We start a long stage this morning. It's about 30 kilometers to Almedén de la Plata, of which the first 17 kilometers are on a long tarmac road. It also promises to be quite warm today, so we hit the road early. Well before 8 o'clock we walk through the village, where the bars and terraces are already pretty well used. And not just for drinking coffee and tea, other drinks are already on the bar tables. But given the average age here this morning, it looks like they won't have to work today. The mobile lottery ticket seller is already busy at this hour as well. Another familiar sight on Spanish streets. Men dressed in green, with a pin machine and a few rolls of lottery tickets head along the streets and terraces, selling well in the big cities and here in this small village. On the church, storks sit on each point of the square tower and another on top of the spire. They flap their beaks fiercely when another stork flies by. They do this when danger threatens, but also to greet each other. Below them, near the entrance, swallows fly back and forth busily. Beautiful round nests hang under a ledge and we can already hear the young ones chirping. Dad and mum fly off and on. We also see the blue magpie a lot here again. We haven't seen one for a while.
As we leave the village, we are greeted by a friendly cat that comes to give head and then the long road follows. Rolling between cork oaks and low bushes. Unfortunately, there is no path beside it, as there was yesterday in the final kilometers, but it isn't a busy road either, so it's easy to keep a good pace. To the left and right of the road is gorgeous countryside with dirt tracks parallel to the road, but everything is fenced off with high fences. These are huge estates that are privately owned and the owners cordon them off completely. If it isn't fenced off and someone enters the land and something might happen, the owner is responsible. So they just fence it off. All old roads and paths should be free to enter, according to the law. But certainly here in Andalusia, as we noticed the other day, the owners often close them off, which is a problem for walking and cycling routes. As a result, we also have to walk all these kilometers on asphalt. Towards the end it starts to get tough on the joints, so we are glad that after 17 kilometers we arrive at a stretch owned by the Spanish government. We turn onto a dirt road and walk through a beautiful nature reserve: El Monte Navas-Berrocal, a forest area that is part of the Sierra Morena.
We walk through a forest of cork and later holm oaks. We follow the white trail and pass eucalyptus and pine forests, all of them open forests. The ground is dry and the sun is shining brightly by now. Even with the sun at our backs, we feel the reflection of the light burning on our faces. Fortunately, after almost 19 kilometers, there is a tap with fresh water at an empty farmhouse to cool down. Lovely! And from the farm's terrace, shaded by a large canopy, we have a great view over the hills of the nature reserve as well. We pass a small lake on which thousands of white flowers float and cross a small stream a few times. Open stretches with long meadows and large ruins alternate with narrower valleys full of woods and bushes. In the final stretch, we are treated to a short but, especially with temperatures approaching 30 degrees, tough climb to Cerro del Calvario. It takes a bit of effort after 28 kilometers, but it actually goes quite well. And at the top, at 550 metres, is a magnificent viewpoint. In the shade, we drink the last water we have, but we can already see the village below us. We descent what we just climbed to get there, and then we soon arrive at our hotel rural, where we rest for tomorrow's even longer stage. But today's 30-plus stage, especially through the stunning scenery, went fine.
