Yesterday (Fisherman’s Trail, Day 2 - Vila Nova de Milfontes to Almograve (14 km)) was just too good to be true: a short, easy stage. Pleasant interactions with other hikers. A hearty dinner with interesting conversations. What more could one ask for?
So of course to balance things out a little bit, the universe has decided that it’s time to jazz things up a little bit.
Today started out with a hostel breakfast(!), which was arranged like a legit hotel breakfast. I was pleasantly surprised, because I thought they were going to give me a takeaway breakfast bag. But they opened up the buffet(!!) early at 7 upon my request, despite the receptionist telling me that they’d start serving breakfast at 8. I truly didn’t deserve this. I couldn’t stop saying obrigada to the kind uncle who was in charge of the buffet. I was planning to go to the bakery but I decided to just take some more slices of the bolo and wrap them in tissues.
What made me nervous about today at first was the first 10 km of sand. I’ve read that it will entirely be ankle-deep sand, which doesn’t sound too appealing for me, so I decided to really give my all and made it to the end of the first 10 km pretty quick and took a short break to sketch.
But something switched in the last 15 km. Now looking back, I think it must have been the weather, it was close to 30 degrees mid-day. The terrain was actually entire flat, except for some ascents and descents here and there, but it somehow felt never-ending.
I kept looking at my Fitness app to compare it to the first day, when I walked from Porto Covo to Vila Nova de Milfontes. It was difficult, sure, but it wasn’t crushingly difficult mentally. Maybe because it was my first day, and I was super excited, and I remember thinking, gosh, I feel so so so grateful to be able to do this hike. It was unbelievable how I had the privilege to just… be here, hike this very trail, and do some sketching in between in some of the most beautiful corners of the world.
I don’t know why I didn’t think of that today; instead I kept thinking that maybe this is a mistake. Maybe I shouldn’t have decided to walk all the stages, maybe I shouldn’t have been too ambitious. If walking on a flat terrain for 15 km is hard for me, then won’t the next stages be even worse?
In my last 5 kilometers, I kept thinking about my exit strategy for the day. There is no taxi here, I don’t have numbers of taxi and even if I do there is no way that they will be able to get me. I think about my exit strategy from the full trail: maybe I’ll skip some stages and just chill at the beach instead of stressing out about hiking logistics. Maybe I should make a detour to, I don’t know, Morocco or something? Anything but walking the full trail because I’m not sure I can take it anymore.
I’m pretty sure I limped my way to the next town. I took another break at the lighthouse and sketched for a bit, but it was so hot, so I did sketch something but it was truly awful. I took plenty, plenty of water breaks. I didn’t take many pictures because the last 3 km felt excruciatingly long (and boring). Honestly I just wanted someone to teleport me. I put on some Fred again.. Boiler Room set because I know this is the one 30 min album that I wouldn’t skip.
At the hostel, I was in the same room with a Belgian older couple who was also planning to walk all the way to Lagos. We started talking about how difficult that day was. I know I kept telling Sofia yesterday that I wish I did it the opposite way, but after talking to the Belgian couple at my hostel, I thought that it’s nice to have people to talk to. I don’t know how much the crowd will thin out after tomorrow; at first I was hoping most people would end their hike in Odeceixe, but now I hope I can still see some familiar faces tomorrow in the next days.
When talking to the Belgian couple, I know wasn’t the only one who thought that today’s walk was tough, I wasn’t the only one struggling with the weather, and I’m not the only one reconsidering my plans to do the entire trail. Although honestly, talking to them gives me the sense that it’s reasonable to plan for the entire trail; you just have to be flexible to change, given how your body feels and the weather is like.
Tomorrow’s high will be in the 29 (still hot, but unlike today’s 30!) but the next days, if the weather forecast were to be trusted, it will slightly be cooler. I still have hopes, I just need to manage my expectations, make some adjustments (rearrange my load, plan my supplies really well, and conserve my energy instead of going all out in the first few kilometers), and be flexible to make changes as I see fit. Sofia also told me Odeceixe is a beautiful town, and I’ve seen pictures of the village and the hill and the blue windmill so that will be my main motivation for tomorrow.
The German woman who stayed in the same room as I did last night is also staying in the same hostel. We came across each other in the living room, and when I mentioned that I also live live in Germany, she said she lives in Berlin. What a small world!
She said she hasn’t met anyone who lives in Berlin until she met me (“and that’s weird because there are so many Germans here I feel like half of Germany is here,” she said. To which, I totally agree). We got to talking and started sharing our complaints of the day. Once again, I’m not the only one who finds today super hard!
Today has been such a downer, but meeting her was truly a highlight. We pretty much share the same humor so I find her very easy to talk to. I was just thinking this before: as much as I love being and walking alone, it’s nice to have people I can vent to at the end of the day, to find someone who finds this trail a struggle like I did, and to just share delicious meal after a long, excruciating day.
We decided to go grab dinner together and throughout we complained and complained but we also ended up motivating each other. “You made it this far!” she kept saying, before launching another rant about the weather and the ankle-deep sand. At dinner we also talked about Berlin and apartment hunting and museums and because she was born and raised there, she has a lot of cool recommendations of music venues and museums. I never thought I’d find someone who lives nearby on the trail, but here we are!
Honestly, at first I thought today had been such a dud. But the nice company, view of the village, and the food (it was nice to have someone to go with because it’s difficult to order seafood when you don’t have anyone to share with!!) made up for it. I was initially a bit stressed about tomorrow, I kept telling her that I will skip Sagres (the most difficult part of the day), that I will probably head somewhere else after that, that it will be worse from here.
“Sagres is still in a few days,” she said. “No point worrying about it now!”
She told me to take it one step at a time, and she was right. That’s what I’m going to do. For now, I’m going to sleep for sure, and we’ll see what tomorrow brings.
