Trepidatious traveller – camino blog

Elevation gain 566 m

Elevation loss 438 m

Total distance walked 260.5 km

It rained in great style last evening, just as we left the accommodation to find a much desired glass of wine the sky is opened and we got drenched.

By the time we leave this morning, admittedly not very early, it seems that every other pilgrim has left the establishment before us. I’m not at all sorry that the first considerable portion of this stage runs alongside a road which we reach as soon as we leave the village and hurrah it has a shoulder

The sun is rising to my right. A guy cycles past and wishes buen camino to one and all. By all I mean we too peregrinas and a guy about 20 m ahead and another far beyond. There are certainly a good number of pilgrims walking this route but it doesn’t feel in any way overbearing.

I seem to have been using my walking poles much less on this camino. I’m not sure why that is. They help me up some hills, certainly helped me balance in the mud, but I am quite enjoying the freedom of swinging my arms.

The scenery is beautiful – barley fields to my left and dehesa type land to the right.

That’s a new one for me – a guy just pulled up and asked me if I wanted a lift, which is very strange and possibly creepy. I’m not limping along – more bounding if anything so obviously I wasn’t looking vulnerable. I should put it down to kindness rather than anything more lecherous. I guess when he pulled up as saw how old I was he made a quick getaway.

In pretty much all of my ten years of camino walking, whether it be a relatively short camino or an extremely long one (although to be honest there haven’t been many relatively short ones) I have averaged a daily distance of 27 km. This year is going to be rather different to that. I haven’t worked out an average thus far for this camino but I would be surprised if it reached 20 km per day.

It is a day of much recording of bird song. There are lots of trees and bushes alongside the road and when there are no cars passing it is extremely peaceful. Normally the Merlin Bird ID app has to deal with the scrunching noise of my feet along the track, but today I am as silent as a hunting cat and the App picks up a few new birds.

Still on the road at 10 km and to be honest, I’m quite enjoying it for a change although I’m sure there will come a time fairly soon when I am hankering for a rough track but in the meantime this road with an adequate shoulder and not one speck of mud suits me just fine.

Almost immediately after recording that I notice the two guys walking ahead of me divert onto a track to the other side of the road but I continue as I’m so comfortable walking where I am. A couple of kms further along I see some cows in a field and can’t resist moving over. It’s a comfortable sand track lined with pretty flowers.

My progress is definitely much slower on the track for various reasons –

1 it’s more ululating than the road

2 you just can’t walk as fast on gravelly sand as you can on a smooth surface

3 I keep dawdling to take flower photos because they are so abundant here

Nina catches up with me and we stop for a break at 10:30 and 12.5 km

We walk through a vast area of cork oaks, some of which have been recently harvested and some are beginning to grow back their bark. There’s a massive field with trees dotted about amongst grass and flowers – nothing that seems like a crop. Google tells me that… cork oak is unique in its ability to regenerate its outer bark. After a tree reaches 25 years of age, it can be stripped of its cork once every 9 to 12 years without causing damage to the tree. A single cork oak, which lives up to 200 years, can be harvested over 16 times.

That doesn’t seem to be a very profitable crop. Maybe the land is used for pasture at other times of the year, but there’s no sign of animals right now.

After we’ve turned away from the road into a gated area I realise we are in a parque natural and so I guess there doesn’t need to be a cash crop. Some Junta de Andalucía trucks pass us and a bit later we see workers busy strimming the grass and tidying the palm trees that surround a Casa Forestal. I imagine there must be some event about to happen here.

This is a wonderful walk on a flat sand path through the cork oaks with a huge array of wild flowers. We are steadily and gently walking downhill since entering the area and just know what will eventually greet us.

We change direction again and suddenly there’s lavender growing and cistus of all colours. I see a singular iris and the tiniest of bright blue lupins.

I look across a shallow valley and the hillside opposite is covered with white cistus. This place is remarkably peaceful and charming. And now the cistus is growing alongside the path in abundance – some with tiny little flowers and some are big and blousy and others mingled with lavender and a yellow flower which Google tells me is broom but I’m sure it isn’t.

The common chaffinch (which apparently is uncommon) and the nightingale compete with each other to sing the loudest, and combined they make the happiest song.

The stunning walk through the cork oaks and the cistus comes to an end at 21.5 km. It’s been absolutely beautiful and it’s made up for every sticky, sloppy, clingy bit of mud that we’ve put up with in recent days

We are still in the parque natural in a totally different landscape – rolling hills with yellow and white daisies and lavender. And a bit later through pine trees.

There are a couple of fords to cross, but with the assistance of some well placed and distanced stepping stones.

We take another short break at 21 km and soon after we are directed through a huge and unexpected gate and are immediately on a loose gravel track – the sort that moves under your feet. It goes on and on and the scenery has changed yet again to holm oak trees, still with lots of beautiful flowers.

