In today's stage, we stay inland. We have found a nice route from Lepe to Huelva, which shouldn't pass too much major roads. Since we have more than 30 kilometers ahead of us today, at ten to eight we are already set with our backpacks on, standing outside the hotel. We quickly get back on the old railway line. It's just starting to get a little light; we are in a timezone later than in Portugal. We hike on a beautiful stretch along farmland and sandy fields. Many houses in the countryside have guard dogs walking in their well-fenced yards. Most of the time there are about five of them, and they are usually quite big. They do a good job and loudly announce that we shouldn't come near them... We get quite frightened every now and then, when a few of them come flying towards the fence. But things are usually a lot more peaceful here in the countryside. We see rabbits hopping in the meadow and are more often accompanied by a hoopoe. It's a nice sound that reminds us a bit of the cuckoo that led us through the Ardennes last year while hiking the GR5. Sometimes, we also see the hoopoe flying from branch to branch. With its pretty crest and long bill, it's a very recognisable bird. The sun shows itself more and more often and it warms up nicely. After the town of Cartaya, we leave the railway line and follow a canal from here: Canal del Piedras, or stone canal, which leads fresh water through a concrete basin of the reservoir of the same name to Huelva.
We have now walked 15 kilometers in 3 hours. On the map, we see that we are already heading towards halfway along the route, so it is time for a break. The canal soon flows off the road into nature and we find a nice spot in the sun.
After the 'break', we walk a long stretch through the beautiful forests that's so typical of these sandy soils. Conifers, yellow and white gorse and the soft purple Romulea Bulbocodium. A very small flower from the iris family that is common here, growing at the bottom of dry forests. A beautiful little plant, that we didn't know before. On one side of the canal is a small asphalt road, on the other a sandy forest path. After walking on the asphalt for a while, we choose to walk on the sandy path, which is just a bit gentler on the feet and joints. The walking is lovely and the path soon brings us to Aljaraque. We walk through the town to find the landscape that is so familiar to us. A wetland that leads to the river Odiel. We have to cross this via a long bridge to Huelva. But... When we arrive at the bridge, we see it's under renovation and closed to traffic and pedestrians. The adjacent bridge is only for traffic and you cannot cross it on foot.
We walk to the end of the land point we are standing on, but it turns out there is only a canoe club here. In our poor Spanish and their poor English, we are told that there is no way to get to Huelva on foot. That's a bummer, because walking around the water inlet to the next bridge is way too far. The only option is to walk back to Corrales and take the bus across the bridge. It's already 5pm, but luckily the bus is still going and it takes us about 5 kilometers further. At the first stop on the other side, a friendly lady shows us the way to the hotel. After this long stage, we are glad when we arrive there 15 minutes later. We are quite bummed that we had to make the crossing by bus, but we're happy to give our legs a rest.
So far, Spain appears to be a country full of surprises... 😉
