AWW Walk report – 22 November 2023 – Val Do Boi  (Madrona walk)

 

16 walkers and 4 x dogs. Ken, Nora, Tony, Susan, Jill, Julie, David, Jan, Martin, Ros, Peter, Frank, Geoff, John, Vince, Linda the photographer, plus Toby the dog, the other 3 x dogs (Bicca, Raffa and Ziggy) were playing in the river.

 

We met in Rasmalho and then drove 4kms further up the road to the start of the walk which reduced the number of hills we had to climb.

It was a long gradual climb up the valley during the morning but we enjoyed the mountain view and clear blue skies.  What a fantastic day for walking!

There was a short downhill stretch to add a bit of variety to the uphill climb.

We could see Picotta getting closer, Geoff zoomed in to get a better look.  I promised we were not going that far up the mountain.

Now we could start to head back down the valley and take a rest and early lunch at the hunting club.  We had only done 7kms at this point.

The guys had a team meeting at the table provided by the hunters.

Some relaxed on the sofa, taking time to have a good stretch.

Others sat and enjoyed the amazing countryside and the fishing lake.

Whilst we ate, we watched some workers digging the land nearby and laying down straw.  We asked what they were doing and they showed us all the ripe Madronas waiting to be planted to grow more trees.

We left our rest stop behind and headed down the valley again. 

The dogs lead the way, especially Toby as he had been on the recci two weeks before.

 

The landscape looked very nice with all the newly dug terraces waiting for more Madrona to be planted.

David wondered how far we were from the Via Algarviana route.  Jill and I agreed it was over the hills and far away.  There are no marked walking trails in this area.

Our group of walkers were starting to spread out now so we dropped the pace to help keep the pack together.

As we got lower down the valley it became lusher and greener and Raffa but on a display to show his appreciation. ( I think he had just found a choice piece of fox poo to roll in!...Ed)

We all enjoyed watching the dogs cool off in the river just before we got back to the cars for the drive back to the café.

We were all very jovial at the café.   My tracker battery had packed up but it was agreed the walk was just short of 16kms as promised.

Thank you for joining me in this lovely part of the Algarve and for the extra photos from Geoff and Tony.  See you all soon. Linda