• For 2024 Pilgrims: €50,- donation = 1 year with no ads on the forum + 90% off any 2024 Guide. More here.
    (Discount code sent to you by Private Message after your donation)

Search 69,459 Camino Questions

Woman Eaten By Vultures

St James' Way - Self-guided 4-7 day Walking Packages, Reading to Southampton, 110 kms
Ummm, have to say that sort of thing has crossed my mind. In 2006, walking towards Villamayor de Monjardin, I stopped for a break and just stood watching the birds high above me. After a few minutes of standing still, I realised they were circling me and getting closer and closer. What I took to be eagles were, in fact, vultures. A couple of hours later arriving pilgrims mentioned they had seen vultures devouring a dead sheep in much the same area I'd been in.

Food for thought there? Sorry, not a very good pun! But we do tend to forget that, while we think we are invincible and better than other creatures, we are just part of the food chain.

Trudy

EDIT: Perhaps I should point out that vultures only eat dead creatures, they are not going to pounce on unsuspecting pilgrims!
 
Lise T said:
OH MY GOSH!!!!! That's a bit scary. :shock:

Poor Vultures get all the blame , next thing you know , they will be against ants ..well they eat the dead as too? :mrgreen:
 
The focus is on reducing the risk of failure through being well prepared. 2nd ed.
If you don't want to be eaten plan on never dying.

Or you could get even and have roast vulture for dinner :mrgreen:
 
RENSHAW said:
Lise T said:
OH MY GOSH!!!!! That's a bit scary. :shock:

Poor Vultures get all the blame , next thing you know , they will be against ants ..well they eat the dead as too? :mrgreen:

Don't forget the maggots
 
Very light, comfortable and compressible poncho. Specially designed for protection against water for any activity.

Our Atmospheric H30 poncho offers lightness and waterproofness. Easily compressible and made with our Waterproof fabric, its heat-sealed interior seams guarantee its waterproofness. Includes carrying bag.

€60,-
High in the Picos de Europa, in a broad sink hole, I fell asleep watching a Wall Creeper. I awoke to a Griffon Vulture watching me.

Pilgrims are advised to twitch occasionally, that Griff wasn't going to come any closer until it was sure I was dead. They will wait for a fox or a crow to succeed in getting a mouthful before they will risk an injury to those impressive wings.
 
As intimidating as the image of being eaten by vultures(what Buddhists call sky burial) can be, we need to remember that without vultures, crows,foxes, and in the oceans,sharks and shellfish, the planet would be overwhelmed with decaying flesh and garbage.Carrion eaters are the earth's 'sanitation engineers'and we owe them a debt of thanks for keeping the planet clean. I heard recently that if all the sharks were hunted and became extinct,there would be so much garbage in the ocean that you wouldn't be able to see more than a foot ahead of you underwater.
"To everything there is a season, and a time to every purpose under heaven."Eccles.
 
I have a Gibraltarian friend who is an ornithologist and says "oh, when i die just take me out into Spain and let the vultures eat me, so i can be returned to nature". I think he is only half joking...
 
The one from Galicia (the round) and the one from Castilla & Leon. Individually numbered and made by the same people that make the ones you see on your walk.
@SisterSimon-- I think it's the Parsees, not the Buddhists, who go for sky burial. There are interesting articles in the New York Times from last year on the effect of urban expansion on this practice.

However, your basic points stand. I used to wonder if this was how Carrion de los Condes got its name, but have since been corrected.
 
You may well be right- I'm probably thinking of a Tibetan sect near Nepal that I visited. They practice Buddhism, but in a more cloistered environment that leans towards the most ancient practices, having more than exclusively Buddhist influences. Place names are fascinating,aren't they?So often you find areas named for very old practices that occurred there. Sky Burial is a much more hygenic option in places where its impossible to dig graves.Even burial pyres leave remains that in some climates can transmit disease-and I find that a more distressing thought than an environmentally sound practice that "recycles" what is no longer needed.
Still, to each his own . Certainly its normal for some cultures to be shocked or even repelled by the funerary customs of others.In some faiths its shocking to wait more than a day to dispose of the deceased, and for others its incomprehensible to keep aside acres of arable land for burials.
 

Most read last week in this forum

Could I ask what may be naive question. This will be my 1st Camino and I will be mostly staying in alberques. Could you please explain the bathroom/shower etiquette to me? I have no idea what...
Do i need both these apps? I want to spend as little time my device as possible so if one app will do fine that’s my preference.
I was planning to document my journey through my blog (or Vlog, as I would probably take lots of videos). I was thinking of using my iPhone, and I ordered a foldable keyboard to facilitate typing...
I did the Norte in 2017. This set off a wild ride of changes in life - shifting many things. I am now at a new plateau and it feels like the right time to do Camino #2, this time the...
Hi to all, I'm looking for a really, really good place (an artist) to get a Tattoo in Santiago, it could be before Santiago but I presume in Santiago I will be ready to have my first one. The...
My daughter and I will be on the Portuguese on June and July starting in Lisbon. We will arrive in Porto about the 27th of June. We want to stay for three nights. Can we stay in an albergue for...

❓How to ask a question

How to post a new question on the Camino Forum.

Similar threads

Forum Rules

Forum Rules

Camino Updates on YouTube

Camino Conversations

Most downloaded Resources

This site is run by Ivar at

in Santiago de Compostela.
This site participates in the Amazon Affiliate program, designed to provide a means for Ivar to earn fees by linking to Amazon
Official Camino Passport (Credential) | 2024 Camino Guides
Back
Top