and set up a basket with nuts for the birds and animals. I also planted some lawn. And its all looking excellent.

That's how we made our new woodland hideaway.