By Jim
Pension Catro Ventos served up a great breakfast that was worth sticking around for, so we hit the road at 8:30, a little later than we had planned. Today’s stage included the Faro Vilan, the largest lighthouse on the Costa da Morte (Coast of Death). The walk was along a coastal trail under cloudy skies that afforded unobstructed views of the rocky shore with its pounding surf. By the time we reached the lighthouse, fog was rolling in so we snapped a few quick pictures and continued on. The path now was a raised concrete sidewalk that followed the coast for about 5 km and provided periodic views of the ocean as the fog played hide and seek. Thankfully, the trail now wended between grasslands and beaches leading us to the Cemeterio dos Ingles, the final resting place of English sailors killed in three tragic shipwrecks in the 1800s.
The next section was both beautiful and exhausting. Sandy beaches, rocky beaches, sand dunes, boulders, and ridges required concentration and stamina and made for slow going. The original Camino route crossed overtop of Spain’s highest sand dune Monte do Veo, but this path is now closed to allow for regrowth and restoration. The new route skirts around the headland on a precarious cliff side path that was more thrilling than either Laurel or I wanted. By the time we reached the port of Santa Mariña, we had been walking for 6.5 hours and still had 4 km of rugged coast to walk. We opted instead to walk the road up and over the promontory to Arou, much steeper and longer, but a faster route.
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| Faro de Cabo Vilan. |
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| Memorials along the Costa da Morte. |
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| We took a longer, steeper path to get to our destination that actually saved us time. |
Wow stunning and Thrilling? I would say scary:)
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