End-to-End, Chapter I
The unforeseen
End-to-End by Amalia Márquez and Manuel Cabezudo, Chapter I
I look at my feet. Four days until we start our trip. Everything is ready and packed. We will travel the length of the entire Canary archipelago following the old communication routes of the GR131 path. It runs over 550 km, a month’s worth of walking with my life partner, Manuel. I haven’t had much sleep over the last few nights and I feel a little dizzy. It must be the excitement. Manuel told me to not carry too much weight. He doesn’t say it, but I can tell he's a bit worried about my physical condition. Will my body simply give up during our trip? Manuel keeps telling me that when it comes to experiences like these, your state of mind is more crucial than your body. I'm really excited.
Manuel has been preparing this trip for months. He wants to document the path to make it more accessible to the walkers who come after us. I asked if I could come along. I want to capture this journey through my camera lens, to turn what we are about to experience into a lasting testimony.
“It’s not your eyes that worry me, Amalia,” Manuel keeps telling me.
Three days left until our departure. I took a pregnancy test today. The little sign on it turned green. I can’t even begin to process this news. Manuel and I have been talking about it all day, trying to make a decision, getting nowhere. Can we be parents? What will we do tomorrow? Are we prepared? What about this trip we’ve been planning for months? Our questions multiply and hang in dark places.
One day left until departure. We come to an agreement: we’re going to start walking. We need to start walking. It’s the only decision we’ve reached. What would be the point of canceling? This adventure was meant to take us beyond our own experience. It’s about disproving the idea that the Canary Islands are just beaches. How unfair it would be to the mountains to forever be ignored, even by us. I hope our answers will come along the way.
Photography. Amalia Márquez and Manuel Federico
Words. Leti Sala
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Traveller/s
Amalia Márquez
Photographer
Amalia was born in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria in 1984. She has a degree in Pedagogy and it was in her university days she become interested in analog photography. She moved to Barcelona in 2010where she participates in collective exhibitions.
@amaliamarquezManuel Cabezudo
Sustainable Turism Entrepeneur
Ever since he was little Manuel has had a strong bond with nature and especially with the sea. As his birthplace strongly marked his personality and character, Manuel started promoting ideas and projects enabling responsible and sustainable tourism in the Canary Islands.
