Last evening we made alternative plans for today. Reasons are four-fold…

1  The weather app told us it was going to rain – hard, all day from early morning

2 We had already discussed taking a day off as Nina has issues with her feet (which Medic Maggie has diagnosed as extensor tendinitis). She has now strapped them and is feeling a lot less uncomfortable. 

3 I hadn’t managed to organise accommodation for the next stage end in El Coronil. 

4 Our camino forum friend Laurie walked this route last year and reported a follows – There was a “water feature” on this stage, which meant getting over to the side of the running current, finding some branches to cross the stream, and then walking in water up to my knees and crawling through an opening of about 2 feet between branches. This meant taking off my backpack and carefully transporting things from side to side. I know this is a terrible description, but believe me, it was a big challenge, and I was happy to make it with just my feet and legs wet. – We thought that this might be a bigger issue if there is a downpour to add to the flow. This issue is also reported by the Camino Association – Important: the ford of the Arroyo Salado de Morón is a point of conflict. In the rainy season it is dangerous to cross it.

So we considered we had good cause to skip the next stage and stay put for another night. 

There is a bus service that can take us to the start of the following stage.  So all was sorted (or so we thought). This morning it occurred to me that tomorrow is May Day holiday – taken very seriously in Spain, as are all fiestas. And it is unlikely that buses will be running. 

But that will be sorted out in due course and today is a rest day. Our lovely apartment was already booked so we couldn’t stay another night but our host arranged alternative accommodation for us. 

In the process of moving home we passed a little ‘ this and that’ shop and I called in to see if they had a USB plug as the one I had brought with me charged at the pace of a very slow snail and to boot emitted a bright light that is really annoying (lesson learned – check equipment before leaving home, don’t just assume that what you have lying around in a drawer will do the job).

So I bought a plug for the princely sum of €3 and whilst there asked the lovely lady shop owner if she thought the bus would run tomorrow. She didn’t think it would so suggested we take a taxi. She proceeded to trot across the road to a bar to ask for the number for a taxi. The bar owner came back over with details and soon a delivery guy had joined in the conversation and we were quite a crowd out on the narrow street.

Eventually the taxi driver was summoned to discuss our requirements and five minutes later we had agreed a time and a fee for a ride to El Coronil bright and early In the morning. The whole affair probably took 20 minutes and involved much laughter and warm feelings. Gotta love the Spanish. 

As it happened, although the sky was grey from the outset, the rain didn’t show its face until about 13:30 but it did come down in some style for a short while and then just a bit of drizzle – so the forecast was far off the mark. 

We are spending tonight at Alojamiento Rural Los Barrosos, a large village house with internal terrace and every facility one could wish for. €60 for the house (but a lot more on booking.com). 

So here we are having done very little and raring to get going again tomorrow. 

It may be of interest to bird watchers out there – using the ‘Merlin Bird ID’ app I have recorded the following birdsong along the way –

Cetti’s Warbler

Common Nightingale

Common Chaffinch

Eurasian Blackbird

Eurasian Blackcap

Eurasian Blue Tit

Eurasian Wren

European Robin

European Serin

Great Tit

House Sparrow

Iberian Chiffchaff

Melodious Warbler

Sardinian Warbler 

Short-toed Treecreeper

Zitting Cisticola