Cercal to Porto Covo

 Do I have a story to tell, an easy 18 km day, pretty straight forward all the way to the coast. Bill and I set out early as Patty is going to rest her blistered foot and meet us in Porto Covo. We checked the book “ the freakin book” and headed out. We both commented that it felt like a day on the Camino, cute tidy country lanes and lots of little farms and flowers etc

We climbed up through areas of aromatic shrubs and past a local artists home, eventually we crested the brow of this hill, grateful to reach the top and ,,bang, there it was, we could see the ocean for the first time. It was a great feeling and I could feel a pep in my step.

Ahead we saw some guys from Luxembourg, so we said hi and started a conversation. They told us they had met a Dutch guy  earlier and he was going to Porto Covo but was on the wrong trail, we said we were going to Porto Cove, and it got awkwardly silent for  a second, oh, so your also on the wrong way, they said.

Son of a ,,,, the book steered us this way, says NOTHING about another route to PC, that is marked with exactly the same trail markers, and starts in exactly the same place.

What to do, so Bill and I are decent orienteerers, brilliant idea ( bills fault, not mine), let’s short cut across the country side. So we did,,,,,,,,,,mistake!

You quickly find that NOT all roads lead to Rome, BUT, most roads go uphill

We were climbing rough and steep cattle tracks, stepping over electrified cattle fences, trying our best not to fry the family jewels, over rocky terrain and quickly realized this was not the best idea,,,,, but too late to turn back.

We kept moving in the right  direction until we came to an impassable mountain, so we went up it and over.

 At the top was a concrete obelisk, which politely informed us we had just climbed the highest point in the region, “ monte Cercal” at 1119 ft,, unnecessarily .

The good thing about hiking with Bill is we both stay calm and laugh at our own stupidity, nothing but one rookie mistake after the other.

                              Some photos of our orienteering ordeal

After two hours, we intersected the right trail and headed towards the coast , feeling very chuffed with ourselves ,final conclusion, we were three hours in and on trail only 4 km from the start, ha ha ha!

We could see the sea, but it never seemed to get any closer.

 Never the less, the “ book” says, as you get closer to the ocean, you’ll feel your fatigue just melt away, that was a lie too.

We stopped at the beach and looked at the Forte da Ilha, 

It dates back to 1588, and was designed by an Italian architect to fight off the British pirates, the little island off the beach was used in the late 3 rd century by the Romans, as a fishing port.

We had a soft drink and a water at the restaurant and then walked the final two miles in to Porto Covo.

 This is a beautiful sleepy fishing village, can’t wait for dinner as I’m having fish. We saw a few local eating houses along the sleepy streets as we stumbled in, but right now, I’m so tired I don’t even want a beer,,,,,,,,,,I know,,right!

Tomorrow , it’s a 20 km walk and I’m not using this damned book, I’ll just head south and keep the ocean on my right shoulder

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