Zafra to Villafrance De los Barros

21 kms - the day of orchids

Today has been interesting. The forecast yesterday said rain all day and very strong winds. We woke to dry and windy. Fine with that. After a reasonable breakfast we finally worked our way out of Zafra. Signs were non existent at points and we had to rely on the written word. It was a considerable climb out of the town and a very sharp down (14%) on the other side. The Camino took us along through olive groves and almond orchards. The track mainly dry with the odd slippery patch and wet spots. Low grey clouds and very strong winds but no rain.
Today was a feast for the eyes on the orchid front. So many different varieties. We passed a shepherd with his flock at one point through the orchards. So lovely to see this tradition of man and beast’s wandering together.
We were about an hour and a half away from Villafranca when the rain came. Our new rain ponchos had their first outing. What I liked was the long sleeves and the long front. The rucksack gusset worked up to a point but as my bag is quite tall and the wind strong the fabric barely covered my behind so I got a bit damp. But the bag and contents was dry which I guess is more important.
The wind was so strong at points I could feel the wind lifting me sideways.. no mean feat with a 10kg bag on my considerable frame!!
We ended the day reaching our hotel at 1:30 and have enjoyed a good lunch.

Time now to relax as we are too far out of town in this weather to go for a wanderRead more