Our Holiday In Cáceres And A Little Cat Named Dora

There is one thing Pep and I miss more than anything during these unusual times: HOLIDAYS! I’m not moaning, I feel very privileged to live where I do and wouldn’t change it for all the money in the world (slight exaggeration). But we love to travel to different parts of Spain whenever we can. Different parts of the world too if money allows 😊.

Thankfully there are plenty of beautiful places to visit close to home. We’ll never tire of discovering new ones. But there’s something about going away for a few days that recharges the batteries and gives you the oomph you occasionally need to carry on with life as normal. No doubt it has something to do with not having any chores or responsibilities while we’re away.

Luckily there have been times during the last year when they’ve allowed us to holiday in the Valencian Community. A few days in what seems like my second home, Oropesa del mar (post here), were most appreciated, as was our little break in Buñol and Chulilla (post here). But Spain is a fascinating country, differing immensely from North to South, East to West (and everywhere in between!) and we want to see as much of it as we possibly can.

We’ve stayed in some wonderful towns and cities in Spain, each one having it’s unique beauty. Toledo is spectacular. I’ve been 4 times now, a week over the Christmas period with Pep a few years back, a couple of one night visits on our way back from another city and 4 nights with my mum and our cousins two years ago. It’s undoubtedly a place to visit at least once in a lifetime. Salamanca is also fabulous, along with Ávila, Córdoba and Granada. It’s not just the cities that are incredible, but also the countryside and medieval villages that are often close by.

The city that really touched my heart though was Cáceres. If I had to move from this area to another part of Spain, the province of Cáceres would be my first choice. We booked one week in the city over the New Year in 2018/2019. It was fantastic, albeit quite unusual due to one little occurrence which I’ll come to shortly.

If the town or city we will be visiting is over 4-5 hours drive away from home, we like to prolong the journey by stopping for one night in another town or city that takes our interest. On this occasion we chose the town of Almagro, famous for its pickled aubergines 😁. It’s known for historical events and landmarks too but due to unforeseen circumstances, we didn’t get much chance to check them out.

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Upon planning our route from Benissa to Almagro we noticed that we would be driving very close to the Lagunas de Ruidera, a group of lagoons situated in the Comunidad Autónoma de Castilla-La-Mancha. I recalled my mum telling me that it’s a beautiful spot so we made a quick detour before carrying on to Almagro.

My mum was right. We were pleased we’d stopped to take in the sights. It was out of season too so it was exquisitely peaceful. We had a stroll around 3 or 4 of the lagoons, soaking up the afternoon sun whilst enjoying the tranquility. I said we’d best get on the way, we wanted to get to our hotel before dark so we could have time to do a bit of sightseeing in Almagro.

I’d only driven a couple of hundred metres and Pep told me to stop, he wanted to check out a small pathway that passed through two of the lagoons. Surrounded by very tall trees, we wandered in between the two small lakes. I heard a strange sound coming from what seemed to be the sky but I didn’t take too much notice. We walked a few more metres and turned round, ready to go back to the car.

The noise gradually got louder. I said to Pep “that sounds like a cat” but we couldn’t see any sign of one. Until I looked upwards. That’s when I saw her. A kitten was up high in one of the tall trees. She’d almost lost her voice from crying. The tree had no lower branches for her to come down to. We tried and tried to entice her down but to no avail. She was far too scared. I really thought we wouldn’t be able to get her down as there was no way for us to get to her.

After what seemed like an eternity two young girls appeared. They had been sitting on one of the rocks close to the lagoon. They looked over to see what we were up to and I told them what had happened, the kitten still croaking above us. The two girls were animal lovers also and came over to see if they could help.

Fortunately they were very strong, sporty girls. One started to climb up the tree, then the other one followed. The trunk divided into two about 2 metres up. One of the girls put her back against one of the trunks and used her legs on the other trunk to push herself up as high as the width between the trunks would let her. The other girl followed using the same technique.

When the girl at the top could go up no further the other girl somehow managed to climb on to the other one’s shoulders!! The girl that was now underneath held on to her friend’s ankles. They STILL couldn’t reach her. The kitten seemed to know they were trying to help and tried to come down a bit, although you could see the fear in her eyes. I was petrified one of the girls would fall.

