DAY 19 ZAFRA – EL REAL DE LA JARA

Sleeping in hostel dorms with highly effective wooden shutters & wearing earplugs gets me every time. I have no idea if is the middle of the day or night & can’t hear my alarm. I inevitably oversleep. Still I’m on holiday &, as I thought, had only a 5 hr ride to my next destination.
Sandra, the hostel warden, prepared me a nice breakfast, filled my water bottles & waved me off. Last night she had 13 guests, most were provided evening meals & breakfasts, all dorms needed turning around – & everything done single handed – her work is pretty close to 24/7 yet she is always smiling & helpful – quite a woman. Aren’t we lucky to work for GE!

I met hiker, Alfonso, travelling north. We exchanged Google chats in which he reassured me that the trail was now adequately dry. I thanked him & he presented me with a badge, symbolic to the Pilgrim Trail, and we parted. I later concluded his trail must have differed from mine!!

My original destination was to be Santa Olalla de Cala but no accommodation & directed to El Real de la Jara 10 km NW (wrong direction) but thankfully discovered another Trail hostel, Alojamiento de Peregrino – again a simple place in delightful settings.

Tomorrow, all being well, I’ll arrive at Seville, my intended destination – 8 days before the Santander ferry back to UK. Choices!!?? Do I explore Seville & Santander, easily absorbing my float, or do I keep peddling & save these places for Christine & I to explore together? My current thinking is a one day stop over in Saville then peddle on, maybe to Ronda? Of principal importance – I must not to miss the ferry – we have a nice, long awaited weekend planned visiting family in Devon.