LIVE from the Camino Mozárabe de Almería in October

[MarianneGardner]

I am setting out today from Almería. Thanks so much to Nely. There is a festival on in Guadix Oct 11 - 14 and she has booked ahead for me. I have stayed at her albergue, very comfortable and a great welcome. It is very warm, expecting 30 degrees so I am starting early. This camino has been a long time coming. I was thwarted by injury in 2017, then a few years have been interrupted with travel restrictions. But all thing shall pass, and I am really grateful to be here.

 

[MarianneGardner]

Almeria to Rioja then unexpectedly to Alboloduy. I set off early to try to avoid the heat - already 20 degrees at 7am. I made good time out of Almeria, the route is very well signed. And also a little help from mapy.cz
The river bed is dry and dusty, but easy going. I was in Rioja before 11am, just as the heat was setting in. Comfortable albergue but one problem - no water today. Turns out a pipe had burst yesterday and can’t be fixed until next week. After much talking with Mercedes, I took up her offer to be driven to Alboloduy. Santa Fe albergue is full and there is a Festa there this weekend. Very comfortable albergue in Alboloduy, with water.

 

[Bernice M]

Marianne,
Loved your posts. Recalling my own journey earlier this year starting 6 March. Very solitary. Nely recommended a taxi from Alboloduy, about 10kms to the next village. Others who walked that section said the taxi was a good move. I'm 69, but you may be fitter and younger. At the albergue in Alboloduy, the hospitalero, Juan, taught me how to make proper tortilla. Delicious.

 

[OzAnnie]

After much talking with Mercedes, I took up her offer to be driven to Alboloduy. Santa Fe albergue is full and there is a Festa there this weekend. Very comfortable albergue in Alboloduy, with water.

That’s sounds great Marianne
The amigas are the best on the Mozárabe from Almería.
Enjoy &… Buen camino

 

[MarianneGardner]

Albodoluy to Nacimento.
I started early in pitch dark at 7am. I was having regrets walking in the river bed in the dark. But nothing went wrong and daylight slowly appeared. Beautiful walk through the river gorge.
There was a steep up hill to the road. Then a short stretch on the road. I wondered why a man in a blue van was waving at me, looked friendly enough so I smiled and waved back. Turned out it was Santiago from the bar in Nacimiento where I am staying tonight. Typical of this camino, there is a family of people who look after you.
Across country and a steep downhill back to the river bed. Someone has built a patio over the track, but I clambered over the fence and walked through their patio. The alternative was a cliff. The area where you rejoin the river is quite overgrown for a short stretch. It really helped having a marked trail on mapy.cz
It was starting to get hot but Nacimiento was soon in sight, and sure enough, Santiago was in the bar.
Another warm balmy evening in a lovely town in Andalucía.

 

[nycwalking]

Albodoluy to Nacimento.
I started early in pitch dark at 7am. I was having regrets walking in the river bed in the dark. But nothing went wrong and daylight slowly appeared. Beautiful walk through the river gorge.
There was a steep up hill to the road. Then a short stretch on the road. I wondered why a man in a blue van was waving at me, looked friendly enough so I smiled and waved back. Turned out it was Santiago from the bar in Nacimiento where I am staying tonight. Typical of this camino, there is a family of people who look after you.
Across country and a steep downhill back to the river bed. Someone has built a patio over the track, but I clambered over the fence and walked through their patio. The alternative was a cliff. The area where you rejoin the river is quite overgrown for a short stretch. It really helped having a marked trail on mapy.cz
It was starting to get hot but Nacimiento was soon in sight, and sure enough, Santiago was in the bar.
Another warm balmy evening in a lovely town in Andalucía.View attachment 157875View attachment 157874View attachment 157873View attachment 157876View attachment 157877View attachment 157878View attachment 157879View attachment 157881

Wow!

Buen camino.

 

[Bob from L.A. !]

Beautiful photos! Wow! is right!

