Arroyo de las Huertas

I was up reasonably early, it was still quite dark but as I followed Google Maps, I began to remember the way out of the town. Ken had given me some euros to buy a coffee at the Repsol station just about 1 km outside the town and I was pleased to see they they had expanded the café since I was last here. I was less pleased to see that it didn't open until 0900...coffee would have to wait.

Although I was very tired I enjoyed the walk, and as the sun eventually rose I didn't really begin to feel the heat of it until about 1030 due the the ample shade along the path. I noticed that there were more official way markers than I remembered from last time, I guess the local authorities and Friends of the Camino have put their time to good use during the covid lockdowns. However, official way markers or not, my walk was about to become less enjoyable.

It may have been because I was very tired but I somehow missed a way marker and went in the wrong direction, for about 3.5km, before I realised something was up. I checked Google Maps to confirm my suspicion and then walked back the 3.5km to the point I went wrong, looked more carefully and saw the way marker I had missed.

By this time I should have been in the albergue in Castilblanco and the temperature had increased considerably, it was about 30° - 32°, but I still had about 8 km to go. After a while I began to feel quite sick and dizzy and I had to keep stopping for a rest. I was hugely relieved when I saw the sign for the town as I knew the albergue was not far beyond it. To be honest, I was so tired and feeling so sick that if it had been another 10 metres away, I don't think I would have made it.

Lying on my bunk, my heart was racing, my head was spinning, I felt sick and slightly disoriented, my anxiety levels were high and I began to catastrophize about the walk in general and the next day's walk in particular (28 km on the road with no shade and no rest points along the way). I felt like I would have to quit the camino, I even began to look up flights home, but in a moment of self-awareness I realised that there was something else going on. So, while we still have an NHS, I used their online diagnostic tool to check things out before I made a bad decision. Once I put in all my symptoms it came back with a diagnosis of heat exhaustion, and gave treatment options, which I then followed. I realised I should have taken at least a day or two to acclimatise to the Spanish weather before starting the camino, lesson learned. After a few hours I began to feel much better and my thoughts became more rational. I was still concerned about the walk the next day, for, at that point, I still did not feel well enough to go the full distance, especially on the open road. I prayed for wisdom.

Just at that very moment the lady in the bed next to mine suddenly turned to me and said that she and her husband were getting a taxi in the morning to the entrance to the National Park (16km away) and were going to walk that route to Almaden de la Plata, (her husband had plantar fasciitis). In a nanosecond a whole new scenario ran through my mind and so I immediately asked if I could join them as I was not feeling great and she said yes. I think that it was a decision that saved my camino experience, and more so, it began a friendship with two of the loveliest people I have ever met, Robert and Ana María. Robert was from Gibraltar and Ana María from Argentina and they were walking the camino to raise funds for GHITA (Gibraltar Hearing Issues and Tinnitus Association) You can donate here:
https://www.justgiving.com/crowdfunding/longwal…

With plans for tomorrow settled, I went out to see if I could find dinner somewhere, but it was Sunday and everywhere was closed (typical in Spain between 1400 and 1730). I did however find a shop and managed to buy some bread and ham and some fruit for the next day.

I ended up having a good night's sleep, undisturbed even by the multitude of snorers in the room.Read more