Report about the excursion to Villatoro pass
On 25th October 2005, students in 4th Secondary went to Villatoro pass to see the river Adaja source. On our way we saw cows, sheeps, horses and pigs. We also saw holm oaks, poplars and some ground thickets. We passed through some villages like La Serrada, Padiernos, Muñogalindo, La Torre, Muñana... We couldn't see any forest, maybe some woods.

The weather was cool, there were a lot of clouds, it was windy and quite humid, but luckily it didn't rain. We could see a timber factory, a biscuit factory, three or four pigs' slaughterhouses and a fodder factory among others. There were some family explotations like sheep farms. All through the journey we were surrounded by  Avila mountains and the Paramera mountains until we arrived to Villatoro pass.

There, our Biology teacher taught us about the landscape: the terrain was sandy with granite rocks; trees were oaks, some ashes and some ground thickets like ferns, white hawthorns and brooms. We could meet two hunters with a lot of quails and partridges.
On the way to the source we saw some mushrooms and some strange warted puffballs.

Our teacher explained us that the river rises between rocks so its water is very clean, without sediments. At the first part of the river there is permafrost that produce  heaps of land with grass among them the water crosses.

While we went down  to the bus we saw two types of cows: black cows and brown-mustard cows denomitaded blond-Galician cows. Personally I couldn't see any wild animal. Finally we returned to Avila.

We have interviewed a student about the excursion. This is her opinion:
What she liked the most were the variety of plants and the livestock. And what she liked the least was the long uphill we had to go up. She has learned to respect the nature, not to throw rubbish, how trees and leaves are formed. She would repeat an excursion like that because she likes nature. In short she was tired but she enjoyed the excursion.

Violeta Zazo Jiménez