It’s been 5 years since I was on a Camino to Santiago- 5 years since I walked the Camino Mozarabe from Malaga to Mérida. Myself and Sally clocked up the pilgrim credits on the Kumano Kodo in Japan in November and gained dual pilgrim status for our efforts but being back in Southern Spain we couldn’t resist another ramble on the Mozarabe. This time starting in Almeria, the dry warm southeastern corner of Andalucia.

The route would take us, in 9 or 10 stages, 200 km northwest around the back of the Sierra Nevada to Guadix and Southwest from there to Granada. We would go from sea level up to between 1000 and 1400 m for 100 km.

And we chose the freak weather event of Storm Gloria to start in. There was death and destruction across a great swathe of eastern and southern Spain as we drove through the rain from Malaga. By Motril, 100km east, we were under blue skies. Arriving in Almeria we met up with the wonderful Nely, one of the Camino Angels and member of the Association that looks after the signage, albergues and everything else connected to the promotion of this Mozarabe route.

She showed us where we could safely leave the camper for 10 days then gave us our pilgrim passports for the route stamps and insisted on driving us to the cathedral and the Alcazaba the imposing fortress built by the moors over 1000 years ago.

Next morning we set off down the sea front past the Eiffel designed rail bridge for the couple of km to the cathedral where we got our credentials first stamp of the Camino as mass was given under the fine ornate construction.

And so the long trek out of the city began. The Association had done great work marking the route and we were never left wondering which way to go as we followed a variety of symbols.

We stopped for coffee after about 8km in Huercal and soon after ,with the temperature rising under the blue skies, we passed under the AP7 coastal motorway and headed off on a more rough and ready route- the dry riverbed.

Leaving it only briefly at the old Arab capital of Pechina the riverbed took us all the way to our bed for the night after 21 km, at Rioja, in a wonderful little Association albergue ,decorated with pilgrim floor mosaics, adjoining the municipal swimming pool.

A leaflet there talked about a geological walk from there so we had a look, hiking under the motorway again to a forgotten and sad little picnic park set among some eroding sandstone cliffs.

Day 2 – Rioja to Albodoluy 25.5 km

We were blessed again with dry weather overnight and as we set off under a mixed sky of pale predawn milky blue and darker clouds over the mountains to the east, we had our fingers crossed that the awful weather suffered elsewhere would not come this way. A small road beside and above the river led us to Santa Fe de Mondújar passed some old cortijos that had seen better times.

Things improved in Santa Fe where we stopped for coffee and tostada in the charming square before heading off, finally, into wild country, with wide open vistas, rough paths, riverbeds and the desert like Badlands around Alhabia where we stopped for a tapas lunch after 16 km.

Another 8 km ( according to my Garmin GPS which seems to disagree with other sources of information) of track beside and on riverbed passing a wealth of rich fertile lushly irrigated gardens and orchards and we turned into a huge cleft in the hills to encounter Albodoluy, our destination for the night.

Another lovely Association albergue awaited us, with seriously hot water in the shower(s!) and a fine kitchen. Again, we had the place to ourselves. The last folk went through a few days ago and it’s pretty quiet at this time of year.

Tomorrow is a big one. At least 29 km but I’d say my GPS will say 33 km. And it’s uphill all the way.

With a big lump near the start. And rain forecast. And snow at the top.