Well we certainly pay for all that beauty and that gentle descent. I see a looming hill. I say to Nina that it can’t possibly be track. It’s just too steep. It must be a fire break. But guess who was wrong – it was ridiculous but of course we made it to the top plodding ever upwards – the steepest incline was 100 m over a distance of 700 m. And of course there was an equally steep descent into Almadén de la Plata.

We are staying in Casa Concha, a bar/restaurant with accommodation. We have a triple room for the cost of a twin – €40. This is a very weird village (it feels a bit ‘League of Gentlemen’ to me). There are a couple of shops and an excellent farmacia and an abundance of bars.

Birds of the day..,

Cuckoo

Common Chaffinch (listed as uncommon)

Common Nightingale

Corn Bunting

House Sparrow

Thekla’s Lark (listed as rare)

Eurasian Hoopoe (yay!)

Iberian Magpie

Willow Warbler (listed as rare)

Eurasian Blackbird

European Turtle-Dove

Eurasian Nuthatch (listed as uncommon)

Eurasian Blue Tit

Sardinian Warbler

Long-tailed Tit

Short-toed Treecreeper

Wood Lark (listed as uncommon)

So happy to hear a hoopoe 😍

Albergue whinge – we stayed at the Albergue Luz del Camino in Guillena last night. The host was very welcoming but the albergue left a lot to be desired in my opinion. We were allocated a room with three bunk beds. We were first in so both chose bottom bunks. A quilt was supplied but I definitely didn’t want it touching my skin so used my silk liner for the first time on this camino.

Whinge 1 – Between six occupants there was only one electrical outlet in the room.

Whinge 2 – there were beds for 14 in total on this floor. And there were two bathrooms. Two complete bathrooms with shower, basin and wc. So if two people decided to take a shower at the same time then no one else had use of the basin and wc. The space should be configured with two shower cubicles, two wc cubicles and two basins so that any one of these amenities can be used at any time. Added to this the bathrooms were full of black mould, the shower curtains were absolutely disgusting and I contorted myself to avoid touching it, and the wc seat was ancient and wooden and must have carried a myriad of germs. So gross!

Now on with today…

Elevation gain 377 m

Elevation loss 83 m

Total distance walked 232 km

After a bit more than 1.5 km walking through this surprisingly sprawling town we cross the bridge over the Rio Rivera de Huelva. And a short while after that we leave the road and turn onto a sand track

At 3.5 km we have to leave the trail and pass through an industrial estate. In a field tucked between some commercial units there’s quite a large herd of sheep, which seems rather odd.

We are soon enough back on a track flanked by citrus on one side and olives on the other.

Our first mudfest starts soon enough and almost instantly our boots are caked with a thick layer. We find a spot where we can divert into an olive grove where at least there’s some low growth of dew covered weeds that we can drag our boots through in an effort to dislodge some mud.

The path is mud-caked for several kilometres but we manage to avoid a lot of it by walking through the olive trees. Eventually we can see that the path had reverted to sand which is a massive joy.

There is something going on in the adjoining fields. A huge expanse has been cleared, there are a couple of pile drivers and lots of extremely sturdy posts sunk into the ground – you don’t need those to support young trees! Up on a hill there are rows of digging machines and lorries lined up ready to start work on Monday. There are also piles of equipment waiting to be unpacked and I have a feeling that this area will be a gigantic solar farm. Whatever is going on in this vast area, this track will have a very different outlook in a year or so.

Soon enough the path becomes a via pecuaria with the landscape of a dehesa – a variety of trees dotted about and beautiful wild flowers in all directions.The purgatory of the last few kilometres is wiped clear with these new surroundings

We find some well placed rocks to take a break at 8.5 km. when we get going we pass at very close quarters to cows with very big horns, but they are much too interested in grazing to bother looking up at us.

At around 14 km we reach the end of that beautiful path and are now walking on a wide compacted agricultural track through similar surroundings but somehow they don’t feel quite the same anymore. After this we are on a track alongside the road that leads to our home for the night.

We are staying in Casa Salvadora, a large townhouse with single, double and twin rooms. Singles are €17 and our twin is €30. We can use the washing machine and dryer for €10 which we’re sharing with another guy.

Luckily there’s a decent sized Carrefour up the road so I can stock up on food for tomorrow’s long stage with no facilities.

Today’s birds…

Barn Swallow

House Sparrow

European Goldfinch

Zitting Cisticola

Great Tit

Corn Bunting

European Serin

Eurasian Linnet

Common Chaffinch

Sardinian Warbler

Elevation gain 24 m

Elevation loss 19 m

Total distance walked 212.5 km

We were serenaded last night and this morning by the spotless starling – what a strong and beautiful song – apparently they are good mimics. I hadn’t heard of it previously, like a few of the birds on my list.

