Horny party crashers

A few days ago, I took some visiting Irish friends for a drive through the Maro – Cerro Gordo Natural Park, using the now relatively disused and unmaintained tarmac road that still exists. Out of nowhere, and catching me completely by surprise, not to mention to the complete incredulity of my Irish friends, a huge male ibex, followed by two females, climbed up the mountain slope through the undergrowth and positioned themselves in the middle of the road a mere ten metres in front of us. Needless to say, in the frantic and desperate struggle that immediately ensued, getting the camera out and setting it up as quickly as possible was no easy feat. The ibex must have sensed that something was not right, what with all the screaming and frantic movements coming from within the car, and soon moved on again, crossing the road and climbing the steep bank above us on the other side. The male was the first to disappear up the hill through the undergrowth, however, his two female companions, seemingly more relaxed in the safety of the upper bank above the road, took it upon themselves to lie down and have a munch while gazing at us from their vantage point. I was able to get this shot of one of them. She was so perfectly camouflaged lying on the leaf litter. They formed part of a much larger group because we were able to hear the rustling of leaves and snapping of twigs a little lower down the slope near to the spot where the three that headed the group had emerged. It was a little disappointing that the others did not follow and that I didn’t get a picture of the big male with his spectacular horns. Nevertheless, it was a great experience.