Santarem to Azinhaga

21.8 km
Day one is done!
We left the hotel about 5:30 this morning so I could start early and hopefully avoid the heat. I cried all of the way to the trail head. Again tears of joy, gratitude and fear. Steve yelled back to me as I went down the path, “Beun Camino, Summer!”, which is the traditional pilgrims greeting. I will always be grateful for his love and support of me on this journey. He has encouraged me the entire time.
About a couple km after I left him I heard dog whimpering. I spotted a large dog up the ridge tangled in a mess of barbed wire. The dog was far up and in a bad way. There was no way I would have been able to reach him or help him. It was so hard to walk away from him and his struggle. I thought about him all day and how I cannot help everyone. I am a people pleaser and helper by nature, but sometimes I need to realize that I am not equipped to help everyone.

The rest of the day went well. The walk was beautiful, and hot, mostly through farmer’s fields. I walked slow but steady and made it to the hostel around 1:00. Showered, hand washed my clothes and took a nap. I’ll stay here for dinner and early to bed. Tomorrow I have a much longer walking day.Read more