AWW 27th May 2020: North of Malhao (Cycling uphill finish one)

We started early. The dawn chorus was just about finished when we met at the top of Malhao

Every time you arrive at Malhao, you have to stop and admire the view, unless you have walked up from Zambujal at the end of Ros's walk,, when all you can do is gasp for breath.

Anyway there was 3 of us at the start: Alan, Frank and Martin.

The leader decided to be adventurous and do the walk "back to front" in an anti-clockwise direction.

He missed the correct turning on 2 occasions by turning left too soon, but by luck found the original track both times. It cut out about 2kms so it was not an issue.

However some in our little group did not have complete trust in the leader, so tended to hang back in case he changed his mind again.

It was steep up to the beehives. Two of us stepped gingerly past. However the laggard stopped to take a photo of a Geko running down one of the hives. It must have disturbed them, as the next thing he was running after us with an entourage behind him. As normal you do not have to run very fast to get away from the bear: you just need to run faster than the one at the back.

He got stung twice. we did not get stung.

Then it was up the hill towards the fire watch towers above Malhao.

It was scorching in the mid-day sun but there was no smoke to be seen: thankfully.

The flowers were gorgeous. I have noticed that the predominate colour is yellow. Is it Darwinian that pollinating insects prefer yellow?

By this time the leader was flagging and decided to lead from the rear to ensure that he did not make any more mistakes.

And then the leader did not die, get buried and go to heaven, but we reached the village of Malhao.

But when we sat in the shade and had a cold beer, it just felt like heaven should be.

Frank McEwan
31st May 2020

WAWW May 27th Salema to Zavial along the coast

Russell, Steve, Linda, Sarah, Terry, Scott, Ros and Nancy (photographer)

8 hikers gathered at the coffee shop at Salema Beach ready for an adventure that would be a bit of a departure from the norm. We took the Rota Vicentina along the coast to our first stop, the Salema dinosaur footprints, before passing Praia Santa and Forte de Vera Cruz on our way to Praia de Figueria where we rested briefly while Sarah walked the labyrinth.

The dinosaur footprints

Here they don't yet know the way out is up

Descent to the prints

Figueira

Next we scrambled up the headland and carried on to Praia das Furnas via a brief turn inland to avoid a difficult descent. Scrambling up again from Furnas, we crossed the wide, flat headland to Praia do Zavial where we had snacks and a paddle and by a vote decided to head inland from Zavial to the dirt tracks that would take us back to the village of Figueira and on to Salema for drinks and lunch.

We were out about 5 hours and walked 15.5 km and agreed cutting out Praia da Ingrina and Praia João Vaz had been a good decision. 2 falls; luckily both inland, no injuries, all accounted for at the end.

EAWW Walk May 20th 2020 Corte Garcia Meander

EAWW Walk May 20^th 2020 Corte Garcia Meander

Braving the Covid-19 pandemic and the hottest day of the year so far five hardy Algarve Wednesday Walkers from the central or Easter Algarve met near Corte Garcia for a planned 16km hike around the hills of Corte Garcia near Querenca.

The 5 brave hikers strictly observing social distance were: Jan, Roger, Alan, Frank and Martin (taking the photo).

We set off at a brisk pace down the river valley on a glorious morning with the first of several river crossing quickly in view. For some unexplained reason the photographers were keeping a close eye on Jan expecting some splash opportunity possibly.

As the heat increased we then took on the first of the hills.

Leading to some wonderful views over the empty countryside:

By this time it was getting seriously hot and the infrequent shade opportunities were eagerly exploited.

We slowly wound our way up, down along the river valley drawing nearer to our planned lunch stop in Querenca.

At this stage there was some mutterings about the heat, the hills and the distance left to cover. 

An informal straw poll quickly determined there was little appetite to take on another long hill post lunch so sanity prevailed and unanimously we decided lunch (plus refreshing cold drink) followed by nice downhill stroll back to the cars was the better option.

A lovely cold Sagres over lunch later we meandered our way down hill through the Corte Garcia countryside back to our cars.

The total distance was a very respectable 14km on a very hot day that hit 33C.

Thanks to Alan for his lovely photos.

Martin McKenna

WAWW Walk report – Figure of Eight from Odelouca – 20 May 2020

WAWW Walk report – Figure of Eight from Odelouca – 20 May 2020

Linda, Steve, Nancy, Terry, Ros, Sara, Scott, Jim and Russell (photographer).  Only 9 walkers due to the CV19 restrictions and social distancing rules.

We met near Café Perrinha for a 9.30am start.  It was going to be a hot day and the only baggage we needed was plenty of liquids and first aid in case of bee stings and Russell falling over.