With one last effort, the girl reached up with all her might (and a bit more) and managed to grab the kitten by her back paw, dragging her down a few centimetres so she could get hold of the scruff of her neck. Not knowing how the cat would react, she carefully passed the kitten (holding her at arms length) down to her friend who got hold of her with one hand and dropped her down to me. What a relief!!!!!!! The girls swiftly climbed back down the tree.

I placed the kitten gently on the floor and she ran off towards the lake, coming to a halt after a few metres. She turned round and looked straight at me, her head leaning to one side. I called her and she came running over. All I could think of was taking her with us, knowing she would find it very hard to survive if I left her behind. She was extremely thin. There are a few bars and restaurants at the lagoons but they only open during the tourist season so there would be no chance of food scraps until March/April time at least.

I knew what Pep was thinking, no way are you bringing that cat with us. But I didn’t take any notice of him (this is quite normal and I’m sure he’ll testify to that) and let her trot alongside us to the car. We said cheerio to the girls, thanking them profusely. Pep then drove to the hotel, our new friend curled up on my lap, purring loudly.

It was dark when we got to Almagro, we’d arrived two hours after schedule. The hotel didn’t allow animals. I found a Chinese shop that stocked large cat baskets, cat bowls and those flat nappy things to put in the bottom of the cage. Now all I needed was cat food and I could relax a bit. Thankfully we’d arrived before the shops shut so it didn’t take me long to find a supermarket.

With the cat all set up in my car in the hotel’s underground car park we managed to enjoy the evening as best we could. All I kept thinking about was what on earth was I going to do with the kitten. I’d have to sleep on it.

The following morning I went to check on the cat and clean out her cage. Her head was constantly tilted to one side. Rather than going sightseeing, I had to find a vet. There was one quite close to the hotel. I told her the story of how we’d found the cat and she was rather amused, saying what a lovely (and lucky) little kitten she was.

One look in the cat’s ear though and the smile on her face vanished. The kitten had a terrible ear infection, one that might have affected the brain. She cleaned it all up, put some drops in it and gave her a general check-up. All this help and she wouldn’t charge me. You could tell she loved animals too. If we’d have been staying in Almagro I would have continued the cat’s treatment there.

The morning had passed and we hadn’t had chance to see the sights. There was still a fair drive to Cáceres so we had to get on our merry way. We’ll no doubt return one day. It’s a beautiful town, the historical centre was declared a “conjunto histórico” in 1972, which more or less means it’s of cultural interest. Here’s a page with a bit of info on the town.

So on to Cáceres, with a guest we’d picked up along the way. When we arrived at our hotel I asked the manager if they allowed pets in the room. He shook his head sternly. Bugger. I found another vet, taking the cat with me and asked them if there were any cats homes around that would take in another stray. I didn’t want to give her away but couldn’t think of any other option. The thought of leaving her in a cage in my car for 8 days and nights was quite daunting. She would have been freezing. The car was outside and it got rather chilly at night.

I rang a couple of numbers that the vet gave me, people that might be able to help and take care of our little feline friend. No luck. There was also a courier service that transported animals. I’d thought about sending her to my mum to look after until we arrived home. The service only left Cáceres once a week and it just so happens that it had departed two hours previous. Typical. She would have needed a passport though along with different inoculations so this option wouldn’t have been possible.

We had no other choice but to pay for underground parking and leave the cat in my car, either until we found a home for her or I convinced Pep that she’d found a home with us! I think it’s pretty obvious what happened 😊.

Every day I cleaned her cage various times, changing the nappy thing as often as needed. A chemist was very generous and gave me a couple of packets free of charge. The people I encountered couldn’t do enough to help me out.

At first I was on edge, worrying about the cat stuck in the cage. That feeling gradually eased as the days went by. The cat was so pleased to see me every time I went to check on her, I stopped whittling about her quite as much. She didn’t seem too bothered about being in my car. I think she was pleased to be down from that tree, out of the cold and with a constant supply of food and water. I’d spend 15-20 minutes with her playing and keeping her amused.