More rain is forecast for today but not too heavy – whilst at home they are basking in wall to wall sunshine!

We have a very tardy start today because we want to visit the Roman theatre and amphitheatre of Itálica dating from 206 BC which doesn’t open until 9 am. In fact the theatre didn’t open at all but we paid a visit to amphitheatre. Check out the link here

It cost me huge sum of €1.50 to get in and Nina was free because she has a discount card. Sadly we couldn’t access the full site, maybe because of the wet conditions the uneven nature of the site is deemed a health and safety risk. Apparently there is also a museum in the town but we didn’t realise in time to visit.

We are togged up in our rain gear – looking amazing – but by the time we leave, the rain has more or less stopped and after a quick hot drink in the bar across the road we set off. Ideally of course we would have visited these attractions yesterday evening when it was bright and sunny and I could have taken some lovely photos, but we were too busy drinking wine. Hey, ho!

On leaving town we are on a road with a bit of a shoulder but it’s covered in a thin layer of particularly slippery mud – the type that almost landed me a cropper yesterday – so I am steering well clear. But it’s very quiet being a Saturday morning and the drivers seem very courteous and give us plenty of space.

After a little less than 2 km on the road we are on a track not yet muddy, and some time later still not muddy. Yay! It’s a sandy gravelly track and although it must be very damp, there is absolutely no clinging involved.

The sun has now come out in full strength. And what comes after rain? Why raindrops of course. And I’ve been dawdling along trying to catch some raindrops twinkling in the newly appeared sun.

The track is lined with fabulous wild flowers, mostly bright yellow dill. Until it isn’t, where they must have been sprayed and are brown and dead

A very peculiar creature just crossed the path ahead of me. I would judge it might’ve been the size of a badger but very very low to the ground with a very long tail sweeping the ground. Brown coloured, rather like the shape of a chocolate mouse – narrow and pointy at the head end building up to more bulk at the hindquarters and then back down to ground level at tail end. When I caught up with Nina and described the creature she immediately said a beaver. And of course it must have been, but I’d never seen one in the wild before (and I wasn’t wearing my specs!). Mystery solved.

Once the beautiful wild flowers have disappeared from the side of the track we can see what lies beyond – currently freshly ploughed mud – just mud almost as far as the eye can see.

I passed some grazing horses and a pen containing a huge great bull and countless younger bullocks. I can see a stork soaring in the air and then coming down to land. It’s all rather pleasant.

But our hearts sink as our yellow sandy path turns to brown ahead. But luckily there is enough grit in this mud to prevent it from clinging to our boots. Let’s hope I’m not speaking too soon.

Eventually we come to quite a long stretch where there are stone walls built either side of the narrowing track and so there is nowhere for the water to run and it’s become very muddy and very unpleasant and very clingy. It lasts long enough to completely cake our boots.

And then rain starts again, a heavy downpour so we get our gear on again and drip out way to our stage end. We’re staying at Albergue Luz del Camino, €15 per bed with fairly grotty bathroom facilities – we are now entering true pilgrim territory – we’ve been spoilt by our mostly excellent lodgings thus far – now it’s time to suck it up!

Today’s birds…

European Serin

House Sparrow

Common Nightingale

Zitting Cisticola

Crested Lark

European Goldfinch

Western House-Martin

Common Swift

Thanks to everyone who has commented on the blog. I love reading all comments although I’m not getting as many this year. I want to especially thank @alanlamp whose regular comments always make me smile 😄

Elevation gain 79 m

Elevation loss 136 m

Total distance walked 187 km

When I peep out the door 10 minutes before our arranged taxi time he is already there, so we grab our stuff and leave the house. I’m surprised at quite how dark it is at 06:30 and there is nothing to see out of the car windows. We arrive in the centre of El Coronil at 07:00 and of course as it is a holiday there is no one around and nothing is open.

Within a few minutes, we’re walking on a track that’s particularly soft due to the rain and not a little bit muddy but nothing problematic at the moment.

Presumably there was a gradual change of scenery somewhere between Coripe and El Coronil from green pastures to golden barley and newly ploughed fields. So when we exit the town and are immediately in the countryside the view is no longer green rolling hills but brown and beige rolling hills. 

There are dozens probably hundreds of the gigantic freestanding solar panels that change direction with the movement of the sun and there is a lot of low-level cloud obstructing our long-distance view.  It’s quite eerie in this low light, low cloud atmosphere.

A pair of quail burst out from their hiding place and startle me as I walk past. There are distant sounds of cattle and sheep. I certainly prefer the lush green rolling landscape of days gone by but this track has some magical qualities at this early time of day with lots of hanging cloud.

