Sore and weary from our previous days exertions, we set off at sunrise with a rather daunting 36Km walk ahead of us across this unpopulated, deserted stretch of the ‘Via de la Plata’ … each of us packing as much water we could carry and Tony with his feet heavily bandaged by Dr John, our resident blisters expert.

I think it’s fair to say that today turned out to be one of the most exhausting days of the Camino so far . Whilst the scenery was stunning for much of the day, the 27 degree heat combined with the odd scramble through the rocky ‘Natural Park’ section took its toll.

After 4 hours or so , we each established a pace and rhythm matched to our level of exhaustion and pain. No comforting sight of a fellow pilgrim ahead, coupled with confusing way markings made navigation extremely difficult.

Davin, Richard and Mark were fortunate in being able to join up and share water rations for the last 10Km and made it safely to the Albergue, Tony was not far behind…but no sign of John.
His final WhatsApp text ‘water running low’ triggered us all into action – Mark set off back down the hill with water to find John, Tony jumped out of the shower to try and sort out a taxi…Richard and Davin went to the bar.

Having shepherded Pilgrim John through the last 5km up hilll climb to the village of Canaveral , we were finally all safely reunited – fed and watered and tucked up in bed by 9:15pm.

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