 

[MarianneGardner]

Nacimiento to Abla
An easier day today - no mountains , clouds, 2 places to stop and a coffee and tostada to start.
The bar in Nacimiento was open early from 7am so I had a coffee and tostada before sunrise.
The trail followed the river on a well formed track. A few little cars and vans went by, on their way to the farm plots along the river. Or hunting. Possibly rabbits (conejos) which is common on menus here.
The first pueblo was Doña Maria. The guide said there was no shop or bar in town. I was tempted to continue on the river bed, but glad I didn’t and followed the yellow arrows up into the town. There was a bar. Google, some friendly locals and “follow the noise” led me to the bar. Sure enough two men were shouting about football.
Another cafe con leche then another good path to Ocaña. However, more friendly locals explained the bar is closed on Mondays.
Onwards past an aqueduct not in the best repair, then on to Abla. I missed the turn after the old bridge and walked on the road for the last 2km. The road isn’t busy, so it was a fine alternative.
Abla is a very nice town on the side of a hill. A bar with very good tapas and not much else open in the afternoon.
I walked down to the hotel Pension Miraserra on the main road. It is closed for holidays. There were workmen doing renovations and they took exception when I took a photo. Not sure why. One man came across the road and asked about the photo. I explained I only wanted a photo of the hotel. He was ok with that and went back across the road back to work. Strange.
The albergue here is very comfortable with a hospitalero.

 

[AJGuillaume]

If it's not too late, @MarianneGardner , and you're walking to Huéneja, may I suggest you stay with Violeta, provided she has availability.

The albergue in Huéneja is run by the ayuntamiento, and is not the best.

 

[MarianneGardner]

Abla to Hueneja
Javier from Madrid cooked his family’s special rice recipe for Ramon the Hospitalier, Francisco from Seville and myself last night. Delicious.
I set off around 7.30 with cloudy skies and the temperature cool. Very easy going on country lanes until Finaña.
Finaña is a town on the side of a hill with at least two bars and a panadería (bakery). There is a
mosque converted to a church and lots of evidence of the mozarabe history. Apparently Queen Isabella stayed here with her army before expelling the moors from Granada in the 1400s.
More easy going on gravel roads to Venta Ratonera where Javier and Francisco passed me. Soon after I found them helping themselves to a fruit tree. Turned out to be delicious persimmons.
After La Huertezuela the going got a bit tougher in the river bed. It is dry at the moment, but the last 5km into Hueneja were draining.
Javier cooked us another lovely meal with local wine and cheese.
The albergue is comfortable but not as well equipped or spacious as Abla or Alboduloy. I think Violeta is closed for the holiday - a
lot of places will be closed on Thursday October 12 for the national holiday.

 

[MarianneGardner]

Hueneja to Alquife
Today started with a bit of up to get out of town. Only 4 km to the first stop in Dólar. Unfortunately the bar was closed for renovations but the panadería was open.
Then more up to Ferreira, more persimmons and the bar was open. More undulations to La Calahorra. This area was seen in such movies as The Good, the Bad and the Ugly, Once Upon a Time in the West and Dr Zhivago. The home of the spaghetti Westerns is not Italy. And apparently the train used in all of these movies is sitting in a shed somewhere nearby, the same train.
It is Wednesday, the one day of the week the castle is open. I was making good time so I decided to go up and have a closer look, I asked at the ayuntamiento if I could leave my mochilla, but no. So I carried it up. Unfortunately you had to wait for a tour guide to go inside , and no one knew when that was going to happen. So I walked down again. A bit of a To the Lighthouse moment.
It was a fairly easy walk to Alquife, past a huge mine, then up a hill to the albergue. The shop was closing at 2pm, I managed to leave my pole at the counter, but it was still there at 5pm when the shop reopened.
I am staying at the Albergue Lacho, very comfortable but up a long hill on the far side of town. There is a person staying here for several weeks who is a bit of a conspiracy theorist and doesn’t like the fact I am fully vaccinated. I retired early.