There are quite a few new plantings of olives which will change the outlook in a couple of years. All the way along the track so far there are electricity pylons and cables in all directions.

I’m making a very slow progress this morning – constantly stopping to take photos and look around and listen to birds and marvel at the sun rising through the clouds.

After about an hour of walking a muddy gravel track it turns into a purely muddy mud track and the difference to what clings to our boots is instant and considerable, making it very hard work. The very clingy build-up of a thick layer of compacted mud adds weight and unaccustomed depth to my boots.

What a short while ago was a magical dream has now become a bit of a nightmare – the weight of the mud clinging to my boots is making every step an effort. But it’s not the worst mud that Nina and I have encountered – the camino de la Lana would be difficult to beat in the mud stakes. 

Talking of boots I have thus far been very pleased with my new boots this year. I wanted to stick with Merrell as they’ve always been comfortable and, though not especially hard wearing, they’ve always lasted well enough to see me through my caminos and then some dog walking afterwards.  These are Wrapt Mid Waterproof Boots with barefoot fit, although I’ve probably destroyed the barefoot aspect by using my own insoles.  But nevertheless they have been very comfortable and just about sturdy enough for the terrain on this camino. I would have preferred the lovely rich brown colour which doesn’t show the dirt so much but the black ones were on sale and £30 cheaper so it wasn’t a hard decision to go for the black.

Now that the sun is well and truly risen there is a nice blue sky with white fluffy clouds dotted about.

After climbing another couple of hills the ground has dried out although my boots most definitely have not emptied themselves of mud but doubtless that will happen over time.

I realise that I haven’t turned on my Wikiloc recording so apologies for that. At 9:20 we’ve been walking for over 2 hours, albeit rather slowly, so I would guesstimate that we have covered maybe 6 – 8  km.

The surrounding fields are once more green now. I have an unknown crop to my left which I think maybe a cover crop and on the right are young sunflowers plants – so this will be a sight to behold in maybe six weeks. Later there are plantings of vetch. 

By 10 the mist has risen and the mud has long returned. 

As we approach the village of Los Molares approx 12 km from El Coronil there’s a recreation ground where, for the fourth time, I remove my boots to empty the little stones and mud and try and scrape as much  off the outside as possible. Once we get going again we are on sand – mud free, very comfortable.

We stop at a bar for cold drinks. At 11:30 it’s bustling with customers chatting noisily as only the Spanish can. Los Molares is a large town with plenty of bars. 

When we leave we are on a narrow road, no shoulder, quite busy but the drivers don’t seem to be in too much of a rush on this fiesta day and I don’t feel threatened. Which is just as well as we remain on the road for the rest of the stage.  I have to say for the time being it’s an absolute delight to be walking on a dry surface and to leave that mud behind.

Birds of the day…

House Sparrow

Spotless Starling

Eurasian Collared-Dove

Crested Lark

Zitting Cisticola

Corn Bunting

Common Quail

Common Reed Warbler

Calandra Lark

Greater Whitethroat

Melodious Warbler

Utrera is a large town, probably classed as a city. Buildings of all periods and mostly very attractive. I have not booked camino accommodation in advance previously – always having used albergues. But that wasn’t an option in the Via Serrana. In small towns and villages it doesn’t really matter where the accommodation is situated because nothing is very distant from the route. But when you arrive in a large sprawling town it’s a lot more relevant. Today we are a long way from both the city centre and the camino route – a good (or bad!) 30 minutes away. It is a lesson to be heeded in future. 

The accommodation is pretty poor – but we’ve been a bit spoiled lately – it’s probably a lot better than we’ll get once we’re using albergues!

Electricity came on at 05:09 and I immediately plugged in my devices. I had left the light in my room switched on so I knew immediately it happened. 

I didn’t get any useful signal on my phone until close to reaching my destination today. What a palaver!

Elevation gain 120 m

Elevation loss 346 m

Total distance 167 km

About 1 km out of town we are directed down a very steep hill and join the Via Verde de la Sierra that… “uses the old railway line between Jerez and Almargen, which joins the municipalities of Puerto Serrano and Olvera”.

“Construction began in the early 20th century, but was halted during the Spanish Civil War and never fully completed. The Via Verde, now a popular tourist route for cycling, walking, and horse riding, follows the old railway line, including tunnels, viaducts, and old railway stations.”

The sun already feels quite strong at 8 o’clock, but there is some cloud cover today for the first time. We soon reach the first of the 20 tunnels on this stage of the Via Verde (there are 30 tunnels in all)

It’s a gently undulating path with more twists than I would have expected for a trainline line but sadly it’s been tarmacked, presumably because farmers need to access to their olive trees on either side of the track. It eventually changes to gravel at almost 8 km, yay!

