Leaving town we walked along a road for a few kilometers before coming upon a very small yet active fishing village. There was a small protective harbor and fisherman actively launching boats into the water. Stacks of traps adorned the area — they looked like crab traps, but we honestly have no idea (although we know they catch octopus using a different style of trap). This fishing harbor was at the base of a cliff that required holding on to ropes to pull yourself up the path. It wasn’t as technical as it sounds, but it was slow going.
When we reached the top, we started seeing what was the highlight of this 22km hike — closeup views of baby White Storks nesting along the cliffs. Apparently this is the only sub-species of stork in the entire world that nest in this manner (the others nest inland). Later in the hike we were able to get very close to two nests that were not far from the path; the higher nest had three chicks, but no parent, whereas the lower nest had two chicks with a parent in attendance. We walked along and decided to have lunch nearby where we could watch the activity. We continued to see these nests throughout the day. What an amazing experience.
Even though this was a relatively long hike, we felt good at the end of the day. We think this had a lot to do with hiking through very diverse environments. We walked along boardwalks, cliffs, forested pines and beaches and it seemed you were never on one type of terrain too long.
When we arrived in the small town of Almograve we found our accommodations – a hostel that appeared to be closed from the outside. Luckily outside appearances aren’t everything and the place was surprisingly enjoyable. We settled into our very basic room, washed some clothes in the deep sink and hung them on a line out back where quite a few fellow travelers had already done the same. We decided to get pizza and eat it in the hostel public outdoor spaces. in the morning they offered an amazing European style breakfast that included fresh breads, fruit and best of all — a hot chocolate machine that actually worked.
Just charming