I believe that the camino magic also exists here.
The first magic is that despite being extremely nervous about today’s trail, I managed to conquer it with no issues, and I still got to enjoy myself along the journey. I know I had talked about the “difficult” trail to Sagres a lot, but I had also read about how the Carrapateira to Vila do Bispo trail was difficult (despite being classified as “moderate” in the Rota Vicentina website), borderline dangerous even. I read a couple of suggestions to do the historical trail instead which will keep me away from the cliffs. Sofia (Fisherman’s Trail, Day 2 - Vila Nova de Milfontes to Almograve (14 km)) also did the same thing when she walked from Vila do Bispo to Carrapateira, although she did it not because it was dangerous, but because she wanted a change of scenery. Given all these, I thought I was already set on doing the historical trail instead.
However, yesterday’s journey (Fisherman’s Trail, Day 7 - Arrifana to Carrapateira (24 km)) made me realize two things: I only have four days left on this trail and I do love spending time by the sea which is something that will be a thing of luxury once I get back to Berlin. It wouldn’t make sense for me to do the historical trail when I wanted to stay close to the coast as much as I could.
Overwhelmed by the never-ending game of “will I or will I not?”, during breakfast, I made the decision that I will not make any decision now and just see how I feel.
I’m a chronic over-thinker, over-planner, over-analyzer, and trust me, making the decision to not make any decision is not a decision I make lightly. But I remember what the Berliner in Day 3 told me (Fisherman’s Trail, Day 3 - Almograve to Zambujeira do Mar (23 km)), when I was info-dumping her my exit strategy for Day 10… on Day 3: take it one day at a time. And now, I’m doing the same, except that I’m going to take it, quite literally, one step at a time.
I wrapped up my breakfast, said my goodbye to my little quaint hotel room, and hoisted up my backpack.
Just outside of Carrapateira lies another ancient Islamic site that dates back to the 12th century. It’s a seasonal fishermen’s village made up of about 15 residences. I wish I had read up more about the history of the Algarve region—this being a coastal trail mainly known for its scenery (compared to the “historical way”), I didn’t expect to find quite a few of historical sites, and I would have loved to learn more about them beforehand.
So far, so good. For the first 5 kilometers, I didn’t come across any of the treacherous parts of the trail that was mentioned in a couple of reviews. In fact, I kept coming across more and more beaches, sometimes hidden—if only I had more time to chill, I would have made a brief stop, but I was preoccupied by the trail so I kept walking and walking.
From afar, I could see a line of hikers—seemingly it was a large group, but not one I’ve come across before—climbing up this hill in one line, slowly, and I could tell that oh, maybe this was it. The footpath seemed a bit too narrow, but if there were that many people walking on it, I think I will be fine.
And so I did, carefully, and I discovered that the footpath was fine. Sure, the footpath was a bit narrow, and if you’re scared of heights, there were definitely some sections to avoid, and maybe it in that case it would be a wise choice to stick to the Historical Way this time. I had to be extra careful, which means I had to exert much more energy than usual to make sure I stayed sure-footed and I was alert. But as I kept on hiking, I realized I had played up the difficulty of the trail in my head—again, a product of my tendency to over-think everything. When I realized that the trail was getting away from the coast, I knew that I had made it through the supposedly perilous parts of today’s trail. At the end, my feet had made the decision on its own.
Now that my worry had dissipated, I could fully enjoy the view unfurling before me. I decided that it was time to take a break for water and a snack as a little celebration for making it through. I realized that the scenery, albeit still with a coastal view, was rather different than the previous days, so I decided to take the opportunity to sketch.
This is where the second magic happened. “You’re already here!” a familiar voice exclaimed. I looked up and I saw Claus climbing up the hill, then walking towards me when he got to the top.
“Gosh,” I said, slightly relieved that I saw someone I knew. “That climb was hard.”
“But it has all the motives you need for your paintings!” he said.
“Of course,” I said with a smile, holding up my sketchbook so he could see it. “I already did it.”
He sat down next to me, and he told me about the story of the Dutch couple that we came across when we entered Aljezur. “Remember the couple?” he asked. “I met them earlier, something happened to them yesterday. They didn’t have a place to sleep last night.”
“No way! Don’t tell me the owner of their guesthouse is dead.” I proceeded to tell him the story about Eric, and how he managed to find a place to stay with Leonie’s help. He told me that the Dutch couple ended up going back to Arrifana and stayed there for the night, then caught a taxi back to Carrapateira today morning.
Claus walked ahead of me, and I took my time because I had a feeling that the next section was going to be a walk in the park since we were moving away from the coast. I also found out that Claus and I would be staying at the same hostel in Vila do Bispo. When I arrived in town, I texted Claus to check if he wants to get dinner together. I told him about this local Portuguese place, the best restaurant in town, and we showed up at the door at 18:00 sharp only to find that there was already a short line before us.
The restaurant filled up quickly and we watched as a stream of customers were turned away. Lo and behold, I saw another familiar face at the door, about to be turned away before he noticed me in the corner with Claus.
“Second day in a row!” Eric shouted, then he joined us at the table.
Eric and Claus somehow have never come across each other on the trail, so I introduced them and told them about the story of Eric’s deceased guesthouse owner, how I met Eric for the first time in this random birthday party in Arrifana, and how Claus and I kept coming across each other on the trail. We had good food, okay-ish beers, and a lot of laughs, and that’s how we ended up having an American and Indonesian 20-something and a German 70-something in the corner of a local Portuguese restaurant. Afterward, Claus and I decided to stop by Lidl to stock up on supplies—both of us a bit tipsy, but Claus even more so as he has had three large beers at this point, and we were slightly stumbling in the streets of Vila do Bispo as we recounted our favorite places in the Galápagos Islands.