Day 1 of hiking on the Rota Vicentina from Santiago do Cacém to Vale Seco
At 6AM I woke up from a coughing, gurgling sound coming out of one of the other rooms. At 7AM the same guy started his morning rituals singing along loudly to the radio. At 7.30AM I was sick of it and decided to get out of bed as well. Therefore I was already leaving my guest house at 8AM and hit the Rota Vicentina. I was so excited to finally start walking!
The day I arrived in Santiago do Cacém I had gone to the tourist office to get a map and guidebook for my walk. I’d also done my shopping and got lunch and snacks for along the way. I had no clue how long the walk would take me, but it turned out I walked very fast and had to slow myself down a lot towards the end.
At the edge of town I arrived at the public swimming pool. Some of the staff were shouting instructions at me in Portuguese. Luckily these were pretty close to Spanish and I understood they sent me to the left. The signs said straight, but when I hesitated I heard some instructions again and saw hand signals confirming that I had to turn left there. It turned out that further along the road there was construction and therefore this little deviation was required.
Today was a day of dogs and therefore the day of facing some fears. Since I was bitten twice while walking abroad, I can get very uneasy at the sounds of barking or seeing a dog. After a nice park I could already hear the dogs I would soon meet. I passed one that wasn’t on a leash, but he didn’t follow. Then there were a few more with more aggressive barks, but they were all locked up behind a fence. Relieved I continued out of Santiago and into the countryside.
Through the hills I walked further into the cork oak forest. Often the tree’s bark had been partly taken off and a number was painted on the trunk. Their branches look like they are dancing and curling towards the sky and many of the trees are covered in light green lichen. There was a whole maze of dirt roads zigzagging through this forest. Here and there stood some empty, ruined buildings. I kept following the red and white markers, but didn’t see a soul. These roads must be used mostly to access the cork trees.
After a while I saw 3 dogs at an abandoned building. I immediately froze, waited till the playing dogs moved along and then started walking again. The dogs lived a little further down the road, where I could see smoke coming from a little building. Before I saw it, I already heard aggressive barking. I passed some goats in a tree as I hesitantly approached the sound. I heard a female voice shouting, trying to get the dog to stop. It didn’t help, but it helped me to know there were humans around.
When I reached the house I saw that the dog was on a chain. He still made it halfway down the street though and his loud barking was attracting the attention of the 3 dogs I saw before. I walked as close to the other side of the road as I could and when I’d passed him a few meters, the lady of the house came out. She was very old, with long white hair and barely any teeth left. Does she live here alone? With a smile, a wave and a ‘bom dia’ I continued. At the edge of the property I turned around to take a photo. Then I saw movement and the dogs were eyeing my suspiciously. I got out of there as fast as I could.
I continued up and down the hills, not coming across anything. Every now and then a little lizard rustled in the grasses. Before I knew it, I hit a crossing where a sign indicated it was only 5 more kilometers until Vale Seco. It wasn’t even lunch time yet! So from here I halved my speed and purposely took a great interest in the plants around me, stopping to take some photos and inspect the trees.
I found a space in the shade of some cork oaks to have my lunch and a rest. Two mountain bikers raced passed me. I took out my bread and hummus, prepared my feast and enjoyed the warm weather. When I walked into the town Vale Seco it had gotten quite hot. The houses here stood far apart and had big white gates. I guess the town center is the small café where I bought a cold drink. I saw locals drive in to grab a coffee, then leave again after 20 minutes or so.
After another short walk I arrived at my accommodation. It was still early in the afternoon, but I received a warm welcome. After that I jumped into the freezing cold pool. I swam up and down for a minute or two until I couldn’t last any longer. The sun warmed me up again in no time. For tonight I had a beautiful private apartment, very rustic. In the garden was a kitchen I could use. I had hoped the café would serve some food, but was out of luck, so I had a dinner of toast and hummus. Then I crawled into my bed with my book. Day 1 was beautiful and a lot easier than I had expected.
The details:
Stage: Santiago do Cacém – Vale Seco
Length: 18 km
Markers: excellent, easy to follow apart from the construction works at the start
Accommodation: Casinhas da Aldeia, private room for €40
Notes: lots of angry dogs to be aware of, no shops or cafés along the way, very few accommodation options in Vale Seco, lots of forest so it’s shaded, wide forest roads without traffic
1 comment