4.5 Friday Fuente de Cantos to Zafra.
An unpleasant 24hrs with two of us with a bout of Franco’s Revenge. Both recovered enough to walk the distance today though (no taxigrinos here). Feet generally all round not causing complaints so walking even through mud and streams a pleasure. The weather continues wet in the mornings and dry and windy in the afternoons good for dryoing washing, though a close thing yesterday.
We have slept beneath storks for last night and tonight, to Betsy’s delight and in a convent to Tony’s (alas no nuns remain unlike Carrillon de los Condes on the Camino Francais).
The morning slipped by in an intermittant downpour, dodging puddles and crossing two streams on stepping stones just out of the water. When the sun did come out long views across fields and vinyards were very clear and marred only by the occasional pig production plant. The yellow arrows on this section quite adequate.
We pass through Calzadilla de los Banos which seems almost deserted but we know some stayed in rooms there last night.
We enter Zafra about 1.30 and meet Joe who has just checked into the albergue 200m down the street in the very nicely restored old convent. There has been a significant investment by secular authorities (as well as the enthusiastic Father Miguel) in providing cheap accomodation along the Via de la Plata, to encourage tourism, the 4 bed dormitory today has its own shower and the cloisters of the old convent are sensitively preserved.