Aran wildlife park, Col de Portilhon

After the low clouds the day before, we awoke to clear blue skies and a v warm day. After a leisurely morning in the shade of
the campsite, including getting some washing done, we set off for the road up to the Col de Portilhon.

However we weren’t going to cross this pass into France today. Rather, our destination this afternoon was the Aran Park - Parc Animalier, a wildlife park containing about 20 species from the Pyrenees and the Val d’Aran in particular, in large enclosures on the mountain side.

The group of Griffon vultures in the park were each irreversibly injured by flying into power cables,

Although there are Brown Bears in the valley, this was going to be our most likely sighting at least on this trip! As we arrived at the bear enclosure, the keepers brought what appeared to be frozen cantaloupe melons, which they threw to the 2 bears. The melons bounced and sounded like rocks hitting the ground - which is why we thought they mus have been frozen.

I’ll let the photos speak for themselves!Read more