On the farm
Although I am quite close to Olivetta San Michele in Italy and I have passed through Ventimiglia to get here, I still find myself on a farm in the country where I have been for already more than a month. I intend to keep this short, because it is late and I am actually a little scared of the wild boar that is roaming around here when it is dark - I am not that brave.
The owner of the olive farm (800 trees!) did not exaggerate when he said there would not be any neighbors. I spend my nights in a cottage with light but no running water a short walk down from the owner's own house, where I am now using his computer. The night is really night here, a lot of stars visible in the sky - something I really miss in the very light-polluted Netherlands.
My toilet is the nature, and gets a little complicated when I need to do a number two. The really friendly dog who accompanies me most of the day and to my cottage in the dark (and who unfortunately is not here tonight) eats all the number twos, so I need to dig a hole with a spade, and cover it all afterwards with two boards and a large stone.
Today I moved tomato plants (they did not look like it to me, but apparently the tiny green leaves will once be large and have tomatoes growing between them) to a larger pot and helped finishing the greenhouse so the plants will be warm for the night. Tomorrow I can start pruning the olive trees, which is 'just like hairdressing'. I am looking forward to it because I 'have to' climb the trees to be able to reach everywhere.
It is really beautiful here, somewhat comparable with Ilonse (see gallery for pictures). I hope all the slopes are not too bad for my knees, though I think it is better to use them a little than not using them at all. I do enjoy the physical exercise that comes with these hills.
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1 comment postedAnd people wonder why I dislike dogs, trying to convince me that they're not as repulsively unhygienic as I say they are. But they are. They're shit-focused creatures.
Actually, native North-Canadian tribes supplement their sled dogs' diet by crapping in their kennels. That's no joke.
I had wild boar running amok outside my tent at night a couple of times. Frickin' scary. I heard a couple of them fighting once, sounded like I imagine rabid (and very discontent) zombies may. In that area I've slept with a nice pointy wooden spear next to me since that night, and each night before going to bed I would strategically wee all around my campsite, and I'd put tins and scraps some place far away. When I retrieved the cans in the morning one of them was pierced and had been gnawed at, now what animal would do such a thing? Discontent zombies maybe? I mean, gnawing at tins can't be very beneficial to your gums, can it?
Another time I woke up to the ground shaking as what must have been a particularly large specimen was trotting around outside my tent. And yet another time, very early in the morning and on a proper official campsite near town (!) I saw a young one coming from the woods up the hill and proceeding to happily trot about, from tent to tent, looking for scraps. That was nonscary and actually quite cute.
Re wild animals, take advice from survival tip #3 and #4 from Outback Simon's complete guide to wilderness survival.
edit: The weeing was part of an effort to put a (presumably nasty, boar-deterring) human smell on my surroundings, and was not immediately related to mentioned frickin' scaryness ;-)