Dear all,

Well, all good things must come to an end....after 560 miles of blister footing across the beautiful Spanish countryside, up hill and over mountain, Louise, Nick, Caroline and I finally made it to the Lands End of Spain...and guess what? It doesn´t have some twinky dodgy pirate theme park like the Cornish one. Just a simple lighthouse and endless glimmering ocean - one of the most welcome sights along the whole Camino de Santiago.

We had excellent company along the way, met some incredible people as well as some old friends - everyone with a story to tell, some very touching and others just plain daft.

Amazingly, the weather held out for us for 5 long weeks, except for the freezing fog over the French Pyrenees on the very first day and a couple of Mordor-like swirling rain storms. Nearly every day, the brilliant sunshine poured into the hostels we stayed in - even in Galicia, where it rains about 300 days a year and the locals have more umbrellas per capita than castanets.

Sharing a bunk room with 50 other snorners, bag rustlers and 5am risers was definitely getting to me, so reaching Santiago, the city hewn of dark granite, was a real milestone and welcome.

After Santiago, there was only 90km to walk to the sea..this section was quieter than any other part of the trail. In medieval days, the road to Fisterra (or Land´s End) was a journey to the edge of the then known world.

We had a sun down picnic, watched the sun melt gloriously into the sea as it spread 4-5 shafts of radiant light across the sky and then caught our first transport in 5 weeks to head back to the town for the night...

---------------- PERU ------------------

After the walk, we barely had time to catch our breath and pack ready for Peru.

After 4 days in smoggy Lima, we visited the Fe y Alegria school in Nuevo Chimbote, a mostly poor new development on the edge of Chimbote, in the north of the country. The city Chimbote relies mostly on fishing but due to reduced fish stocks and new fishing restrictions, the fishermen and related industries do not have enough work. As a result of the economic situation there, there are many social problems.

We met a volunteer at Fe y Alegria School no. 14 (Nuevo Chimbote), Ben, as well the teachers who kindly showed us around the school. All were extremely welcoming and warmhearted. Ben, the volunteer, taught English and Sports, and was part of an outreach group from the school that went up into the shanty town nearby to help show parents and children that they could attend the local school.

The money raised from the Spain walk was given to the school Director, Sister Lila, and she said that they would use it to build up the resources for the practical vocational workshops in the school - Carpentry, Electrics and Sewing (see photo).

Once again, a very big thank you to all of those who have already given towards this school and towards much needed practical resources as well as for Charity Bolivia.

Any further monies raised will go DIRECTLY to these two causes.

James