Wild Boar Alarm

Day 9: Our last day in Sagunto. Tomorrow we set off towards Carmona, a city of 30,000 inhabitants that marks the beginning of the Via de la Plata. More on that later.

On our last day in Sagunto, our last hour nearly struck. Icke had discovered a pond off the road during our bike ride to the market in Almarda yesterday, surrounded by reeds and bustling with countless birds. She wanted to visit it again today, equipped with her camera. Accessing the water was not easy; it took us a while to find a narrow path along a water canal that brought us closer.

So we crept along when Icke suddenly stopped and pointed with wide eyes to the reeds. “Wild boars ...,” she whispered. “So big!” I turned around just as chaos erupted. Screams, squeals, grunts, commotion – I saw a huge black shadow charging at me. I froze in shock like a statue, just like Icke beside me. We were lucky, as the roughly two-meter-wide canal lay between us and the monsters. But how deep was it? Could they swim through it? Or maybe even jump over it?

As quickly as the noise and turmoil began, it ended just as fast. It may have lasted ten seconds. That’s not much, but it showed me how helpless we are in emergency situations. I don't want to imagine what would have happened if the animals had attacked us …

Thus, I am not sad that our journey is now leading more into urban areas, where we typically fare better against challenges. Tomorrow we set off for Carmona. That’s over 600 kilometers from Sagunto. We will make a stopover in Valdepenas – which translates to “Valley of the Rocks.” That sounds promising. I have scouted a nice camp spot there that promises us a peaceful night.