Kev and I wanted to go away this summer but after all the travelling to and from India, I decided a 'staycation' was what we needed..you know, to try and save some pennies!
We headed to the beautiful North Wales, which is actually right on our doorstep. A few nights of camping and glamping (more on those in a later post) and lots of outdoor activities were booked..making it not the cheaper holiday we'd hoped for!! It's always good to try something new because that's how you find new things you love.
One of my absolute favourite things we did was a falconry experience with the very knowledgeable falconer, Richard.
We started out in the most adorable barn on site where we were staying that is usually used for events but today, it was to be used to fly the sweetest little barn owl called Renee.
Whilst we handled her and got her to fly between us, Rich told us lots of facts about barn owls as well as answering our many questions! Renee turned out to be a right little diva, even turning her nose up at food when we tried to tempt her down from the highest beam she could have found!
We then went outside, where we were introduced to our two companions for the hawk walk; Edgar and Alan, the Harris Hawk brothers.
As we walked through the fields, sun beaming down on us, the birds flew out through the trees and then back to our gloves! As time went on, we really got to know their personalities, making it easier to tell them apart.
Alan flew off to hunt and came back with a little bird. When they get excited, their feet lock like a ratchet, so he got stuck to the branch when Edgar tried to steal it from him, meaning his only way of protecting his meal was to swing upside down!!
To try and distract Edgar from trying to steal Alan's food, we played a game with him, making him fly through the whole in this tree between me and Kevin, getting a little treat each time he did. He handled it like a pro!
Sometimes they were a little mischievous and didn't land where they were supposed to...
We were so lucky to have a clear sky to watch the pair soar up high above the trees and then swoop down towards us.
We then headed back to the barn for some tea and cake, whilst Richard put all the photos he'd taken of us onto a disk!
It was £90 for both of us for an hour and a half which is amazing value for money when you look everywhere else. There's very few places where you can have this as a private experience without being in a big group. The photos were a lovely little extra too :)
If you find yourself in North Wales and fancy giving this a go then here's the link to Rich's website.
p.s. I now have a facebook page which you can find here
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