As another stinking hot day was forecast, it was another start in darkness. The lobby of the hotel was open but we didn’t want to assume the breakfast was for us, so we rambled off towards the first and only town with car lights to guide us. And it was only in that town that google alerted us to the fact that it was a holiday in Spain. Well, it indirectly alerted us, as when searching for a cafe it indicated that “holiday hours may vary”.
After coffee in the town of Lebrija (in case you are following along on a map), we skirted the large reservoir of Balsa de Melendo, which is used to irrigate the vast tracts of farmland we’ve been walking through. It’s industrial scale agriculture, so no farm houses – which is good, as there are no nasty farm dogs! We finally came to the conclusion that much of the land is used to grow cotton, but harvest season has been and gone, but free cotton buds are free for collection along the roadside.
For a long stretch we walked beside the empty irrigation canal – empty except for silt and pockets of fish which are gradually being poached in the remaining small pools of water. It was a bit sad to observe☹️.
The route was confusing in places. Towards the end (if 10km to go can be considered the end) the signage did a 90⁰ turn from the GPX track. We followed the signs which send us over hill and down dale, but by that time the novelty of the canal had worn off so it was more interesting to walk through.
Las Cabezas de San Juan is another agricultural town with a pleasant plaza and enough outside bars and cafes for the entire population of 16,000. I don’t think the name can be translated literally as I understand that Saint John only had one head. We arrived at 1400 hours, just prior to the heat of the day, which we hid from in the air conditioned splendor of our accommodation. After trudging up the hill in 31⁰ we figured we deserved some indulgence!
2saunter 