I looked at my phone around 09:30 and saw I had signal but couldn’t get the radio or any other service I tried. 

The weather has been kind to us today with the sun hiding behind the clouds and a cooling breeze. But the novelty of walking on flat track is beginning to wear off. 

At 17.5 km we come across a hostal with a bar and it just happens to be situated opposite some massive craggy cliffs where vultures are circling in the air currents. We have a double treat – a cold drink and a fab view. We peregrinas are easy to please.  

When we leave the hostel, the sun has fought its way through the clouds and the wind has dropped and suddenly it’s very warm – the few tunnels that remain are very welcome places.

We leave the track at 23.5 km and start our climb to our stage end of Coripe, partly on road and finally on a track alongside.

We are staying at Casa Rural Coripe (€49) in a lovely spacious apartment with a washing machine – yay, no hand washing chores today! Coripe is a quiet town of a few long streets and sufficient facilities. We eat at Bar Cuchara, where the food is good and inexpensive, and share a table with a lovely Canadian couple who are cycling around Andalusia.

Walking back to our accommodation we marvel at the horizontal hanging slither of moon – quite extraordinary.

We are hatching a plan for tomorrow’s stage – watch this space!

Elevation gain 600 m

Elevation loss 759 m

Total distance 140 km

There’s a strong cool breeze on leaving town this morning. The views on the way out are absolutely spectacular – huge cliffs rising from green pastureland

 

The wind is so strong that I have to put my visor on, not to keep the sun out of my eyes and mop my brow as usual, but to keep my hair from flying in my face.

Just over a kilometre from leaving our apartment, we are on a gravel path and very soon after that a nice rocky track on the very very edge of a huge plunge down into the valley.

After 3.5 km we find ourselves on a minor road. All our walking so far this morning has been downhill and we just know what’s coming next.

And sure as eggs is eggs we walk through a tunnel under the train line and the incline commences.

Long gone are the avocado plantations of the first few stages and we are now surrounded by olive trees and the occasional vineyard .

We are on a long and winding road, luckily not too busy but with severe switchbacks that make it dodgy to walk with no shoulder.   The views over the gorge stunning.

Finally we get off that main road 9.5 km and are now on a quiet road going steeply downhill and then a track through olive groves, crop fields and vineyards.

It’s still very windy with strong gusts and it’s lovely to see the wheat fields rippling in the breeze almost like waves.

Bright red poppies have been more abundant the last few days and are always a joy to see.

We’re now on a lovely gravel track with crops to either side olive groves in front and big rock outcrops in between. Poppies are lining the track and waving wildly in the wind.

By midday we’ve walked almost 17 km and arrive at the tiny village of Venta de Leche. Alas there is no bar but there is a bench in the shade of a gnarly old fig tree

When we leave the village, we are soon onto a dirt track with some incline, but not too much. 

This countryside is what I consider to be true camino – vast rolling hills in all directions covered in olives and wheat – a patchwork of deliciousness. 

There are two villages ahead and I think the furthest and highest one is where we are headed,  but maybe if we go through the first one, we can get that cold drink we missed earlier.  Fngers crossed.

At 22 km we come across an unexpected water feature which requires a boots off paddle. The mission is accomplished without too much fuss and bother. I suspect that the stream which was very fast flowing and reasonably wide would not normally be in such full flow as I have not read about this feature in anyone else’s reports. 

At 26 km we bypass the first village – Torre Alháquime and soon come across a goat farm. I’ve seen a lot of goats on my various caminos but never this many in one go. Hundreds pass us on their way to the milking parlour. Whilst many more nannies and kids are scrambling over the steep hillsides. The track takes us to bench where we can sit and watch their antics for ten minutes. 

Then it’s back on an extremely rough and rustic steeply uphill path with wooden bridges to help us over small ravines. It’s hard work but magical. 

At a point near the top of our climb we can hear music blaring and soon enough we are amongst what seems like the whole population of this large town partying at their Romería. There are lots of people with bbq’s, ice cream van (that we take advantage of), drinks tables, mules pulling a cart and lots of ladies and their daughters in Flamenco dresses. It’s a fabulous occasion to see. After this we are on a paved path into town. 

But when I stop to find the address of our accommodation I find I have no phone signal and nor does Nina so can’t check on booking.com.  This is very strange and we have no idea where we are staying (although I realise much later that I have all addresses of places I’ve booked on a spreadsheet in my bumbag 🙄)

I then think to check my emails and find the address but Google doesn’t work without signal. I try maps.me and it comes up trumps. Luckily the host is waiting at the property and a young couple arrive at the same time. The host tells us there is no electricity, not only in the house, not only in the town but in the whole of Spain, and Portugal, and part of France. This is the same information that the other guests have heard. Therefore there are no shops or bars and restaurants open. This is really weird and rather alarming – what on earth is going on?  How can such a vast area be affected by the same massive issue? Someone we see later tells us that it has been a cyber attack. Luckily our lovely host walks us to a fruit shop that he has seen open as they have a battery operated till. So we stock up on fruit and salad and our host finds us some bread in his freezer. He really is such a kind man.   

