Finding treasure on the Camino de Santiago

15 June 2022

“Strength does not come from physical capacity. It comes from indomitable will.” Mahatma Gandhi

Totals: 825 kms walked –

1 241 452 steps taken

218 hours of walking

R67 000 co – raised for The Butterfly Centre

This post is late and most news is shared and it was still important to complete the journey on the blog. Reflections on the walk will follow in due course.

Most “normal” people end a very tough Le Puy route Camino in St Jean Pied de Port. not this Pilgrim and her friend Jennie. We decided months ago that we’d both like to re-experience the crossing of the Pyrenees. This is the traditional start of the Camino Frances which starts in St Jean Pied de Port in France and ends in Santiago. The first Camino I completed in 2016.

We wanted this for different reasons. Jennie to see if she could feel better while doing it and me to get an opportunity to see the views (last time it was Misty and rainy all day). And on top of that we thought, you can’t just walk to Roncesvalles over the Pyrenees, you have got to end somewhere significant like Pamplona. Normal? Not so much! Mind you we were originally going to walk the extra 700km to Santiago too. Then I found my brains again and announced I wanted to spend a month living in Florence. I did not want to walk 1600 kms. 830kms would be plenty for me. Jennie agreed so fast it was almost like she’d been thinking the same before I mentioned it.

We left in the cool mist at 7h00 on Sunday the 12th June. Both feeling really emotional and excited. It felt like the start of our first Camino. I was teary eyed, my heart was beating really fast and I was feeling so excited. Also a little nervous. I recalled it being quiet hard and almost vertical. In my memory it was like three Kloof Nek Classics in a row! For those that don’t know, that’s a 21km road race that goes up Signal Hill and up Table Mountain Road and up Kloof Nek road. A great run with great views but tough. I was hoping for views despite the mist.

The few days before this were such beautiful mild gently sunny days. So I was hoping that the weather gods would be kind and give us the same weather with views! Big ask? 29 days of 99% good weather I guess maybe too much. We were 6kms in and the wind came up quite aggressively actually and although cold it blew away the mist a bit. And then 9kms in it started to drizzle. I ignored it thinking it would go away, no, no, no, it rained harder. No where to shelter, you just keep walking up up up! I had of course not brought my beautiful rain coat as I the forecast said no rain. I put my like rain jacket on and out my head down and marched up that bloody mountain.

Here’s where I suddenly realize I better stop whining to myself and look around, yes there’s rain and it’s horrid, yes my rain jacket is not water proof, yes I am friggen cold, but hey I GOT THE VIEWS! It stops and starts so I can take pics and not wet my phone. The rain stops, the views open up and I am virtually on top of the world in more ways than one.

The walk was definitely easier than the first time and I really enjoyed it once the rain stopped. The downs were harder than the ups, very tough on the knees. But I am so pleased that we took up the challenge even though I think I’m crazy. And this girl is not going to be stopped by much and plus I have my crown to keep me going. And I have my indomitable will to keep me on track and going, up, up, up!

Jennie came down to dinner that night and said, “Stephany you’re a genius!” I said, “Why?” She looks at me with a smile as big as the sun and says “You came up with the Florence idea!” Genius indeed. Hard deserves reward but we still have 50kms and two days of walking to Pamplona. Still Genius!

Walking to Zubiri

Walking the Camino must be like child birth. You simply forget how hard some parts are. Roncesvalles to Zuberi would have been day day three of my first Camino. I forgot completely how up up up it was and it was not a breeze. Even though my feet are hardened and I am lean and mean and fit. Although beautiful it was tough. It was hard, and I’ve got 100’s of kms on my feet. I found myself reflecting on why we take on these tough challenges and then take them on again! More on reflections in another post! I did keep thinking of Samira, the young woman we met a few days earlier who was running, yes, running, the Camino Frances, 50kms per day! And I got my act together and my self talk back in order.

The last day of walking dawns- Walking to PAMPLONA -14th June

The last day dawns, I am so teary and emotional. Happy and sad! Relieved and reluctant! Wanting to finish, wanting to carry on. We dawdle. We drag our feet. I’m a dawdler, Jennie never. But she drags her feet too. We’re up and we’re down. And so is the path. We’ve clearly forgotten how tough the Way was in 2016. Today however, none of it matters. We have all day. We don’t have to worry about washing our clothes tonight, or finding food, or getting information on the route for tomorrow or three days time. Today we can just walk and dawdle. Which I always do, but today is dawdling on steroids!

We walked in silence together and a little apart and then chatted and then silence. It went that way most of the day. We giggled and joked about some of our adventures and reflected a bit on the differences between the Caminos! We admired the views, we appreciated every step we took. We savoured in the privilege we knew we’d had of walking for 33 days. No real concerns. No real problems, no want for anything except our daily baguette and croissant 🥐 if we’re lucky, our healthy feet and our baggage to arrive where it needs to each day. We glowed as we walked, not just from sweat, from pure inner joy! The butterflies came out to meet us and walk us through some hot parts. They just kept reminding us what a joyous walk we’d had.

We walked into Pamplona reluctantly excitedly! Makes no sense I know. We should have been dancing with joy to finish 830kms. I having had the routine of putting the hotel voucher in my backpack everyday mysteriously had no voucher in my backpack (I still don’t know where it is). We had already decided that we were having G&Ts before going to a hotel as we deserved to cheers our ending! So we found a café in a beautiful square just off the main one and ordered our G&T’s!

We spent two days in Pamplona exploring and just recalibrating. And how joyful it was. We went to Cafe Iruna for Aperol spritz. We had a pedicure and a massage. And the cherry on top – a lovely dinner at a Michelin star restaurant to celebrate. Spectacular!

We were over the moon to be done and sad too. It’s such a beautiful journey even with all its toughness. We walked on “clouds” for a few days, loving not walking yet longing to walk.

Camino gifts:

– the walk up and over the Pyrenees although a bit rainy to start was clear and I had views forever – the pure joy of those views and the feeling that “I’ve got this! I’m invincible! I have an indomitable spirit!”

– the ease with which we “cruised“ up and down and over the Pyrenees- wow!

– the gift of having completed 830kms without any real hitch – Wow!

– the gift of my body cooperating for 830kms. It was sore in many places make no mistake but it got up and performed beautifully every single day. The gift of the odd anti inflammatory helped too!

– the gift of three gorgeous comfortable hotels for our last three nights of walking

– the gift of all the donations for The Butterfly Centre

– the gift of all the messages of support received throughout the journey

– the gift of being given the opportunity to do this amazing journey by my Company and coming out of it wanting more

Reflections on my journey will follow in the next blog. At a date still to be determined….. ♥️