The Walkabout part II...

(click to enlarge)

This weekend my roommates and I set out on another walking trek, but this time was south to the ocean.

Friday afternoon we set off outside of Lebrija to the Rio Guadalquivir where we would follow it most of the way to the sea. The beginning of the treks always seems to start out so barren and vacant but the end is always rewarding.

We didn't leave until 3:30 because Bijan worked. Well, the sun starts going down around 6:30 so not much progress was made day 1, especially since we tried to take shortcuts through farm land and had to jump some small irrigation ditches. We made it to the riverside and walked until sunset and stopped to eat and make camp. We found a palette and started a wee fire just to have something to do.

We awoke a few times in the night to barges going down the river...well, maybe the boats interrupted our "we are trying to sleep but it is cold, cramped, and earlier than we expected". When it is dark by 7:30 and you are on the trail there aren't many things to do. We all woke up at one point and had a guess at the hour. "Calvin- 4? Bijan- No its just 1:15. Shit, we have all night yet."

In the morning we started our journey onwards. There isn't really much to talk about. We just walked. Talking here and there. A bit of singing. Mostly "On the road again...something something, cause we're on the road again," or other variations such as "on the road again. Bijan, Cal, and Boone are on the road again." Other times movie quotes and comedy skits.

Along the road we met a middle aged couple who was touring the south. We saw riders from the Jerez Equestrian school going out on rides. Close to El Parque Natural de Doñana we saw flamingos in the marshes (not nearly as close as I could have seen them though). In the middle of the nothingness we entered the Doñana pine forest and emerged on the outskirts of Sánlucar. In Sánlucar we hit the market to refresh our supplies and hit the beach to walk to Chipiona on the coast.

We all took a quick liking to Chipiona for its cool lighthoused/cathedraled boardwalk. Apparently the city is always dead in the off season because half the property is owned by people in Sevilla, so now, in the winter, it felt very quaint and calm, much to our liking.

We walked along the coast until we weren't close to the houses and bars that litter the coast and made camp. The tide was out and it looked rather far away, but there was a line were the wet sand was and the dry sand was 5 feet from where we put the tent. We didn't have other options because further back wasn't level ground and the fence and dunes were there. We scavenged another palette (I tell you what, with out palettes, we would be bored as hell) and started a beach fire. A little later we went to bed, but I was super-paranoid about the tide and poked out of the tent every time I noticed the tide was closer. In the end, the tide never got near and we all passed out much harder than the night before after a very full day of walking.

I leave you with our homemade postcard, and blame it on guys being guys especially when in the wilderness and bored.



Click HERE to see other photos from the walk.