We walked up to the church at the top of town. The place is earily quiet from a mixture of the outage situation and half the townsfolks being at the romería without a care in the world (until they get home!).

It’s now gone 21:00 and still no power or mobile signal so there’s no way of confirming what’s going on. It’s so strange to look out of the window and the only lights that can be seen are from passing cars. Luckily my charging pack is fairly fully charged but I have no idea if it will see me through to the end of this situation.

We ruminate the possible purposes and consequences of this disastrous event, with absolutely no means of access to any news. For someone who listens to news programmes several times a day it’s a very unnerving experience

Let’s hope that it’s resolved by morning. Fingers double crossed!

We are staying at Cama Doble Cristina, €23 for two. But due to a mix up (mine probably) our host expects us to share a double bed. Luckily there is a single room available which he lets us use, so we leave him an extra €10. It’s far from the best accommodation we’ve stayed in but Cristobal’s kindness is worth a fortune.

Elevation gain 735 m

Elevation loss 554 m

Total distance 110 km

We find a different path to exit the village which has a ridiculously steep descent.

After passing by a herd of sheep on their way to graze the hillsides we find ourselves on a nice narrow dirt track on the edge of the gorge and climb above the river and train line below. Mountains rise to both sides.

It’s a nice cold morning with a bit of a breeze, but it promises to be another clear blue sky hot sunny day . Fortunately we have a short distance today into Ronda – around 19 km, but there is even more elevation gain than yesterday.

This track runs alongside an irrigation channel – completely dry at the moment but nevertheless this walk and several stretches in previous days have really reminded me of my hikes around and above the village where I used to live in Spain.

Lots of ups and downs. The path runs above the  Rio Guardiaro. Sometimes it flows silently and at others it passes over rocks and there’s a fierce rushing sound – put together with the bird song it’s a lovely morning chorus.

We’ve walked about 9 km and are down at river level when we take a turn away to a change of scene and some really serious climbing. It’s mostly scrubland but the fields are full of wild irises – startling purple against the green of the grass – absolutely stunning, just incredible.

Gone is any shade and the heat of the sun is unrelenting as we climb and climb and climb some more. Well, we are walking to Ronda and we all know how high up that is. 

I stopped making notes at this point as all my focus was needed to put one foot in front of the other. 

We were sharing the track with another organised hike and cycle ride, although not so many this time.  

We were very glad to reach the outskirts of the town where we were on level ground at last. 

Ronda is teeming with tourists and it’s very slow progress weaving amongst them to find our accommodation which is very central and a very nice large two bed apartment for only €42.30 – Apartmentos Alameda

I’ve been to Ronda before albeit 25 years ago and I don’t feel the need to sightsee. We do a bit of shopping to replenish our stores and grab a glass of wine and some tapas. 

It was another spectacularly beautiful and very hard day. It felt a great deal longer than 19.5 km. Tomorrow is nearer 30 km, also with lots of elevation. This camino is really testing our stamina. 

Elevation gain 742 m

Elevation loss 469

Total distance 90 km

The only traffic we pass on the way out of town are two mules ridden by a guy leading his young son. 

We are very soon on a narrow winding track on the edge of a gorge with a very beautiful view of the river down below.

Although it’s nice and cool at 07:45, I am soon generating my own heat with the effort of climbing the path.

It’s very peaceful up here with only the sound of birdsong and the water down below. The path winds around the gorge and leads us up and down through a variety of trees and shrubs including palms.  The sound of the river rushing by gets louder as we descend. 

When I can peek through a gap in the bushes I see that we are almost on a level with the river only about 2 m to my right.

After around 3 km, we cross a very wobbly suspension bridge that takes us over a tributary to the river and then there are some tricky steep steps to negotiate on the way down.

I’m not making very fast progress on this walk – there’s too much to look at. It’s a spectacular walk – I’ve already seen some large birds of prey circling above and there should be more to come .

High above I can see the tunnel arches of the railway line running through the canyon. Most unexpected – a bit like the train line that runs past the Caminito del Rey. 

As I huff and puff struggling up a very steep section of rocky incline I suddenly hear steps behind me and a very long legged energetic Spanish man came up behind chatted for a moment and was out of sight within a flash.

Having been far below the train line I am now very high above it. The walk is extremely tiring up rocky steps and steep slopes, it’s hard work, but when I’m able to look up from where I’m placing my feet, the views make every huff and puff absolutely worthwhile.

