26-28 November. Freezing weekend on the South Coast and a flecha amarillo.

We've been staying in Lulworth Cove for the weekend. Great walking and the temperature hardly got above zero the whole time!


We arrived Friday night and had no idea we would have
this view from our hotel room next morning, plus an inch
of snow.


There were many steep hills!!


The route was East-West from Lulworth Cove to Weymouth.


Durdle Door.





The path is the thin white ribbon near the cliff edge in the
top right corner.


Along the way we stopped at this wonderful pub, The Smugglers Inn.
http://www.osmington.info/?page_id=434





Phragmites communis etc...


The flecha amarillo.

21st November. A 25km walk and cheating with photoshop

The light has not been good for photography for a few days
so I've 'enhanced' some of these images.


To Santiago, from Hampshire.





New Forest ponies.

10th November, walking near home.

Spindle tree.

Walking 6th & 7th November.

Stormy skies and warm sun.


How quickly the landscape changes! These pictures, above and below, are from
the same area and were taken 8 weeks apart - yesterday and September.





Lichen.


A genuine rainbow.

Text will accompany Camino photographs soon....

Bla bla bla...... It's done!!!

Note to self - take a laptop next time.

4th November. Camino de Santiago blog is nearly finished. Autumn is here.

A perfect Fly agaric.


New Forest, Hampshire, England.

Yesterday Rachel and I went for the first walk since I returned from Spain. Did about 10 miles (16km) and no great problems with my foot. Will soon be able to tackle 40 km a day, I hope.

The blog is nearly finished. I need photos for 3 or 4 more days and then I can copy the text from my diary.

I will try and keep this blog "live" with details from various walks and adventures. I'm never going to be much of a poet but it will give me a chance to sharpen my photography skills. I might even start using my SLR again rather than my trusty compact. I don't think I'll be photographing any more London riots though, as I did in the 80's.

Back in England, Tuesday 2nd November.

One of my favourite local walks.
New Forest, Hampshire, England.


So, I'm back in England. All is well and my ankle problem won't stop me from going on walks locally, with a lighter backpack than in Spain.

I badly sprained my ankle back in March and it hasn't been quite right since. Then, last Wednesday between Caceres and Embalsa de Alcantara I twisted it slightly on rocky terrain. Although not particularly disabling I didn't want to be half a day from shelter with an ankle that might get worse so I got a taxi back to Caceres to think about it. Decided on a few days in Malaga and returned to England Sunday night.

Had a great time, spent 18 days walking through a beautiful sunny landscape and met some interesting, colourful people from diverse backgrounds.

As Arnie said "hasta la vista" & "I'll be back"

Sevilla 13th - 14th October

My local.


Near the Cathedral.


So, there were no problems getting from home to Seville. Left Salisbury at 5.30 am for Bournemouth airport to Malaga then got a train to Sevilla. It´s hot here - yesterday was 27c so I´ll need plenty of water en route. I´ve been here before so no problems getting around and it´s great to dip into some familiar cosy bars for a cerveza and tapas. I´ll visit the Cathedral later and check out a few more cosy bars.

Leaving Sevilla, 15th October

9 am and I'm on my way. Nth. side Isabel II bridge.


The first flecha amarillo, sth. side of Isabel II bridge. These yellow arrows and other navigation aids enable walkers to walk the 1000km to Santiago without maps etc. However, they can be a little inconsistent, and it's important to have some sort of
written guide in addition.





A Praying Mantis on the street in Santiponce



Cotton growing in fields near Guillena


I grabbed a quick breakfast at about 8.30 and started walking from the Cathedral at 9 ish. Had a great view of Sevilla from the Isabelle bridge over the Rio Guadalquivir and found my first yellow navigation arrow (flecha amarillo) on the other side. The arrows are small but plentiful and navigating out of the city was easy. As soon as I thought of the word flecha amarillo the song 'is this the way to amarillo` came in to my head and I've been humming it all day. It sets a good walking pace! Good job I'm alone.

The plant life is completely different to that in England and even before Santiponce I had seen agave, squirting cucumber, bitter orange, olive trees, palms, jasmin (in flower) and fennel (great to nibble). I've seen none of the larger birds of prey yet but I'm sure it won't be long, together with the birds migrating to Africa.

The heat here is surprising, somewhere in the high 20's Celsius. Fortunately there are abundant cafes for iced Coca Cola, chocolate milk and various other health drinks.

