¡Nutria!

¡Nutria!

Otter!

During a wander around the park, I noticed that none of the ducks were venturing into the water, the banks of the lake looked like a mass, late, pato siesta. I met a man on my circuit round the lake, I was watching a duck who couldn't get out of the cage that's open to the water not the bank where the poor thing wanted to go (it did get out eventually), who told me that his friends were looking at 'una nutria'. Having no idea what he was talking about I circled round and stood by them. The 2 guys in their 50s lent me their binoculars and one even translated otter into English for me. We followed it around the lake as it frolicked. They told me that otters can eat ducks, and every-time the otter got too close to the bank a herd of ducks would run off to the path, some were even sleeping in the trees and on posts, just in case. After making it all the way back round, the otter came up to the bank and popped its head up at us a good 4 or 5 times before swimming off into the now darkened lake. 

 

They invited me to come for coffee with them, I did admit to not having any money on my person, where Luis and José Luis (cute buddy names!) talked about their travels in France, Italy (JL said about seeing Sammy Davis there) and Southern Spain while I drank Colocao and ate the free biscuits.It was a lovely evening and I did something I would, sadly, never do in the UK; despite not speaking the language anywhere near fluently I feel safe enough with strangers here. 

It is true what is said of Spaniards, they're a warm and welcoming bunch.