At 09:15 the sun has just climbed above the mountain and is making its presence felt. 

Finally I reach the top (I hope) after walking for two hours and less than 5 km and gained 235 m elevation

We then descend for some time and come to an L-shaped tunnel that is so low we have to remove our packs in order to get through. It leads to a concrete bridge over the very very very deep gorge with water roaring at the bottom.

And then we climb up some precarious steep rock steps on the other side. Luckily there are cables running up each side to assist with hauling yourself up. I emit considerable old lady noises heaving myself up the mountainside. 

When I think I finally have reached the top there’s an old ruined finca but I see a sign to walk on a recently scraped wide dirt track going back down the gorge.  It’s very very pleasant to be walking downhill on a flat surface.

But it’s not downhill for long and although the track is easy to walk there’s quite an ascent involved, whereas I expected I’d be going down into another sort of canyon. I wasn’t expecting this track at all and it seems very strange. I’ve checked my map so many times to make sure I’m on the right path and it says I am, but in all of the accounts I’ve read of this stage no one has mentioned this track. Hey ho

I assumed that I was way behind Nina because when I came to a point where I could see a long way ahead, I couldn’t see any sign of her. Then she messaged me to ask where I was. It turns out that she took a wrong path by the finca (which involved another down & up) and she was actually behind me.

This first part of the stage was undoubtedly spectacular but it didn’t deliver its promise of lots of vultures soaring overhead. I saw none other than the few on the way up – and it’s known as Cañon de las Buitreras (Canyon of the vultures) so I feel a bit cheated. 

Once we get back on track through farmland I see pigs and goats for the first time, and lots of sheep.

At 13.8 km we pass through a town with bar and it was such a treat to stop in the shade for a cold drink.  We’re both exhausted, having gained 466 m of elevation.

So it’s taken us almost six hours to get this far and we have another similar distance to walk to our stage end, although we expect it to be a lot less hard going. I think this portion of the stage has been the hardest I’ve ever walked. 

After we leave the café there’s a short stretch on the road before we’re directed onto a gravel track.  The unrelenting sunshine beats down from a pristine blue sky and there’s no shade. I’m once again going uphill – I thought we were done climbing for the day but apparently not. The surroundings are very green and mountainous. 

We find ourselves amongst walkers and runners taking part in some organised event. There must have been over 100 of them and we shared the same trail for the rest of the stage. The path changed to a beautiful narrow track amongst ancient trees and wild flowers.  

I was flagging by mid afternoon – the sun was really hot and there wasn’t much shade. One of the organised walkers hurried past me with his music blaring and I thought “I know what to do to revive my energy” and plugged into my camino playlist and suddenly there was wind beneath my wings and I flew over the next few kms. 

Getting closer to the stage end I reach a lovely shady area by the river and wait for Nina to catch up. When she arrives we decide to sit on the bank and soak out feet for a while. It was very cold and just what we needed to help us up the last big hill to our destination. 

We set off at 07:30 and arrived at 17:45 with not more than 90 minutes downtime. A really beautiful but hard day.

We stayed at Hotel Rural Inz-Almaraz (€56.70 for twin room) and ate in the restaurant below. Good food at reasonable price. 

I’m a day late posting this as I was absolutely exhausted on arrival and had not one ounce of energy left to do anything other than eat and sleep.  Quite some day!

Elevation gain 548 m

Elevation loss 444 m

Total distance 64 km

Soon after leaving town, we are directed onto a grassy track, which soon becomes another mostly dried mud trail that has been passed over by many hooves and left with deep ruts for me to twist my feet on.

A lot of the path is barely discernible, covered in weeds and I imagine, with another few weeks’ growth, will have completely obliterated the path.  I can’t see how these tracks will be visible with so little foot fall keep them trodden down. 

After a kilometre of downs and ups through the weeds, we are back on the road.

I see sheep for the first time with lots of lambs bouncing across the hillside.

Whenever the path dips there is likely to be a muddy bog to navigate – we’ve had a few! But for the most part the track is dry which is an absolute blessing, because it would be horribly muddy in wet conditions. Today at 08:30 the sky is hazy and the track is mostly shady so it’s nice cool going.

Urgh – I spoke too soon, now we have a wet and boggy narrow stretch that we have to walk through. No way around. And the result is very muddy boots for me and wet feet for Nina. 

There are lots of big barky dogs today but all safely  behind fences.

We reach the small town of San Pablo de Buceite  at 09:30 after walking 8.5 km and stop for a hot drink and a bit of shopping. 

After San Pablo we’re ‘ on the road again’ with avocado plantations as far as eye can see.