We had a flat section to warm up before the killer hill to the top of the ridge.  From here we enjoyed nice views down to the Odelouca river.  We could even see the Portimao tower blocks in the distance.  There was some land clearance work taking place close to the power station so the fence which had previously blocked our way had been removed.  So, we were no longer trespassing!

We managed to get past the bee hives with no incidents and then enjoyed some downhill stretches.  Then an almost flat section back to the cars to pick up extra drink supplies.

  

We enjoyed the nice view down to Café Perrinha where our cars were parked.  We completed the first half of the walk in just less than 2 hours.  We had a short break by the cars before the second half of the walk.

Just 8 walkers for the 2^nd half of the walk, Ros said she had “things to do in Silves”.

There were more ups and downs but plenty of rest stops to admire the view and take in refreshments.   Russell managed to fall into some thistles so the first aid came in handy.

We completed the 2^nd half of the walk in just over 2 hours and we were all ready for the après walk drinks as our bottles were all empty.  Ros was already waiting for us with a drink in hand. Six of us stayed and enjoyed the Prato do Día on the outside terrace.  It was nice to get back to some type of normality after the lock down.

The total distance completed was 15.37kms in just over 4 hours and the heat was about 30C.

Thank you to everyone who joined us today and cheers to those in the East who could not join us.  Hope you had an enjoyable day.

Linda and Russell

Two trigs and a well

Emergency to Calamity - Release Walk. 7th May, 2020

Emergency to Calamity - Release Walk. 7th May, 2020

From May, 4th the Portuguese Government relaxed the lockdown from a 'State of Emergency' to 'Calamity', allowing up to ten people to be together  while social distancing. So, without further ado, I decided to gather a few hardy souls together for an ATW, as it was a Thursday!

From Right: Jan, Diane, Rachel Diana.

No four-legged friends attended. However, having read Roger's blog. . . ! No soggy tails!

Full recce.

Full face masks.

Social Distancing.

So the four brave girls got together in the hamlet of Palmeiros to spread enjoyment (but hopefully not Covid 19!) accross the Barrocal. It must be remembered, of course, that none of us is in a high risk group, elderly or vulnerable. Our "vulnerability", however, might be subject to some scrutiny! We set off with  face masks in place and flowing wild hair, long fringes and marmite streaks (lack of non essential tonsorial care). Well, the lady readers will understand. 

We headed down the caminho publico adjacent to my house that connects our hamlet with the parque naturale. On the far side of the park we started to climb. As we ascended we took  a moment to look across the valley to Covoes and to wave to David and Dinah.

On the opposite side of the vallery we saw the village of Salir, the church and the watertower being most prominate. (Always a good landmark around here, so no one should ever get lost in the Caldeira as this bit of geography is called).

Then, on a flat hilltop we stopped to drink in the spectacular 360 degree view and, on that particular day, unusually so far this year, we could enjoy it in full sunshine.

Following the path to the stream we then headed up onto a tarmac road but shortly turned north onto a another small path. On both sides and, indeed, across the whole valley there was an abundance of wild flowers; but most striking was gorse covering the hills like a yellow blanket. We stopped here to take refreshments and admire the views. 

Also, we discussed with each other whether we had found out anything different about ourselves during the lockdown. Rachel decided that it would be an easy transition from work to retirement!!! But, we all agreed that the time that we have had, has made us realise that we can take things easier and not to be chasing ourselves around the whole time!

Off we set again. We were now running parallel with the Loule-Salir road which is believed to have been one of the Caminho do Santiago pilgrimage routes from the south of Portugal to the holy shrine of St James at Santiago do Compostela.

We headed down the hill to a meadow of waist high flora. 

We were now 'off piste'. Did I miss the route, or was it buried beneath the undergrowth? Due to the herbaceous mass it was slightly difficult to find any navigable paths but, eventually, I stumbled upon some tractor tyre-tracks which made the going a little easier and which led us onto a proper road. We followed this and  made our way down to a ford crossing the Algibre river shaded by overgrown cane which, along with the cool of the river,  gave us a momentary respite from the sun.

Beside the ford a small footbridge allowed us to keep our feet dry ( no soggy tales here) and upon which, we enjoyed another 'take five'. From here we made our way up the hill following an old, rocky, burro track to the Salir-Palmeiros road. This we crossed and took a parallel country path passing orange groves, crop plantations, olive and almond fields and even vines. This led us onto a tarmac road which took us back to Palmeiros.

And, at this time of austerity, the only post-walk drinks were from our water bottles.

The stats are shown below, the reading of the kms should read 11.48kms.