After a disastrous start to our holiday (we had left the driving licence at home) we arrived at Carmen's Palacio 2 days late. On arrival, we discovered that she had adjusted our booking to reflect our reduced length of stay, and we had not incurred any further charges. (Thank you Carmen). The first sight of her Palacio, with its beautiful gardens, is just breathtaking. We were taken to our bedroom to drop our cases, and shown the outdoor pool, which we dived into immediately. Carmen served us fresh watermelon and water by the poolside and got on with preparing our 3 course meal - all ingredients coming from her own land - lamb, vegetables, fig ice cream.... delicious! Sitting under the wooden gazebo in her garden, listening to the sounds of the cicadas and cow bells, we felt we could finally relax! Carmen's palacio is an ideal place for birdwatching. We will never forget the sight and sound of vultures soaring overhead at Salto del Gitano, our long climb in the heat of the day to Monfrague Castle and the sight of blue rock thrushes at Portilla del Tietar. One day was clearly not going to be long enough here, so we stayed for a further day before moving on to Merida. We made a decision to return to Carmen's for the last day of our holiday as we had enjoyed it so much. We fell in love with Carmen and her beautiful home and can't wait to return for a longer stay another year. Next time, we will come better prepared with driving licence and more sophisticated photographic equipment to do justice to this wonderful experience.

The food was freshly cooked, the meat coming mostly from Carmens own Finca. She has her own sheep, chickens and pigs and made different, excellent dishes every day. Cured her own hams and made a variant of chorizo. The juice was from her own lemon and grapefruit trees. Staff very helpful and in lovely surroundings. As birders it was an excellent base.