11.75 km we reach the notorious gates to Los Lirios finca. These can be locked, blocking the right of way to the path that runs through this vast estate.  The gate gods are on our side this morning and they are open and inviting us to pass through. 

A concrete track leads up past the finca homestead which looks to be occupied. And soon after there is another set of gates but as we get close we can see these are just tied up the string. The dirt track on the other side is very uneven and very steeply rising with olive trees either side and lots of scrubby plants.

The extra weight of the shopping in my pack is not helping in my struggle to tackle this hill and I know from the reports of others that it goes on for a very long long time.

There are fresh signs of cattle having used this path but so far we haven’t bumped into any.

We reach the top of first leg at 11:30, 13.5 km and 311 elevation gain and stop for a break and a bite to eat under a shady tree. 

By noon the sky is a bit less hazy but nowhere near blue, although the sun has put in an appearance and it’s really quite warm. Luckily this path has some degree of shade which is very very welcome.

I find a perfect spot for a break in the shade of an algarrobo tree where someone has piled some rocks to form a perfect bench – my slice of camino heaven for the day. 

After my luxurious rest the track changes into a glorious shaded tunnel with trees on both sides.  

I see this little chap going about his business and when he realises he has company he stops and runs away so I walk a few paces and he turns around and goes back to his job for the day. 

At 16.5 km I hear the sound of a  fuente. The water in the trough doesn’t look very appealing but the gush of water coming from the pipe is wonderful to wash my hands in and refresh my pole handles .

After the fuente there is practically no shade and we’re walking on a wide gravel agricultural track – the brightness of it is quite glaring to the eyes. 

At 18.5 km we emerge onto a winding  road, but it’s not long before we are directed to pass through a field with another narrow track, this time full of loose rocks to test our tired legs. We walk steeply downhill over this rough track for more than 1.5 km but it was far better than walking on the turnpike road. Just before we exit we come across a group of cattle but they aren’t at all interested in us. 

We pass over the wide and fast flowing Rio Guardiaro and then we reach our destination. We stop at the first bar for a cold drink and then climb some more to find our lodgings for the night at Hostal Los Buiteras. Very nice indeed with lovely gardens and swimming pool (€65 for a twin room). We eat in the restaurant and the food is delicious and very reasonable

Elevation gain 439 m

Elevation loss 308 m

Total distance 41.5 km

On leaving town we’re on the road for only a short while before being directed onto an agricultural track. First there are citrus orchards and then general farmland, and then lots of avocado plantations. 

We hear nightingales calling to eachother across the tracks. So beautiful. 

We pass many horses and cattle and are walking under a perfectly blue sky. Although the wind turbines we’re heading towards are turning with without a great deal of energy there is at this moment no wind at all.

A gentle gradient up towards a ridge soon turns into a definitely not so gentle climb.

After walking 5.5 km we reach what I hope is the peak of the hill and pass behind a row of turbines facing across the valley to the mountains beyond, where there is another ridge of turbines. The sound of them gently whirring is quite soothing. 

Walking along the top of the ridge there are rolling green hillsides falling away on both sides with crops of barley, lots of trees dotted about and beautiful wild flowers lining the path. It’s all rather beautiful.

Camino signs are more in evidence today with mojones (bollards) and tiled plaques.

We take a short break just before we hit the road at 9.7 km

By 11 am the sun has become quite intense – it feels much hotter than my forecast says should be 22°. There is not one bit of shade and still no breeze on this road, but I’m very glad the cars are not being driven as fast as they were yesterday afternoon.

At 13.5 km we reach El Fuente bar, but sadly it’s closed. Nevertheless, we take advantage of some chairs set on an nice shady terrace and rest our legs for awhile.   

At 15km we realise we’ve missed a turning. A quick look at the map shows us that we can regain the route by taking the next turn, although it means adding some distance to the stage. On reflection we’re not sure that we did actually miss the turn. The maps that I have downloaded were made by the official Asociación Gaditana del Camino de Santiago. But we have noted from previous pilgrims on this route that there is an area of track that is impassible due to the overgrowth of brambles. So it may be that this is a recommended alternative. 

Whatever the reason, it was a hard slog along another road with no shoulder and a 100 m climb and descent. We reach the town of Los Ángeles at 18.5 km and stop at the first bar for a refreshing fizzy drink. Only a short way to our destination now. Yeah right, but our accommodation is at the very top of Jimena de la Frontera – another 100+ m climb. 

We have an apartment – Casa Rural Doña Catalina (€68) which is very nice with lashings of hot water for a much needed shower. 

As it happens we are not actually at the very top of this beautiful historic town – we decide to go all the way to the castle perched on high because what’s one more climb when you’ve already done so many, and the views from up there are amazing.

There are no shops at the top of town so we visit Bar España in the street below ours for supper and a glass or two of wine.