When I first walked the Camino in 2015, I can remember that meeting David, was one of the highlights.

Some years ago David walked the Camino and then decided to devote his time to looking after pilgrims on their journey. And he now lives on the Camino in basically a lean-to structure, providing free food and drink to passing pilgrims. But that’s not quite all.

If you get the chance to chat with David, he is always happy to share his philosophy in life, which is a very simple and powerful one.

I had told Pat about David’s little cantina and as with many things new and particularly those that are a bit out of the ordinary, she was somewhat skeptical.

As we were coming up the hill, we saw David’s cantina, and I said  “Oh, Should we stop here?” for a few moments and get a stamp. And she kind of said “Okay,” which I read to mean let’s stop for a couple of minutes.

As we drew up next to the cantina and I started taking my pack off, she was looking around took her pack off and said, “Mmmm, I feel something here.” I said, “What do you mean?” She said, “For a guy to provide all of this free to passing pilgrims, that’s something special.”

We probably spent that 20 minutes there all together having a chat with David, and having some of his wonderful fresh watermelons.

If you get a chance to drop in, I would certainly recommend it. And also don’t forget to throw a donation into the little box on the food cart. It is those donations that are the sole source of funds for providing all the food and drink for the pilgrims.

See Full Gallery: Hospital de Órbigo to Astorga