Zambujeira do Mar to Almograve . . .

The lovely German students, Sophie and Halina, head back to Lisbon on the early bus and I head for Almograve, glad to be back on the road after the reunion with the waves at Zambujeira do Mar and warm human contact with Joao, Marisa, Sophie, Halina and Birte. The hostel was a luxury, with a six bed, en-suite dormitory to myself and a well equipped kitchen to share.

All along the route, intensive horticulture again . . . some big companies here, from UK, USA and others . . . next time you buy strawberries in winter at the supermarket, they may just be from here. As Joao pointed out, the work is welcome and it comes with invisible pollution through pesticides and perhaps excessive use of water too. The run off from the fields is straight into the Atlantic and I ponder this passing the fishing port . . . where the proper fishermen live in simple houses and appear to have blocked the "Fishermen's Trail" as it climbs the cliff . . .

. . . anyway, I fancy putting in some head down walking, which is conducive to progress on the road and inner work too . . . the afternoon is better for wandering along the cliffs . . .

. . . and so to Cavaleiro for a late cafe com leite and pastel de nata, the very sweet and ubiquitous cake, at the restaurant where workers from the local farms are arriving for lunch . . . Wanda tells me the dish of the day is pork (passed the pig farm earlier and had a chat with two very friendly pigs in a garden) . . . her alternative is a local speciality, fried garlic bread with salad . . . and, since I have all the ingredients in my rucksack, thank her and tell her I will cook it later at the Pousada de Juventude . . . which turns out very well, with some chips (while the oil is hot) and soft goats cheese . . . . . . spectacular lunch spot looking at Cabo Saldao and wonderful wander along to Almograve, an Italian bloke for the last two kms, trying to converse in a mixture of French, Portuguese and English, and a local couple walking their friendly retriever, who show me the way to the Youth Hostel, a 94 bed modern building, with Carmen waiting for customers and wishing she was home, two Portuguese in a double room and me in a 4 bed dormitory, alone . . . another €9 a night including breakfast bargain and wondering why more people are not onto it, like Silva in Tavira . . . resolve to spend the weekend here, write and learn some Portuguese . . .