THE KING'S PATHWAY IN SPAIN

Pathway fitted for a king...or not?

el Camino del Rey, meaning 'the King’s Pathway', is located in El Chorro, near Málaga, Spain. It was constructed between 1901 and 1905 to shuttle workers across the gorge between the Chorro Falls and Gaitanejo Falls. It’s a three-foot wide concrete pathway clinging to the rock face, 700 feet above the ground!

In 1921 King Alfonso XIII crossed the walkway for the inauguration of the dam Conde del Guadalhorce and it became known by its present name.

As with most century-old, poorly maintained structures, the Caminito has fallen into serious, and extremely dangerous, disrepair. Only a small portion of the walkway’s hand rails are still intact, and vast sections of the concrete floor have crumbled into the gorge.

Two years ago the government of Andalusía allotted €7 million to restore the pathway, so if you’re willing to wait a bit, you can take your (much improved) chances following the path yourself.

If you can't wait that long for now you can latch onto a safety-wire to keep from falling. Several people have lost their lives on the walkway in recent years; after four people died in two accidents in 1999 and 2000, the local government closed the entrances. However, adventurous tourists still find their way onto the walkway to explore it.

wikipedia.org

THE WORLD'S MOST EXPENSIVE PET

A leopard for your living room

The exotic Ashera cat would cost you anything between $22,000 to $28,000. Besides their expensive price they are also the biggest domestic cat specie. They can stand up to one meter tall.

They resemble a leopard (a breed between the African serval and Asian leopard cat) but have all the characteristics of a domestic cat. What makes them ever more unique is the fact that they are hypoallergenic cats. This implies that they are bred without the potent cat allergen protein gene that causes humans to be allergic to them.

If you order an Ashera cat, your cat comes complete with a microchip implant as well as a complete airline certified cat transporter.

Ashera's are highly intelligent and surprisingly gets along well with people and children.

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AFRICA'S UNLIKELY FRIENDSHIP: Meet Themba and Albert

Themba, the six-month-old elephant was orphaned after his mother died when she fell down a cliff.

Vets at South Africa's Sanbona Wildlife Reserve monitored the young elephant for a week, hoping he would be adopted and suckled by another elephant cow. But that did not happen and staff from an animal hospital were forced to take him in so he did not starve to death.

Themba the elephant and Albert the sheep, first met at a water hole. Themba made a dash for the sheep and chased him around his watering hole. Albert dashed into the safety of a shelter at the far end of the enclosure and stayed there for 12 hours.

Curiousity got the better of the gentle Themba, and he started embracing Albert with his trunk.

The pair now spend every hour together at their home in the Shamwari Wildlife Rehabilitation Centre, in the Eastern Cape, South Africa.

Albert copies everything Themba does. In fact, they have almost the exact same diet. Albert is the first sheep ever to be seen eaingt a thorny acacia bush.

One day though, Themba and Albert‘s bond will have to be broken as the team‘s main objective is to get the elephant back into the wild when he is weaned off baby milk at about two years old.

www.dailymail.co.uk