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| The Algarve Way |
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| Written by Terry Ames | |
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Terry Ames and his ex-pat walking friends have worked on this route for several years. Terry is still a LDWA member although living in Portugal and he sent in an article which was published in the August 2006 issue of “Strider” about this route. The route runs from the Spanish border at Alcoutim across Portugal to the coast and then continues southwards to Cape St. Vincent. The article stated that there was now a full route description and some stencilled waymarking en-route so I contacted Terry with a view to taking a party of walkers. Terry said he could arrange transfers, B&B accommodation, packed lunches and luggage transfers at a reasonable price and the no-frills airlines fly into Faro. I managed to raise a group of twelve LDWA members interested in attempting the full route, which Terry said was around 150 miles. He said we should be able to complete it in 8 days with an experienced party and we went over in April 2008. Frequent ridges cross the path; between them are steep sided valleys usually with streams (or rivers) in the bottom. Sometimes the streams are bridged, but often need to be forded; the ridges are often cultivated with deciduous woodland in the valleys. The route also crosses Mt. Picota and Mt Foia, the two highest summits in the Algarve, both around 3,000 feet in height. The group enjoyed the overall experience but there were plusses and minuses. Amongst the plusses were the attractive scenery, excellent accommodation and food (including the option of regional specialities). Interesting architecture, including the village wells (fontes), old communal laundries, windmills and the odd castle and convent. Terry’s organisation was excellent and his patience when things did not work out was unbelievable. He also walked with us whenever he was not involved in luggage transfers which certainly saved us some navigational problems. On the down side, the weather was unexpectedly changeable, varying from persistent pouring rain with strong winds to hot sunshine @ 25oC. We were told the wind and rain was not usualand was blamed on the remains of a hurricane which had blown across the Atlantic. Most days the walk was in excess of 20 miles and sometimes had a transfer at the end, making them very long with little chance of any relaxation. The group felt that the overall distance was probably at least 170 miles and perhaps a little longer. The route description, although recently updated (February and March), seems to have been written by two or more people, so we never got used to the style; and we thought it needed further improvement. One member of the group had downloaded the old route description from the web-site and it occasionally got us out of trouble when the new amendments seemed to have clouded the issue. The locations of the waymarks, which have been kept deliberately low key to avoid destruction or removal; compass bearings and other navigational information were listed on a separate sheet. This turned navigation into a job for two people and after four days of frequent head scratching and minor detours, I was glad to give another pair a chance to try their luck. However, things did not improve and we still made at least one or two detours a day. The whole group wish to thank Terry and his wife Jill for their efforts, which contributed greatly to an excellent holiday which everyone enjoyed. For anyone who enjoys a challenge, this holiday is one that we can heartily recommend; although it may be even more enjoyable over 9 or 10 days, rather than 8. Terry and his friends deserve a very large medal for taking on the job of sorting out a linear route of this length, and taking on the arduous task of waymarking and constantly updating a route description. They asked the Portuguese government if they would assist with waymarking and were given an affirmative answer; but all the government did was to erect a post at the start of the walk. Terry Griffiths (LDWA No. 7921) |
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