Monday, April 24, 2023
Walking from Casar de Cáceres to Cañaveral
33.7 kilometers

Today was our longest walking day on the Via de la Plata route of the Camino de Santiago pilgrimage route to Santiago de Compostela at over 33 kilometers. This is the first day of our third week on the Via de la Plata; we have completed two full weeks of walking in southern Spain.

What started out brisk and cool turned into a quite warm, one could even say hot, day. And while we were all very tired for the last few hours, we all agreed that it was a very good day on the Via de la Plata. We saw beautiful landscapes, and a couple of amazing new railway bridges, and walked high across two lake bridges and through some stunning vistas that seemed to go on forever. Best yet was that most of the day was on smoother roads; only a fairly short part of the route today was rocky, and unfortunately, the rocky roads came at the end of the day when our feet were the most tired.

Tomorrow is a shorter day, about 21 kilometers to the small town of Riolobos a little off the Via de la Plata Camino route. This is to split what was to be a short day tomorrow at 11 kilometers and the following day at 38 kilometers to two medium-length days. A 38-kilometer day is not a distance any of us wants to do in one day – for us, this is not a race or a competition, we want to keep things sensible.

As we left Casar de Caceres, we all posed for photos by what appears to be an old monastery. Here are Tom and Javier posing for me.

A short distance out of town, we passed a solar farm in the early morning orange light. There are many of these in Spain, some are extensive, but this one is smaller.

As we traversed the undulating road, I took a photo of Javier just behind of me in the last morning light.

The sun rose to normal colors and the road ahead went through a peaceful section of small trees and bushes. As tired as we are at times, walking through these beautiful landscapes gives one a feeling of really being alive.

And Javier got this photo of Tom and me on the long road.

Soon we were walking through another area with the large boulders. Here are several photos I made of this landscape:

Late in the morning, we could see one of two very large and dramatic new railroad bridges recently built here. Our first view appeared over a rise. Little did we know that after a good bit of walking, we would see this bridge from the other side as we crossed part of the lake on a highway bridge.

As we walked down eventually to the lake, we could see the new railroad right-of-way that goes over the bridge we had just seen.

Continuing on over the tracks and into the tall grass and bushes towards the lake. (The very large and deep blue lake is something of a highlight today.)

When we finally got a view of the lake, we stopped for a photo.

The path down to the lake undulates so we lost sight of it at times as we walked through the tall grass and bushes. A rather pleasant walk with wildflowers all around.

We got to a good-sized highway along which we will walk for 4 or 5 kilometers. When we got to the first bridge, very high over the lake, I was happy that this 200-250 meter bridge had a separate lane for walkers and cyclists. I still put my glasses in a pocket and tightened the wrist straps on my hiking poles – I don’t want anything to fall, this bridge is about 80-90 meters above the water. The separated lane can be seen in the photo.

Halfway across the first bridge, I took a photo of the railroad bridge almost directly into the sun. That is a very long and dramatic bridge and the first of two we saw.

From where I stood, I turned around and took this photo of the lake from the middle of the first highway bridge. A large and expansive lake.

I focused on getting over the bridge safely. Its height above the water unnerved me more than a little. We continued on the highway up a rise and then down and onto a second highway bridge almost exactly like the first. Looking east from the second highway bridge was another railroad bridge looking exactly like the first. It seemed I had gone back a half hour in time and walked over the very same bridge twice. Or maybe I did…

Unfortunately, we had to walk along the highway for a couple more kilometers. Here is a view of what it looked like. Fortunately, there are signs alerting motorists that pilgrims may be walking along the road in this area. I do not know if it helps or how much it helps, but I’m glad the signs are there.

We crossed over the highway and started up a hill away from the road and the lake. Here is the last view of the lake before we lost sight of it.

Then we were back on rocky dirt roads for the rest of the day. It is warm and we are getting tired. Still, there are close to two hours more of walking.

After a long walk in the hot afternoon, Cañaveral came into sight. As is typical, we would have to walk uphill to get there. It looks close, and that is deceptive. As I recall now, there was at least 40 minutes more of walking to get into town and find the albergue in which we were booked.

Finally, we made it. This is a very nice albergue, a private one, just a little more expensive, but well worth it.

When we got there and checked in, the hospitalero told us that the bar/cafe was closing in 15 minutes, so we dropped off our backpacks, quickly washed our faces, and went up the street to lunch. The man running the bar/cafe told us the kitchen was closed, and he wanted to close in 15 minutes, but he could make us bocadillos, a large sandwich, with ham and cheese. The local ham is very tasty, and the local cheese even moreso. And the bread was very fresh. The man running the bar/cafe stayed open until we finished, at least 45 minutes after he wanted to close. He seemed to love it when we told him how good the ham and the cheese were. This was one great sandwich. Unfortunately, I did not get a photo – next time.

All in all, a long difficult day, and a very good day walking on the Camino de Santiago. And we returned to that cafe for dinner, it too was very good.

Next: Cañaveral to Riolobos