The curious thing about the Camino de los Faros, isn’t that the markers guiding you on the 200km route are green and often in the shape of footprints that belong to a Galician Goblin called Traski. It’s the fact that they only go one way. The footprints, arrows, circles and blobs of green paint only guide you from north to south. Walk north and you’ll end up searching the backs of rocks, trees and lampposts for green paint.
This makes sense because the Camino de los Faros travels from the working fishing port of Malpica to the end of the world at lovely Finisterre. Who would start their walk at the end of the world after all? Plus, if you walk south the prevailing winds are at your back. If, however, you find yourself at Faro de Punta Nariga needing to go north to Malpica along the Lighthouse Way, it’s a problem.
As I stood half way up Faro de Punta Nariga drinking in the panorama of the dramatic rocky shores of the Costa da Morte, or Coast of Death, I had a dilemma. I wasn’t meant to be here. My walk was supposed to stop at the glorious stretch of white sand of Praia de Seiruga, backed by wetlands which are home to many birds as well as otters. Instead, I’d been lured around two more headlands to the lighthouse.
In my defence – and I needed one when I returned to Malpica late, tired and covered in dirt – as the crow flies the lighthouse seemed within easy reach. That though ignored the obvious size of Cabo de Punta Nariga, the headland at the end of which the lighthouse is perched. There was also the smaller headland of Punta Cherpa as well as the wild and rocky Seiruga cove, home to a small fishing port, to navigate.
A 25km walk became a 40km walk but I had few regrets. The Camino de los Faros is one of the most beautiful and breathtaking trails imaginable. The fact that it attracts only a fraction of the walkers who do the Camino de Santiago, and that it was set up by a group of six Galician friends and is maintained by volunteers (someone has to paint Traski’s footprints on the trail), only makes it more attractive to hike.
What was begun in 2013 by those six friends was meant to highlight the glories of this coast, and to bring visitors to the weather-beaten villages and towns along it. They used ancient fishermen’s paths, farm tracks, beaches, and country roads to create the route, and more than a decade later it still feels a little home made. At one point someone had crafted an arrow out of small rocks, hardly a permanent marker.
The full route takes you past 8 lighthouses, my route passed by Faro das Illas Sisargas, which sits atop the largest of a group of islands off the Cabo de Santo Hadrián, and took me to Faro de Punta Nariga. The other six will have to wait until I return to do the whole route. The day began with a walk along Malpica’s promenade and then to the Santuario de Santo Hadrián do Mar, a small chapel on the headland.
The views back to Malpica were tremendous. The track to the chapel ended and turned into a narrow dirt path plunging downwards towards the ocean. Much of the route runs next to the ocean, across beaches or high up on cliffs and steep slopes with precipitous drops to the rocks and water below. Some sections, especially between Puerto de Barizo and Punta Nariga, were at times nerve jangling.
Navigating the narrow path, it occured to me that if I fell to the rocks below the likelihood of surviving and being found was remote. I hadn’t seen a single other person on this part of the route – and very few along the other sections – it would be as if I had vanished without trace. At least until I didn’t show up for an early evening apero. The route around Cabo de Santo Hadrián finally brought me to Praia de Beo.
It was still early and the beach was empty. I walked across it and then up a steep flight of stairs into Beo village. Between here and Praia de Seiruga is something ancient: the site of an Iron Age fortified settlement known as Castro de Seiruga. Thousands of years of farming and weather haven’t quite obliterated its raised ramparts from the landscape. The route takes walkers right past its former walls.
At Praia de Seiruga I encountered a problem. The small but powerful Rio Esteiro stood between me and this beautiful beach. I had to take my boots off and wade through the water. In the next cove I skirted around the picturesque Praia Area Pequeña which brought me to Punta Cherpa. In this isolated spot overlooking waves smashing onto the rocky coastline is As Garzas, a Michelin starred restaurant.
I wasn’t really dressed for the occasion so continued on my way to Praia de Barizo and the nearby Puerto de Barizo. The signs said ‘No Entry’, but Traski’s green footprints took me into the port and then up a rock face and around the Cabo de Punta Nariga headland. When the Punta Nariga lighthouse finally appeared as I crested a rocky hilltop, the slog to get here all made sense. Now I just needed to get back.
* It’s worth reading this disclaimer from the pioneers of this route. It seems the authorities, through incompetence or negligence, have failed to seize the opportunity to work with the Asociación O Camiño dos Faros that was founded by the people who created this epic route.
