Geoff Jones

Walking from Arrafana to Aljezur via the Rota Vicentina on lifeday 25433

Posted on March 15, 2017March 15, 2017

We left the hostel with our fellow walkers and the donkey drivers 🙂 at 9.25 after the poorest breakfast of this holiday so far 🙁

We decided to take the longer route via the cliff tops. An excellent choice with the wildflowers in bloom along a sandy track so making it a very pleasant stroll indeed, at the cliff edge it is amazing to see the sedimentary rocks now pushed vertical!

At the disused buildings on a promontory who should we meet but Emma & Patty, the American ladies we met at the pizza place last night 🙂 Later still we dropped down to the lovely beach at Praia de Monte Clerigo and a cafe selling the yummy Portuguese delicacies Pastel de Nata, 4 were dispatched in rapid time 🙂

Afterwards, the walk turned inland and into a real slog first on the road and then onto tracks, very steep and like a roller coaster, more annoying to me was on the final descent you can see the beach we were on and a river with a road alongside totally flat 🙁

Aljezur is a very pleasant town built on the side of a hill with white painted houses, although its a pity that the 3 arch stone bridge destroyed by floods in 1947 was replaced with a steel structure. Our Amazigh Hostel is right in the centre and our room has an excellent view. The town even has a huge supermarket so we could buy some snacks for the first time to fill up on before hitting the restaurant.

All in all another very pleasant days walking in decent weather 🙂 Strava says we walked just under 13 miles with 1361 feet of ascent, although it felt a lot more!

Todays pictures are here

GR11 Walking Carrapateira to Arrafana on lifeday 25,432

Before I start this post it has to be said I’ve consumed rather a lot of alcohol this evening 🙁 and Sally is currently sleeping it off 🙁

We left the Carrapateiramar Guest House at 8,30 with no breakfast on a lovely still morning the walk started with a climb which is how the day continued, a total roller coaster very tough on the legs, I kept thinking how perfect this would be for Nick’s fell running! although it was a sandy track underfoot, After 5km in Bordeira we stopped for breakfast and had a lovely omelette with a custard tart and coffee, perfect 🙂

The route continued with constant undulations some very steep through Eucalyptus woods, curiously silent with no wild life 🙁 we bumped into a German couple with their donkey doing the same walk as us, then a drop to sea level and a climb back up in a rain shower before entering Arrifana and the Arrifana Destination Hostel where we are staying. Later we met the donkey couple in the bar, apparently they rented the donkey from PicoTours, amusingly the donkey knows the route and nudges them if they go wrong 🙂

The hostel rooms are excellent and the atmosphere is excellent especially meeting the folks you have passed en-route. In the evening we took ourselves of to the superb Artes Bianca pizza place just over 1km away where we had a lovely chat with a couple of Americans one from upstate NY and one who lives in Hong Kong (if you read this please leave a comment)

A great if hard day , Strava says 15,4 miles walked and over 1700ft of climbing.

The pictures ~~should~~ be here ~~(very slow internet here so check back later)~~

Walking Vila do Bispo to Carrapateira on lifeday 25,431

After an excellent nights sleep and an OK breakfast which we ate al fresco with a German couple who warned as about staying the night in a hotel with a name like the stuff that clogs your arteries we once again set off into the sun & wind!

The going was much faster today mainly on good tracks some through pine & eucalyptus woods which gave us a break from the constant wind later we were sheltered by the hills we soon found ourselves having a drinks break in the lovely village of Pedralva.

Sally Kelly crossing a ford — Sally crossing a ford

After our break we started walking down a delightful river valley, stupidly we ignored the sign for the wet weather route which the Germans had taken yesterday, the first ford was OK by the sixth ford the water was getting quite deep flooding over my trainers 🙁 fortunately only one big climb was left before we descended into Carrapateira and our Guest House named after the village. The room has the bed on a mezzanine with a fantastic shower, kitchen & sofa on the ground floor.

After a bite to eat across the road we then walked to the cliffs to see the sunset. Totally amazing walk along boardwalks and seeing the dunes and crashing Atlantic rollers at Praia da Bordeira a great end to a walking day.

I tried using the new Apple Watch Strava app but it came in missing 5 miles, although it displayed the full route 🙁 quite pathetic especially how it dims the display. The good old Etrex20 came up with the correct answer on Strava of 14.3 miles plus an extra 7km to the headland and back.

Excellent scenery and a very enjoyable walking day. Dropbox pictures are here

Portugal and a return to multi-day hiking on lifeday 25,430

Sally decided that it was time for us to return to multi-day hiking 🙂 and go to somewhere warmer than the UK for her weeks holiday in March.

So yesterday we sat on the tarmac at Luton airport for the best part of 3 hours waiting for the Portugese flight controllers call to say we could depart to Faro. We eventually arrived at Faro airport at 8.30pm 🙁 having left home at 10.30am.

At Faro we had another wait for the taxi to Sagres, finally arriving at the Mareta View B&B at 10.30pm. We quickly dashed out for a rather excellent meal & wine at Mums Restaurant.

Today after a fantastic buffet breakfast we started our walk complete with rucksacks & poles my bag weighing in at 8kg. Once again mainly due to all my electronics.

The day was sunny but oh so so windy which bought the perceived temperature down to13 degrees, the scenery was superb especially with the crystal clear air and bright sunshine. The cliffs are stunning and the wild flowers very abundant. The walking surface was very varied with sand, ankle twisting rocks, tarmac & tracks.

We walked from Sagres to the castle but refused the entrance fee so then headed to the lighthouse at the end of the world using a variety of tracks and on road walking. After the lighthouse we went along the cliffs to Praia do Telherio and then back on to the GR13 to Vila do Bispo and the highly rated Pure Flor de Esteva B&B for the night.

A good walk of over 14 miles and 1300 feet of ascent according to Strava made harder with the constant high winds in our face 🙁 The days pictures are here

We are still undecided as to which route to go tomorrow 🙁 the preferred inland route appears to suffer a lack of accommodation whereas the coastal route we will be walking into the high winds again.