On three occasions we had a daily outing. I’d take the cat out the cage and she would happily lay on the lap of whoever was the co-pilot whilst we were travelling through the countryside. She was brilliant in the car. Here are some of the places we visited. You’ll have to excuse the photos, we both had crappy cameras on our phones. I didn’t think they’d end up on a blog for anyone to see! I’ve tampered about with them and tried to spruce them up as much as poss.

Our next trip was to Mérida and Badajoz, spending more time in the first of the two. These cities belong to the province of Badajoz and, like Cáceres, are part of the Comunidad Autónoma of Extremadura. Mérida is also the capital of said Comunidad. It is home to the longest (in terms of distance) surviving Roman bridge from ancient times. It crosses the Guadiana river. I don’t have many photos from either of the two cities. Sorry about that.

Our final outing was to the “Sierra de Gata”, quite apt seeing as we had a wee cat with us. We visited 5 different villages in the Sierra. San Martín de Trevejo, Trevejo, Hoyos, Gata and Robledillo, the latter is right in the sticks but it’s definitely worth taking the time to drive there. They have all been declared of cultural interest due to their historic heritage.

The cat had one more problem, apart from her ear infection and wonky head. Diarrhoea. Not good when you’re locked in a cage most of the time. I had 2 large packs of baby wipes so I could clean her up when necessary. One evening I went to check on her and I noticed the hazard lights were flashing on my car. As I approached I saw the cat sitting in the boot looking out the back window. I hadn’t shut her cage properly and she was having a whale of a time running round the car and watching the people go by.

Giggling I opened the car to get her sorted. I was confronted with the most revolting smell. This was quite normal but it just seemed worse than the previous times. Of course, having the run of the car she hadn’t thought to go back in her cage when she needed the loo. Instead she’d used my yoga mat, a jacket of mine and a scarf.

Thankfully she hadn’t traipsed it round the car, nor was there any on the carpets or the seats. Pep would have killed me if there had have been. The smell in my car wasn’t too great during the holiday, even though I was as meticulous as I could be when cleaning her and her cage. If it had been all over the upholstery I think Pep would have got a taxi back home 😂. The yoga mat, jacket and scarf all went in the bin by the way.

Aside from looking after the cat during the holiday we managed to have a fabulous time in Cáceres. The old town is beautiful and well maintained. It isn’t full of bars, restaurants and tourist shops like a lot of historical city centres are. Quite unusual, refreshing too.

There were plenty of good restaurants in the city, all of which were very reasonable. There was an excellent vegetarian restaurant close to the square but unfortunately they were closing down not long after our visit. It seems there aren’t too many vegetarians in Cáceres, meat is the main option on the menus.

We also found a great Mexican restaurant, La Malinche (website here), which was quite a long walk from where we were staying. It was worth it though, at least it was when we went. Things could have changed now. I sampled their tamarind Margarita and it was divine.

Cáceres is well worth a visit, as well as the surrounding areas. The people were also really friendly. I would love to go back and visit places we didn’t have time to see, possibly taking the cat with us 😁.

Speaking of the cat, just in case you’re interested she’s curled up next to me as I write. We named her Dora, mum’s idea because we found her next to the Laguna Salvadora. Salvadora means saviour but if you split it up in to two words (Salva Dora) it more or less means save Dora! It really suits her.

Upon returning home I took her to our vet José in Jalón. He examined her ear, telling me he wasn’t sure if it was an infection or a possible tumour. There was so much liquid in it he couldn’t tell. A long course of antibiotics was prescribed and it gradually cleared up, no tumour in sight (a relief for me as a few months earlier one of my cats had died of a brain tumour). It did leave behind a spot of brain damage which makes her walk in circles from time to time and act ever so slightly odd. Dora just wouldn’t be Dora if she didn’t though.

She’s incredibly content, gets on well with all my other moggies and clings to me as if I was her mum. It’s nice to be wanted 😊. She really is a character and I’m so pleased we found her. It doesn’t bear thinking what would have happened to her if Pep hadn’t wanted to see those two more lakes.

Right, well, I best be off, that’s enough reminiscing for one day. It hopefully won’t be too long before I can tell you all about our present travels rather than our past ones. Thanks so much for reading. Take care all of you. See you soon. Lots of love, Georgie and Pep xxx