I left Los Barrios today (May 11 2014) at 7:30 AM. In my guide-book it read: Good hill tracks start the route, followed by a long road walk with the reward of a beautiful view of the hill-top castle of Castellar at end of the day. Heart and muscles already have begun to adopt to carrying a backpack walking many hours a day and I made good speed until 1 PM when the heat began to slow me down.
A strange sight suddenly appeared before my eyes as I was rambling along: storks’ nests, sitting on almost every single one of the many electricity pylons that ran through the landscape.
The last part of the route that day offered a couple of road-side bars that makes it easier to drink enough, even if I normally carry four liters of water, a water bag with a suction nozzle and four small bottles to be safe in the heat for many hours even if there is no possibility to re-fill.
After climbing the hill to Castillo de Castellar I checked in at hotel El Alcázar that was located inside the castle walls. My room was large and almost luxurious, it had massive wooden beams in the ceiling, and was furnished with heavy wooden furniture. It also offered magnificent views: looking north I saw a huge man-made water reservoir (presa) with emerald-green water surrounded by a beautiful forestal landscape, and if I turned to the south I saw the impressive rock of Gibraltar and the Atlas Mountains in Morocco in the distance behind it. The twilight and a full moon created a surreal feeling and the picture was so beautiful that it almost hurt, and I could hardly take my eyes off it. After having made the usual preparations for the next day I had a very nice vegetable stew with eggs and a salad with tuna in a “hole in the wall” that seemed to be a place well-known for people who like flamenco and bull fighting according to the amount of pictures and event posters covering the walls.
