Day 27 Venta del Alto to Vilafranco de Los Barros

This was a day of two parts. We were aiming to get as far towards Merida on the N630 as possible and started off on the first 60km stretch towards Monestereo which was basically uphill all the way. There were very few villages and a wild, hilly landscape. The road was bordered largely with forests of holm oak, where I believe the famous black Iberian pigs feed on the acorns. We saw very few pigs, but lots of cows. Of course there are no acorns at the moment.....
The road was still deserted, all the traffic being on the nearby motorway.

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We had a picnic lunch in a nice square at Santa Olalla del Cala before tackling the last steep climb to Monesterio.

Here began a basically downhill section toward Merida. The landscape had changed too and was more open, with vines, olives and orchards of figs. 

We crossed the border from Andalucia into Extremadura, a remote province known for its harsh landscapes and weather, but which produced most of the well known conquistadors such as Cortés and Pizarro. Many New World cities are named after small towns in Extremadura. 

We realised that we were now making reasonable progress and booked a hotel 30km further on, which we were glad to reach just as it was beginning to rain.

Venta del Alto to Vilafranco de Los Barros 115km, 1000m ascent.