There are bears in them woods!!

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We say goodbye to the girls at the sanctuary before heading off to the mountains to meet up with the lads. Even the villagers who are around wave us off. We head west to Sibiu passing through Copsa Mica, the most polluted town in Romania. Life expectancy is fifteen years shorter there and ten years ago the snow and sheep were black. It is looks pretty bad and there are plenty of visual reminders of the redundant industries. We pass through the village of Sadu before reaching the camping spot, which is forestry land where anyone is allowed to camp for free. It is very beautiful and very green. We have to drive through the river to reach the gang but can’t make it up the steep bank – Romanian cars have a high suspension. We spent a pleasant evening around a big fire, watching the lads from the sanctuary really having fun, chasing round and giggling like small boys. Just as we were settling down to sleep, Rob and Lucy heard a bear fairly close, which made for an unsettling night. The advice given to us was to put all our food outside the tent, not to turn torches on and kick if we were attacked. It all seemed a bit too much to take in and we didn’t want to lose our food to we spent the night hiding under the duvet scared half to death every time we heard the slightest noise and it was quite a windy night. We didn’t feel quite so wimpy when we discovered the others had also been just as scared!

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We spent the next day relaxing and working out the best route to Croatia. Jo and Ron brought the younger children and the rest of the volunteers for the day and we finished interviewing folk for the film we will edit when we get home. There is a spring close by, it is a hub of activity all day as people come to load up with fresh water. A white horse who was there when we arrived had fallen into the river during the night and broken it’s back legs. It caused quite a commotion in the morning as people came to decide what to do. Unfortunately it wasn’t the happiest outcome for the horse. It was dragged from the river and left to die. Very few people can afford vets in Romania and animals are generally not treated well. Later that day two men chopped it up with an axe and carted it off. This is a harsh country.