 

[MarianneGardner]

Alquife to Guadix
Today was harder than expected. Especially the last 10 km. I saw the sun rise again, about half an hour after leaving Alquife. And some deer near a lake. I walked through the small town Jerez del Marquesado, then up and over a hill to Cogollos de Guadix. I found the bar and a well earned coffee. Today is Spains National Day, a public holiday, so there are lots of people around. Apparently the holiday commemorates when Colombus arrived in the Americas.
I was promised a down hill all the way to Guadix, but the path had been covered in very thick, light gravel, so was tough going. Eventually I arrived in Guadix, with quite a long walk through the cave area to find the Casando de la Luz.

 

[alansykes]

So sorry you didn't get inside lovely La Calahorra. Apparently it's amazing, with marble brought by Cardinal Mendoza's son (?or "nephew") from Carrara. I've never been on a Wednesday, so at least never had to slog up the hill and still not get in.

Lacho is so nice, but he does seem to collect dodgy characters. The first time I stayed there he had a long stay racist drunken Dutchman, not something I've ever encountered before or since (he used the "n" word about Obama, and aggressively refused to back down when I challenged him). Lacho was very embarrassed.

I would recommend staying in Tocón de Quéntar if you have the time. A short day from La Peza, but such a lovely spot, a nice albergue and a great bar.

 

[camino07]

Is there a guide book for Almeria to Granada? I like paper books.

 

[Bernice M]

There is one, sadly out of stock, a Confraternity of St James publication. I have asked about restocking but no reply.
Otherwise the Amigos in Almería will supply you an up to date pdf. Nely WhatsApped a copy to me as soon as I made contact with her. It's too big to print, but you can print off just the relevant pages. The route is well marked. I used the Buen Camino app for the route map. Accurate.

 

[MarianneGardner]

Guadix to Baños Graena
Today was a short and easy walk and very pleasant. I stopped for a coffee on the way out of Guadix. It was a lot easier getting out of the city than getting in - through the plaza and past some Roman ruins. The path goes past cliffs and through pine forest. I stopped for a drink in Purullena, then it wasn’t far to Marchal and Dolores at Hotel Soledao in Baños Graena.
It is raining today, I am walking another short 10 km to La Peza then another short stage to Tocón de Quentar.

 

[MarianneGardner]

Baños Graena to La Peza
Rain was forecast and rain it did. The rain was light but persistent. This was another beautiful walk, starting to get into the Sierra Nevada mountains.
Some road walking to get up and over into La Peza. It appeared something is on in town, and sure enough, it is fiesta. Various bull activities are on, and a Gran Prix of community games that were nothing like I have ever seen before. Some involved people chasing cattle, and being chased by cattle, and some involved people replacing their own clothes with various pieces of clothing gathered from the crowd. Started with hats, then shirts, then pants, then bras. Men chased around young bulls, leapt over them and tried to find ways to injure themselves. Ambulances were on standby but despite some anxious moments, no serious injuries. Good to have explanations from Richard and Richard, two English peregrinos who live in Spain.
It is very late and very noisy in town. Very comfortable albergue.

 

[MarianneGardner]

La Peza to Tocón de Quentar to Quentar to Granada
A walk through the foothills of the glorious Sierra Nevadas with views up to the peaks and down into the valleys. The albergue at Tocón de Quentar is superb. The restaurant is open on a Sunday but is closed on Monday. A very quiet town after La Peza. The autumn colors are very pretty. I had no cell coverage for most of the area between La Peza and Quentar.
I stayed at Fundalucia in Quentar, a lovely oasis. The town was busy and the hotel was full. A long walk into Granada, with a long climb after Dudar. Both bars were closed in Dudar.
I have really enjoyed this Camino Mozarabe. The albergues are excellent. There are several options to make stages shorter. There is a lot of climbing and descending, I managed quite well despite limited preparation. Thanks to all involved in the Almeria association and all along the way.