The animals

Relax amidst nature with its precious perfuse, its unusual, characteristic sounds, with the ti-ti of the owls and the bats, the song of the nightingales and crickets, and the raucous gabble of the toads – this accompanied by the croaking of cicadas.

Every now and then you’ll have to listen to sounds like the braying of donkeys if they have to wait a little too long for their food, or horses whinnying when they find the hay not to their liking. In the early morning the cockerels and the geese make themselves heard if the dogs come a little too close. Given that you’re on a farm, and we have to work, you might occasionally hear the sound of the tractor, too.
Our donkeys love children, they are good-natured and full of ideas, and love any type of game and all kinds of tasks. Usually children are the first to wake in the mornings as they don’t want to miss the chance to accompany the donkeys to the fields. They quickly pick up the names of each one, the halters they wear, which is the oldest, and how each is related to the others. Patiently these children wait for the evening to take the donkeys back to their stable. There the animals are brushed and combed, curried and dressed, and from time to time they can take them for a walk

 ….. on the weekly trekking days, mounted bareback, some quickly believe themselves John Wayne!  Wearing hard hats with their parents alongside the children happily ride along the narrow paths and their parents enjoy the exercise too.

When you eat there will be some five dogs fixing you with a lingering gaze, hoping to soften your hearts and get a tasty mouthful – but, please, don’t give them anything to eat, otherwise you’ll never get rid of them!There are also four cats, two in the house and two in the stables, brothers – Pfiffi and Salza, but they won’t let themselves be seen by the guests.

In the vast chicken yard there are thirteen chickens and two cockerels scratching about, and they love fruit and vegetable skins. The ducks adore salad vegetables, and the geese …. well, not only are they very pretty, but they also make their presence felt with their noise.

Our four horses spend their day freely at pasture in the olive terraces. There’s old Sara, 33 now, but still in great shape, and Fritz, 25 years old and a pensioner now. Herta goes riding on Pepe, an eight year old Roan. Achille, a black horse with a fine mane and tail, lets himself be cared for by the more expert children….