A bit of isolation

The Algarve has been a disappointment so far, we need to find somewhere away from the coast, a little more rural, but also the weather is getting better. Perhaps things are improving.

We left Estoi in darkness and headed for the location of our next walks. We don’t like driving Dora in the dark, it is a bit stressful, so we limit it to half an hour. We get to Barranco do Velho. We find a large layby on the edge of the village. This should be really quiet. We are motor homing off grid for the next few days. All the formal sites are back on the coast. We have got quite used to the electrical hook up and Wi-Fi when available. It will also be nice to be away from the crowds.

It is morning and we have just a few miles to drive down the road to Feiteira. The village is tiny. On the edge is a large signboard indicating three walks. Hopefully we will do two of them today. In the guidebook they only have a scant description, there is no suggestion of where to park what facilities are in the village, perhaps she just got bored! We park Dora opposite the signpost. This is meant to be the hardest walk in the book and the guide suggests will take six hours.

We start at 9.50 and head off right down a small road, towards a wind turbine. I love this amazing bit of engineering and wrote a post on them back in the UK which I never got around to publishing. I need to resurrect it, but will take a few more photos in the meantime

Is this right? Have we already made a mistake?. Can’t blame the guide! We should have paid more attention to the signboard. Mistakes you make when trekking can be really time consuming. If you are unsure of where you are, it really pays dividends to stop, work it out before rushing off.

We head back, a completely false start that has taken twenty five minutes.

At 10.15 we head off again, this time down to the village.

and turn left down a narrow track,

which soon becomes a path. The path is quite overgrown in places, but quite soon we head back up to a road, probably the same one we made the false start in the first place.

We are doing the PR 4 walk, we won’t do the PR6 as there is a bit of an overlap, but we might do the PR5 this afternoon. We turn away from PR6 on a road.

The paved road becomes unpaved as we head south east.

We are walking amongst rolling hills, covered in cork oak trees and wild shrubs.

The smell in the winter sunshine is really fresh and fragrant.

We soon drop into the tiny hamlet of Castelao, not more than twenty buildings. We are confused by the guide, ‘after the climb to Castelao, you are rewarded with fine views’. Has she actually been to this place, or is she talking about another trek entirely? This guide is only good for the fire! We push on.

The unpaved road continues to drop.

Soon we get to see the river and the bridge, but which way will we turn once we get there?

We cross a small bridge.

The river meanders away from us.

We turn left and head up hill, on a good climb towards the next village, Cabeca Do Velho.

We skirt the village and eventually hit another road, this time paved. Lets hope there isn’t too much of this!

And then we find another village, this isn’t even mentioned in the guide.

We don’t stop at the one and only bar, instead passing through.

heading down the track, which meanders slowly towards the head of the valley and the river.

The river has some stepping stones, however one of the middle ones is missing. We take very different approaches to crossing this. Susana takes off her shoes and wades across. I don’t.

I now have wet shoes.

Oh well, win some, lose some!

A long climb takes us back towards the wind turbines, some derelict buildings and eventually the road.

We head off down the road for fifteen minutes before turning off left to explore the other side of the village.

We pass a small homestead, they don’t get many tourists here I suspect.

We have been following the typical red and yellow slashes of the PR, but as we enter the cork woods, they disappear. We split up going down different tracks, until one of us can find one. I head back towards Susana as we head back into the valley.

We pass the detritus of old bee hives. They are an untidy lot around here.

The end of the hardest walk beckons as we  head back into the village.

It has taken us fives hours to complete, including the false start and a few other hesitations. The route has been 18.9km.

We have lunch before heading off once again, this time a shorter walk. The PR5.

Rolls of cork bark are stacked around the village. A lot of these look too thin for wine corks.

Another hesitation. It takes us a while to find the start. I don’t know why we bother with the guide at all, you would have more success wearing a blindfold.  Helpful old man is nattering away at us. We think he is a bit mad. He is actually trying to help us! We ignore him.

Eventually we find the start. The old man is sitting next to his house smiling. Yes we get it now.

This is the opposite side of the village from this morning and the landscape is much the same.

We pass by another old man. He is weeding the mountain. Looks like a thankless and fruitless task.

Pine trees, oak trees and aromatic shrubs everywhere. You wouldn’t want to be walking here in the summer heat.

The wide track undulates, heading north.

Then starts dropping down to a river. More stepping stones. No mistakes from me this time, my shoes had only just dried out.

Although this looks barren and natural, most of the trees are planted, many along terraces. It is an artificial landscape after all.

The oak trees however, don’t look that commercial. We love the scars caused by the removal of the bark, and how it regrows. Now this is a long term business plan. It takes 10-15 years to grow back!

It has been a nice, short afternoon walk. Only 5km long, which has taken 90 minutes. At least we will be at our next destination earlier tonight, this will be even more remote!

GDR