Europe 2021: Center for the Iberian Wolf

 Europe 2021:

Center for the Iberian Wolf

Somewhere in the middle of nowhere near absolutely nothing in the northwest corner of Spain is the Centro Del Lobo Iberico. I happened across the website for this place during one of my searches for random things to do along our route, and since wolves have always been my favorite animals, I planned a visit.

Calling this place difficult to find, and visit, would be an understatement. First off, you have to book your visit in advance via the website and when you do they tell you that if less than 10 or so people book for that time the visit is off. That would be fine, if they would inform you one way or the other. I heard nothing from the place up to the day of our visit so we just headed there. You can't find it on your navigation system either, and it's about impossible to drop a pin on the location as the road that you follow, which ends at the center, doesn't seem to officially exist. Eventually, if you're lucky, you'll find a parking lot and then follow a rather long pathway that opens up to a good looking visitors center. 

 

The inside of the center is neat, but nothing to write home about. We were relieved to see others there and happy that the tour was on. It was entirely in Spanish, and we seemed to be the only visitors who didn't speak it, but that would have been fine....except the first 45 minutes was just someone talking about the place. They were nice to us and offered to explain things, but I never take issue with tours in foreign countries not being in English. We are in Spain, after all! 

Eventually, they lead you out through the center, which is gorgeous, and you get to see the actual wolves that reside here. They have viewing areas and they let you just observe them. It was very cool. 

The highlight, however, comes when this guy, who we haven't seen before, walks out amongst the wolves and starts throwing raw meat around. Now, you may think you're cool, but I assure you, you are not as cool as a dude walking around a pack of wolves with a bag of raw meet! The wolves responded to him differently. A couple were pretty aggressive and pretty much just tried to help themselves to his bag, while others wouldn't come within 20 feet of him. It was fascinating. He talked to us, but unfortunately we didn't know what he was saying. 

It was an interesting experience. You'd have to really love wolves to make a special trip here, but we enjoyed the stop. It's a neat place and I appreciate what they're doing.

After our wolf adventure we continued on our way and stopped in a tiny little town for lunch. You'll find that while in most major cities in Europe everyone speaks English, that is not always the case in the small rural towns. This led us to accidentally order food that I just couldn't eat. I know what you're saying - "Google Translate" the menu. First off, what menu. Second, that doesn't always work. Some of the names of dishes just don't translate. You may be able to figure out that what you're ordering is pork or something, but have no idea in what form. Branelle bravely worked through her plate and I tried to move things around to make it look like I had eaten so as not to be rude. Oh well, the entire meal probably cost like $8 - including a bottle of wine.