Parque Natural del Carbaceno

The Carbaceno Natural Park is a unique concept that we had never seen before. The park is a combination of a natural reserve and a zoo, but not in the traditional sense. In this park, the animals have very large expanses of land where they can walk around, with some spaces being as large as 1 kilometer squared. The park was built on top of an old mine and is also an example of how some human-made structures can be recycled to give a bit back in terms of natural spaces.

The park has some unique species, including some animals close to extinction, like White Rhinoceros. We saw a pack of deers moving around as elephants were walking nearby and a very cute pack of brown bears. The park has a funicular system that we used to visit several areas and get amazing views of the animals from high up.

We also saw several venomous snakes that the park has from around the world, including royal cobras, green and black mambas, and spitting snakes.

To top it all, the park has a show involving hunting birds. The show lasts an hour and showcases different birds around the world. The trainers would leave the birds free, and they would set up baits to show how falcons kill on the wild. It was an amazing show as some of the birds would fly just a meter or two in front of us, with one of them even brushing Napoleon's head, and we got to see firsthand how amazing these creatures are.Read more