Saturday 4th October 2014 - Villalpando, Spain

Les and Ian set off at 08:30 with the ambitious target of reaching Villalpando. Although we followed different routes, we all found the scenery rather uninteresting. The plain was exactly that, huge expanses of largely flat (cyclists may disagree) agricultural land with only occasional sleepy villages where mud-brick buildings gently decayed. We passed field after field of sunflowers that must have been beautiful when they were in flower but now wizened and dull, standing erect and brown, waiting to be harvested for their oil. The only sign of activity was the occasional tractor ploughing the dry fields and raising huge clouds of dust that could be seen for miles.
However, we did see a large number of birds of prey that seemed to enjoy those vast open areas. We must have seen at least thirty birds of many different species from those with huge wings circling above (looking for cyclists?) to harriers and kestrels.
We also managed to visit a National Nature Reserve - Las Lagunas de Villafafila. The lakes were rather short of water at this time of year but there were plenty of waterfowl and waders. Their claim to fame is that they have the world's largest population of great bustards, nearly 2,000. There is a connection here with our part if Somerset where the great bustard has just been reintroduced to the Somerset Levels nature reserve.
Shortly after we arrived at our aire in Bretocino, we heard from Les and Ian. They had another excellent day, having completed 110km with 5½ hours of cycling time. The told us that they had met a charming American couple walking on the pilgrimage trail. They were impressed with the cycling challenge and wished Les and Ian good luck.
Photos: Monument on the Santiago de Compostela pilgrimage route near Carrion de Los Condes; Les and Ian passed the very dry Canal Cea-Carrion; Most of the Las Lagunas de Villafafila Nature Reserve lakes were dried up but this one still had some water in it and was much appreciated by the ducks; The private Bretocino aire was very posh.