I'm currently in a small town called Guillena which is 23k from Sevilla. I'm in the library using their free internet and will endeavour to post some photos when I work out how (not easy when your Spanish is not that good). If all else fails I'll blog from my phone.

I've not decided which town to walk to tomorrow. I've a choice of a very long walk or a short one. Hmm.......

Oh, by the way, I'm in the Hostal Frances which is perfectly OK. It has air-con, en suite, TV and a view of the street, all for 21 euros.

Andrew. 5.23PM

Guillena to Castilblanco, 16th October.

Agave Mexicana in flower near Guillena


Shadow and a prickly pear cactus on my head.


On the way.


View over Castilblanco from the alburgue's roof terrace.

I left Guillena at 8.45 and after getting slightly lost I found a flecha amarillo which guided me through a dirty part of town and down to the river where I crossed a causeway, said hello to some ponies and got on to the Camino into the countryside. I met many mountain bikers and walkers, many from Sevilla, doing part of the walk to Castilblanco. At hte end of the days walk they congregated in Castilblanco and quite a few of them were very interested in the alburgue for some reason. So I gave them a guided tour of our 1 dormitary, terrace and toilets?
It's a decent little town - not too big or too small, plenty of bars and places to eat. Met Svetlana who started the Camino at the same time as me and "Ovi" the poet who is walking around Spain constantly, selling his poems and living very frugally.

Castilblanco to Almaden, 17th October

Leaving town.


Sand trees sky sun heat and silence.


A beautiful hot, dry valley full of the scent of aromatic plants.
A walk with a sting in the tail......


.....a long, hot, steep stony walk to the top of this hill
overlooking Almaden and a bed for the night.

This mornings sunrise from the alburgue terrace was something special. The town was silent but for the sound of crowing cockerels and dogs "in conversation".

It didn't take long for the sun to creep over the horizon and gently cook us for the rest of the day. The first 16kms were on tarmac and I walked at quite a pace to get this section over with. Then it was through a large set of gates and into the national park for some peaceful walking. The camino drops down into a river valley. There was barely a breath of wind and it really was wonderfully hot. Vultures and eagles circled overhead looking to feed on a weary pilgrim. I love the heat and the silence.

During lunch I was overtaken by Maria, a Spanish woman in her 60's who runs marathons. With a tiny backpack she walks faster than any of us! In trainers too.

The hill at the end of the day was cruel. Stony and steep but at least there were a few trees on the way up to shelter from the sun. The view from the top was worth it and I spent 5 minutes or so drinking water safe in the knowledge that the town of Almaden was only 5 minutes away.

On the way down to town I met up with Maria, Svetlana and a Spanish couple who kindly guided us to the alburgue. Another place I would recommend.

Almaden to Monesterio 18th October

Sunrise 1 hour after leaving Almaden in the dark.


Waymark after Almaden.


Orange trees, Real de la Jara.





Looking back.

"War of the Worlds" church, entering Monesterio.

I left the Alburgue in the dark as I like to see the sunrise. Got slightly lost before I'd even got out of the town but it was ok after that as long as I concentrated on the waymarking arrows by torchlight in the dark. The terrain and the waymarking made it very easy to get lost as there are tracks leading off in many directions. Met up with Dennis from Berlin along the way and had a good long chat. Stayed with him for the afternoon and had a beer together once we had found the hostal Extremadura in Monesterio.

Monesterio to Fuente de Cantos, 19th October

Not pretty, but a welcome sign in to the countryside
out of Monesterio.


The landscape beyond Monesterio is beautiful....


Some sort of Crocus possibly?


Oink


A distant Fuente de Cantos.


The streets.


Home for the night, the converted convent alburgue.

I left in the dark again this morning and had a cafe con leche in the cafe just outside the Hostal Extremadura. Monasterio is a lively town with plenty of cafes and bars. Apparently, it's the pig or jamon capital of Spain (that's saying something!). The hostal was very good - quiet, TV, air con, ensuite for 15 euros, and the owners very friendly. Sometimes watching junk TV and taking the weight off your feet for an hour is the perfect end to a walk. Other times it's straight out for a beer or 2.

The walk was again beautiful, the good weather is constant and conversations with other walkers are interesting and break up the sometimes monotonous parts of the walk.

The distance was only 22 kms so arriving at 2pm gave me plenty of time to look around town and get a bite to eat. Checked with the hospitalera the route out of town as it's another walk in the dark tomorrow morning.

Andrew.