It’s our first day on the fishermen’s trail. We started it surprisingly refreshed from a night sleep that did not include any form of AC. I would not describe our room as cool; and having to part the drapes to let the air in from the patio door wasn’t the best for privacy. Add to that getting woken up by the smell of people smoking by our patio door around 6:00 wasn’t the kind of wake up we had in mind. Despite the whole room going against us, we were astounded to have both managed to sleep a good 7 hours uninterrupted. The hairdryer sparking and catching fire as Karine was drying her hair and I was in the shower did ensure we both started the day with more than enough adrenaline and, maybe, a strong desire to skip anything called a hostel for a long time to come. Besides, the online check-failing, the AC not working, the hair dryer doing its best to kill us, the one redeeming quality was the breakfast buffet with enough to get us going for the day without needing to forage for food. Now the eggs were overcooked and the fruit selection was a couple of dregs in a plate but the yogourt bowl was overflowing and the croissant, while slightly burnt, were warm. We were happy to get going with our hike after all that.
After a quick stop at one of the two grocery stores next to one another in the small village to pickup some lunch for the trail, we were ready to go. Why the village needs two grocery stores next to one another will forever remain a mystery to us. We picked the 📍SPAR as it was the chain we knew. We grabbed a couple of pears (grown in the country) and some GORP without the raisins (other people would call it peanuts but I’ve been told when you go hiking you pack Good Old Peanuts and Raisins and if you’re flexible with the recipe it’s easy to find it everywhere).
The Rota Vicentina is a network of hiking trails developed from ancient paths used by fishermen and pilgrims. There’s essentially two sets of long hiking paths managed by the Rota Vicentina: the fishermen’s trail and the historical trail. They both run in parallel but one is more inland than the other (guess which). The project was launched in 2012 to promote sustainable tourism and support local communities, and it is managed by a non-profit association created in 2013. We’re on the fisherman’s trail, it accounts for 227 km of the 750 km of the Rota Vicentina spanning from the south end of Sines all the way to Lagos over 13 segments. We’re not doing the full path. While we’ve done longer hikes the plan is not to spend our entire vacation walking or recuperating from the walk. The plan is to do four segments along the Atlantic Ocean between Porto Covo and Odeceixe.
Despite the trail running mostly on top of the cliffs along the ocean, we trudged through sand the whole bloody way. It’s like walking on the beach but with a 15kg bag while never reaching the compacted wet sand, the water or going for a swim. Most of the 19km of that segment was sand. Karine started with running shoes, I opted for my trusty hiking sandals. While I got small rocks and pieces of wood lodged under my feet regularly, Karine had the privilege of having to empty her shoes every few kilometres when she had enough sand in them to make them feel one or two sizes too small. Neither are wonderful but after 8km, Karine opted for the sandals too. The more successful hikers on the long hike that did not wear sandals had technical shoes (no mesh for ventilation) with gaiters or full boots. They did stop to empty their boots once in a while but less often.
The views on the hike were either sand dunes with the ocean hidden behind them, criques with walls of stones at their back and a beach at the bottom. Both beautiful. We ended the day with many, many pictures of water, sand and trail. We also ended the day a bit weary of the second day. Our host for the night greeted us by essentially telling us that day two would be much easier (it is shorter) and will have much less sand. We were relieved!
Diner was a mere 63 meters from our hotel and we were glad for it. 📍Tasca do Celso looks tinny from the outside but has a surprising amount of dining rooms inside. We had cataplana, a fish and seafood stew from the Algarve (the region we’re in) served in its clam shape cooking vessel. For us it was a plentiful and delicious dish. Exactly what we needed after a long hike.
