Infamous place

Walk no 7 on the Ciceron’s guide – Praia da Luz to Salema

Today we are walking along the coast.

Change of plans today. We were originally going to climb the second highest peak of the Algarve, Picota (over 700m). However, the weather was really miserable this morning so we decided to drive west and wait until it cleared.

It is now 13.00 and the rain has stopped We are now in Praia da Luz. Here, our guide describes another coastal path from here to the village of Salema. Actually the walks starts at Porto do Mos, but as it is already quite late in the day. So we have decided to start it from here, so by making the walk shorter we can finish it in daylight.

We have a quick lunch and head towards the beach to find the coastal path.

Praia da Luz is the infamous place where a few years ago Madeleine McCann, a little British girl, was abducted a few years ago. She was left alone by her parents with her siblings in a holiday apartment. She was never found.

The case was all over the news in the UK as there were rumours that her parents could have been involved. This, of course, was never proved. However, what seems strange is that her parents were never prosecuted for having left the girl alone in the first place.

Anyway, we find our coastal path and walk along the beach, enjoying nice views. It is getting warm. We may get a tan today.

At least this should be an easy route to follow. Even Julie cannot cock up the description for a path that follows the coast. ‘Keep the sea on your left, and don’t get wet!’ GDR

The path takes us through the village first. We now understand why this place is so famous among British tourists. Here, you can find every establishment you have back at home: Irish pubs, Indian and Chinese take-away shops and even an English pub selling cottage pies!

We have not been very impressed so far with the Algarve. There is nothing that makes it unique: the landscapes, the architecture, the coastal villages…It is the typical Mediterranean resort. We could be anywhere: south of Spain, Italy, France, Greece… It completely lacks character and identity.

We eventually leave the village. The path takes us close to the coastline. It is quite nice, better than we are used to, not a normal wide 4×4 track. We wouldn’t call this a cliff as it is described in the guide. Maybe it gets a bit higher a bit later.

A lonely fisherman waiting patiently for the catch of the day.

We climb up a little hill and, looking back, we start getting long distance views of the coast line. Yes, the walk is becoming more interesting.

Dark and black clouds threaten us over our head. Today we are prepared with our waterproof jackets. Despite carrying our technical equipment, we hope it doesn’t rain. Although we say you can only get wet once, it is quite miserable walking in damped clothes.

An hour later, we find a cute and nice little village: Benagil, although everything is closed down for the season. It is meant to be a fishing village. We go down to the beach. Even the fishermen seem to have been shut down until summer. Maybe the fishing is only for the tourists too!

The white and blue houses seem to be a typical feature along the coasts of the Algarve. Very nice.

We continue. It starts raining, great. We quickly put our waterproof jackets on.

After an hour and forty minutes we reach a nice little beach at the village of Cabanhas Velhas, slightly wet but not much. Luckily it has only been a short shower.

There is a snack bar but it is also closed for the season. The path now leads inland towards the village. We take the first turn left on a paved road climbing uphill, getting back to the cliff.

After two hours from the start of the walk we reach a Spanish fort dated back to the XVIII century.

A few people wander around taking photos of these ruins. I are not very fond of ruins. They are so old and dilapidated that you can’t appreciate what they used to be. Anyway, we also take photos. Just to fit in.

An adjacent car park with a cacophony of motorhomes converted from old coaches and even a fire engine. Quite bizarre.

We walk down to the beach. The guide has mentioned a stream which we have to cross.

The stream is more like a river. To cross it, we face two choices: walk along the river for 45 minutes until we reach the main road and cross over the bridge. This means we will waste time and likely not being able to finish the walk in daylight.

The second option is crossing the stream here. This will save us time but it will also mean we can get very wet.

Of course, lovely Julie never described any of this. She never mention, the lack of bridges.

Or the length of the alternative route. This is also towards the end of the walk when you are very committed. This is gross incompetence. We appreciate that this may be swollen in winter. She describes it a stream, but even on her map it is noted a river. This is not suitable for crossing by children. You also have to negotiate incoming tides and waves. GDR

So we decide to cross here, at this point where it looks shallower. But it seems to be quite deep in the middle. We roll our trousers up, we get into the water (freezing!!), we test the depth. Yeap! very deep (80cm). We run back. To avoid our trousers getting wet, we take them off.

We successfully cross to the to other side. We are wet, cold and covered in sand. Putting our trousers and socks back on is not pleasant but we will get warm very quickly. That is what matters.

Meantime, a couple has been watching us. It seems we have amused their afternoon. They probably think: “bloody idiots!”

After three hours, we reach the village of Salema, our final destination. Nice sunny beach, few fishing boats and…

a few motorhomes! But not many people around.

Here, we can either take a taxi or wait for a bus. The locals don’t advise we wait for the bus. Services are not frequent at this time of the year. For this reason, it stops in every village, so it could take a good couple of hours to get back to Dora.

Very kind, they call a taxi for us, so that we don’t have to use our British phones and pay an astronomical amount for a minute phone call. However we order a drink, €4.50, tourist prices down here, same as London!The taxi cost us €17. I suppose not bad considering for 15 kilometres back to Dora.

SM