Breakfast a little later today, 9am, to allow for a rare lie-in! We had omelette for breakfast which set us up well for the hike we were to embark on. The hike began on a rocky slope which continued to ascend. Kate and I grew tired very quickly! A short time later however the exertion became worth it as we spotted a bird of prey. Then we hit the jackpot: a Cuckoo had landed on a bare branch only a few metres away. We crept towards it slowly, while taking photos...

Up super early at 6.45am - just like a normal TCV day! We met Laszlo at 8am to drive to Odorheiu. This morning's task was to clean the river in town as part of a community project. After a quick speech from the mayor, everyone set off. Most of the volunteers were teenage kids from local schools, eager to be involved and to make a difference. I got talking to one girl, with whom I practised my Romanian while she practised her English! The clean-up involved cleari...

Breakfast was a simple affair of bread, cheese and salad. Paul came to pick us up from the bar at 10am to drive us back into the field for a second day of raptor surveying. On the way we noticed so many stray dogs just roaming the countryside on their own. It was such an odd site to us (since we're more used to seeing roaming foxes) yet it seems like a common occurrence in Romania. Our first stop was a field where we saw a group of storks circling over the hill ...

Kate and I started the day quite mistaken. After we had eaten breakfast, we went back to our rooms to wait for Laszlo. We had a rather relaxing 45 minutes when, with horror, I realised that we were supposed to meet Laszlo at the bar rather than our house! Half an hour late already, we scurried down to the bar to find that Laszlo was running late himself and hadn't yet arrived. Phew! Once he had turned up, we drove into the nearby hills to begin the raptor survey...

Today is labour day! A bank holiday for Romanians, which gave us a good excuse to join in with the festivities. Breakfast was a welcome treat as it was made by our host, Ibolya. It was an egg omelette complimented by mint tea. Laszlo then picked us up to take us to the big picnic, which was happening just outside of Odorheiu, near our hay-making site. It turned out to be a festival with hundreds of people, all sitting on the grassy hillside in the sweltering su...