Day 7 - Zafra - Torremejía 47km

It wasn’t too cold this morning as I set out. I had my beanie on from the start as I made my way through the quiet streets of the town, but after climbing the first hill, I had to take it off. On my way through town, I bumped into Steve, who had been staying in another albergue. He was on his way to catch a bus to Mérida, 70 km further north, as he had an online meeting to prepare for that afternoon. We had a quick chat and then said our goodbyes. Maybe we’ll meet up again in Mérida, but you can never be sure.

The route from Zafra was supposed to be muddy again, so I decided to make my way back to the N-630. I’ve had enough of walking on the main road, but I’m hoping this will be the last day. It was foggy, so I stuck to the edge of the small hard shoulder as I went along. After a couple of hours, I was able to leave the road and walk on wide dirt tracks all the way to Villafranca. It’s quite a large town, and I eventually found a supermarket where I picked up a few things to eat.

Initially, I had planned to walk to Villafranca de los Barros (20 km) today. However, when I got there, I discovered I’d have to wait three hours for the albergue to open. After mulling it over, I decided to continue on to the next town, Torremejía. It was another 27 km, but the weather had improved—it was warm and sunny—so I thought it would be okay. 

The walk turned out to be relatively flat, with wide tracks in good condition. The only trouble was that the tracks were very straight for most of the way, which meant hours of watching the horizon change ever so slowly.

When I reached the albergue, I found it was locked! A notice on the door said to call the manager at 23A, next door. Eventually, he came to the door and checked me in.

All of the lower bunks appeared to be occupied, apart from one. However, there was a bag at the end of it and some clothes hanging on it. Another pilgrim reassured me that a guy was sleeping on the top bunk, so it should be fine. Feeling a little apprehensive, I set up my bed on the bottom bunk and went for a shower. Afterward, I noticed that the back of my lower leg felt a bit sore, and I thought I might have been bitten by an insect. When I checked, I saw that both of my legs were sunburned from today’s walk! I’ll need to find some sunscreen in a local shop.

A little later, I saw a guy looking at the bag at the end of the bed. I asked if it was okay for me to use the bottom bunk or if he was already using it. He turned out to be a really nice guy—David from Colombia—and said he was on the top bunk while his friend was on the bottom. He told me it wasn’t a problem and that he’d move to another bunk.

I think I’ll sleep well tonight. Tomorrow, I’ve only got a short walk to Mérida!