The Cami De Cavalls - 2016 - Day 1

The Cami De Cavalls, as you may think the name suggests has in fact, nothing to do with camel's, caves, Maurice Chevalier, Vauxhall Cavalier's or any other familiar sounding word in the English dictionary. In Catalan, 'cami' means path and 'cavall' means horse, so translated it means 'detached bungalow '!! No only kidding - it means of course horse path.

The Cami De Cavalls is an ancient coastal path on the island of Menorca. It is 185km in length, although by the time you find your accommodation and do various other detours, it's more like 200km and we think that sounds a little more impressive!
Menorca is a Mediterranean island, one of the Balearic islands which has been populated by humans for more than 3,000 years, with some of the building's and structures from this period still surviving.
The path began in the fourteenth century and was first documented in the seventeenth century as a path used by the military to control and survey the coastline. Private estates began to close off parts of the path in the early twentieth century. However during the 1980's the island inhabitants became aware of its natural and cultural heritage. Laws were passed in 2003 and work began to re-establish the original path. At the end of 2009 the work was completed and the Cami was re-opened to the public and given its official name as 'long distance path GR223, but fondly known as 'the 'Cami'.
Suzanne and I had done some of the stages of the walk during previous visits to the island and on that basis had decided (foolishly???) to complete the whole path. My thinking was that if we can complete a 8km stage in a couple of hours then 10 days shouldn't be too difficult. At the time I hadn't realised that the total distance was 200km over ten days, an average 20km per day (just over 12 miles) and that each day often comprises of three stages! Oh well, we've agreed to it now!!
In the guide book of the same name it suggests a support vehicle or organising support for some of the more remote stages of the walk. Fortunately Suzanne has a cousin who has a home on the island. Janet and her husband Steve agreed to help us out if we needed it - they became known as J-Triple S (JSSS - Janet & Steve Support Services). They were excellent and we recommend that anyone thinking of doing the Cami employ them immediately!! (Their rates are reasonable, a box of Matchmakers for Janet and a bottle of good red wine for Steve - per day payable upfront! 😀
We landed on the island on Tuesday 7th June and had two days staying with JSSS to acclimatise before starting the walk early morning on Thursday 9th June.
DAY 1 - 9th June Binimel-la to Cala Morrell (Stage 6 to Es Alocs, stage 7 to Algaiarens and stage 8 to Cala Morrell) Total Distance 22Km. Our Day 1 is Day 5 in the guide, we did this because day 5 is the hardest and we wanted to get it out of the way, also there's no where to stay at Binimel-la, so it made sense to stay with JSSS and get dropped off at the most un-hospitable spot of the route. 
Almost a false start as we realised the night before (after the shops had closed) that we didn't have any water!! Fortunately JSSS were able to assist and cobble together enough containers, including a San Miguel bottle and an empty milk carton to get the required five litres.

9th June 2016, 6:53am - Day1, Stage 6

So this is the start, it's 7am in the morning. Take note of the smiling faces, which hide the trepidation! Todays walk is described as 'the most demanding section of the whole of the 'Cami' - nothing like jumping in at the deep end! The total distance is 22km with an estimated time of 9-11 hours. The walk is full of ups and downs, over wild mountains and cliffs and it's going to be hot - temperatures in excess of 30°C are forecasted.

9th June 2016, 7:02am - Day1 - Stage 6

Elvis consults the guide book for some reference to where we are on the map. We thought we might be doing a lot of this, but as it worked out the route is  marked out so well that the only reason to read the book is for some local points of interest and an idea of the topology of the walk.

9th June 2016, 7:02am - Day1 - Stage 6

Still smiling, but that's because it's beautiful, cool and we've only been walking an hour. We wouldn't be smiling if we realised that we would be still walking at 5pm in over 30c. At this moment we are blissfully unaware of the challenge ahead.  

9th June 2016, 7:08am - Day1 - Stage 6

The north coast is mostly uninhabited and is a rugged, natural coastline. It's extremely beautiful and as we were about to find out, very hilly.

9th June 2016, 7:14am - Day1 - Stage 6

9th June 2016, 7:15am - Day1 - Stage 6





9th June 2016, 8:00am - Day1 - Stage 6
 

9th June 2016, 8:01am - Day1 - Stage 6
 

 

At 8am we hit our first major climb, this was quickly followed by a series of ups and downs and the heat began to pick up. In the next hour we only managed to cover 2km. The day is 22 km long so we were beginning to realise why this day is the most difficult. At the rate of 2km per hour, we would be walking for 11 hours.

9th June 2016, 9:32am - Day1 - Stage 6

Looking from the top of one of the hilly coves  - over lots of ups and downs. It is now getting hot, even though it is only 9:30am. The scenery is stunning and the solitude with nature (we haven't seen a single other person yet!) is great feeling. 

9th June 2016, 10:49am - Day1 - Stage 7

This was the end of stage 6 at a place called Els Alocs, where there is a beautiful beach. However we only noticed the beach after we had climbed all the steps and we were simply too exhausted to go back down the steps to see the beach. We had decided though that at the next beach there would be a 'swim stop' as it was getting far too hot .

9th June 2016, 2:15pm - Day1 - Stage 7

A couple of hours after this picture we came to the end of stage 7, to a place called Algaiarens. We had decided to up the pace considerably as the heat was building up. We were now on a part of the route that was mostly down hill and through fields so we made up some time. We stopped at Algaiarens for about 40 minutes for some ham sandwiches (courtesy of JSSS) and a much needed swim. We could have both quite easily finished the day at this point and if there was a bus going to Cala Morell, I think we would have been on it. After the swim we picked ourselves up for the last stage, stage 8 from Algaiarens to Cala Morell (another 5km). There's no pictures of this stage as by this time I was in the throes of a major 'sense of humour collapse'. I just wanted to be finished now and everything was beginning to hurt! At this point I (Keith) have had a heart to heart with Elvis about whether I will be able to continue tomorrow. Today has turned out to be much harder than we thought.

Clock the 'plates of meat'. I urgently require the services of a blacksmith.

 

 

9th June 2016, 5:44pm - Day1 - End of Stage 8

Washed, fed and watered. In the bar/restaurant of Cala Morell and already feeling much better.

9th June 2016, 6:14pm - Day1 - End of Stage 8

That's the bar in the background on the edge of the cliff - it may have just saved our lives :) Mussels, pasta, bread, beer and wine and already we are thinking that maybe we might just survive this thing! After all, we have just completed our first day - but more importantly, the hardest day of the whole 10. The worst thing about this last picture, is it reminds me that after we had our meal, in the restaurant in the distance, we realised that we had come out without the wallet. Being the gentleman, I volunteered to walk down the cove, up the other side back to the apartment, get the wallet, then back to the restaurant, pay the guy, then do it all again to get back to the apartment!! Talk about the straw on the camels back. We were in bed at precisely 8:15pm

The official stats for the day are:  Started at 7:05am, finished at 4:45pm.