La Senda del Oso (The Bear Route), Proaza

After a hard day yesterday, when we visited Oviedo & Gijón, I was looking forward to doing some walking today and was hoping for a car-free day...

Toño, out host, encouraged us to do the bear route, saying that we'd be walking through a beautiful forest and that we'd likely see some of the three Asturian bears along the way. Sounded interesting.

At the edge of the town we crossed the bridge, and turned left, where we found Oso Goloso. It's a small café, which also provides bicycles for rent. Prices were tempting, €9 for the whole day, but we preferred to walk. The girl in the shop actually recommended a route going the other way, towards Entrago, saying that it was a more beautiful route, but it was a 14km walk and we hadn't planned for that. Had we known it before, I'd have been more interested in that.

Especially after the walk we did.

It was summer, after all. It was hot, the river was a gentle flowing stream, and it wasn't as green as I'd expected. The bears were actually in an enclosure - there were three of them - in a valley, and the path was some way up. We couldn't go close to the enclosure.

To be honest, it was rather sad. I don't like zoos much, especially when the animals are in small cages. Here, they are a bit freer, but it must be terribly boring for them. They're still enclosed, after all. This day was so hot that we couldn't see any at first - they were all hiding in some shade or other, I suspected.

And then, we spotted it.

A lonely bear (As usual, click on any image to see a larger version)

I didn't have a lens long enough to zoom in close. I could crop the photo, but I prefer to share this view as you can then have an idea of their enclosures.

Later, it came a little closer. Or it could have been a different bear, I couldn't really tell. There were several enclosures, but I think they're inter-connected.

A bear posing

After passing the enclosures, we carried on for a while and then decided to turn back. It was very hot and it didn't look inviting enough for us to carry on. On the way back, we saw all the three bears, although not together except for these two.

Asturian bears

They were walking back into the shade, and so were we...

El Mirador del Oso, Proaza, Asturias - review

As I mentioned in the last post, we arrived very late. Toño (short for Antonio) was waiting for us at the petrol station, Estación De Servicio Valle De Trubia, which also happens to sell the cheapest petrol in Asturias, or so Toño claimed! Certainly from what we'd seen, he wasn't lying.

The apartment was very close to the petrol station, up a slight slope off the main road. Parking was no problem, one of the advantages of lodging in rural accommodation. We were staying in Asturias for four nights, and I had been looking at a lot of places, including in Oviedo and Gijón. For one reason or another, they had all been rejected, until I found Toño's residence.

It's a big house, converted into six apartments over three floors. We were given the top one. Three floors to lug the suitcases up! Toño, a strong man, kindly helped us. Each of the apartment had been given a name - much more romantic than a number! Ours was Xardón.

Of course, I'd already seen the photos of the house. I'd already liked what I saw from the outside, even in the dark night. I liked it even more when Toño opened the door for us. It was exactly identical to what I'd seen in the photos.

Apartment Xardón, El Mirador del Oso, Proaza

All the apartments had been painted in strong colours, but I loved them. The whole house had been tastefully decorated, both style and colours being appropriate for the rural setting.

The side window overlooked neighbouring houses and gardens. The double bed was large and fairly comfortable (I knew I wasn't going to get a firm mattress!), bedside tables and lamps on both sides, a full-length mirror adorning a side wall, and there was even a valet stand!

Don't forget that we arrived very late and had to have dinner first. These photos were taken well after midnight; I was depending on what lighting there was and so I didn't manage to take photos of everything in the apartment.

Sofa bed

The sofa bed folds out easily, and it's big enough for a couple, but you'd better ask Toño if there are four of you. Being on the top floor, we had a rooftop window, which was low enough for us to peek out at the fields (and the cows) and the mountains beyond, yet high enough not to bother us. Under this window, there's a small round table.

Toño practically runs this place all by himself, including the cleaning! It was immaculate, incidentally. He very kindly had a pear cake ready for us, but since we managed to have dinner, that accompanied us in the next couple of breakfasts. The cake was delicious!

The open kitchen is small, but sufficient for a short stay. We didn't need it except to boil water. A kettle would have been handy, Toño! I also found this part of the apartment a little dark, especially if you need to be cooking. 

The shower cubicle was a tad too small, and there weren't many places where you could put your toiletries and stuff. You can put them on top of one wall of the cubicle, but it isn't very convenient if you're short.

The one unfortunate aspect of this wonderful apartment is the free wifi internet connection. Being on the top floor, and the router being on the ground floor, the waves aren't strong enough to reach inside the apartment. Go out onto the landing, and you're ok. Rather inconvenient though. Having said that, the mobile network service works fine in the whole house. So, if you really need the free wifi, confirm that there's connection in the apartment you're being allocated.

Perhaps if Toño could relocate the router to the landing of the first floor, the connection might reach everyone?

Place: El Mirador del Oso

Booking: AirBnB 

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Location: 

Verdict:  Highly recommended!