Spain update February 2023

Saturday the 4^th of February, Sunday the 5^th of February 2023

As expected, we could pick up Hortense on Wednesday evening with the message that it was not a simple operation.  It took hours and there was no time left for sterilization. Anyway, Dr. De Frutos, who is also a famous orthopedic surgeon, had done everything in his power to save the leg and the difficult operation went well, her leg was almost straight. Today when Dirk changed the bandage we looked at her leg and we could not believe our eyes. Except for the large wound it was almost straight. Miracles still do happen, thanks to Dr. De Frutos the proud wayward lady will not continue her life as a crippled breeding machine.

On Sunday Dirk took our dogs to the hydrotherapy center annex dog hotel and school because the next day was my birthday and we had planned a few days “vacation”. Because I am fascinated by the ends of the continents we would go via Sevilla, where we will have my birthday dinner and where we will spend the night, to Tarifa where the Mediterranean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean meet. Then we would sleep in Gibraltar where we hope to see dolphins and/or orcas in the Strait of Gibraltar and from there continue our trip to the natural park “Monfrague” for vulture spotting. Short but powerful in fact. Before that we will spend the entire Sunday at our pc and telephones in order not to miss anything from Peter Van Tricht’s Ghent edition of the “Dia del Galgo” where many adopters represent the GINB colors. Thank you for that.

Monday the 6^th of February 2023

Everything started well because via our FB I received, to my great pleasure, many congratulations of adopters and after the birthday dinner the planets offered me an enchanting “blood moon” which wrapped Sevilla in a pink glow. The day after we first drove to Tarifa where I had an appointment with the 2 merging seas. The best place where the natural phenomenon was to be seen was pointed out to us by three friendly policemen who previously checked my disability card while parking our car. Once this was solved, they assured us that when someone parked without a permit the car would be towed away and the owner would get a fine of 1000 euro. After the clarifying explanation they were very interested in our Belgian “origin” and our motivation to visit Tarifa. Along the Atlantic side the water was cut through by “kite surfers” and even on the beach a couple of galgos were walking with their owners!! This made my day. As we drove out of Tarifa we crossed the three policemen waving goodbye like old acquaintances… In the evening we had supper in the restaurant of our Gibraltar hotel and at our arrival we were offered a room upgrade as a birthday present. The present was a room with lounge, a huge terrace, and a bottle of champagne in the room… When the waitress serving us told us after having seen my “logo brooch” that she loved the brooch very much because she had a galgo herself. She embraced me weeping when she heard that we had an organization that already saved almost 10.000 galgos. She thanked us again and again and I thought, there are still good people… After mutual outbursts we were treated by her and her colleague with a cocktail of our choice and we exchanged data. The next day our boat trip to watch dolphins and relatives was cancelled due to the bad weather and we were forced to spend the last day in our hotel.

Thursday the 9th, Friday the 10^th of February 2023

After a drive of 490 km, we arrived in the afternoon in our hotel in the middle of nowhere where a cow was walking in the middle of the road. The hotel receptionist who is obviously also on duty for groups and others does not speak a word of English. The hip young man who comes to rescue her after we are registered thinks he is speaking English, but he cannot help us when we tell him that we are there to spot vultures. “Birds” I specify, “pagaros” I ask, and I add “grande sin plumas” and I point at my neck.  “Vultures” I try in English. When they give us a folder and I point at the vulture they say in unison “aah buitre”. So far… When we ask if we can have a drink she says “si, si” the bar is open, and she shows us a corner with tables and chairs where nobody is around to serve.  Fifteen minutes later finally someone shows up telling us that the restaurant only opens at 20:30h and asks what we like to drink and a second later she shows up with a bottle of rosé wine…From this area she explains, from Badajoz… In our “log cabin style” room we watch the movie of the Guns of Navarone from the fifties in Spanish and then another movie that also takes place in Navarone from the seventies with a very young Harrison Ford. In short, it takes forever till it is time for supper. If we had expected to be the only ones, not so, but we are the first. The 6 English and the two Dutch arrive after us. The cook is the bar lady of this afternoon, and she is panicking a little when she hears that we are vegetarians, there is only one menu. After some talking back and forth with the interpreter and the cook I say much to the relief of both, the same  as the others but without meat.

Anyway, after a stormy night with groaning wood we get up with the sun. When after our breakfast we get outside it is very cold but do not worry we will see vultures even if it is only one… But there are hundreds and watching them is so impressive that we are speechless, and we cannot understand the indifference of humans to their own biotope. When we leave for “home”, full of humility, we do not know what a gigantic drama awaits us.