WAGS 07.02.2018: More in hope than expectation:

      A recent case was reported that an elderly man (younger than some of us) John Bainbridge, had gone missing in the Odelouca area. He was suffering from Alzheimer's disease, and had made his way in the early morning hours of January 26th out of a window in his bedroom, all house doors having been locked by his wife for his safety. Apart from a torch, which he would have needed at the hour of his egress, he apparently had no possessions or safety equipment with him. There were sporadic reports of sightings once the family had notified police and posters had been distributed, but as with all these searches, they could have been anyone, and the person sighted had not been questioned.
     As WAGS we have perhaps a higher level of awareness and sympathy for a person in this situation - there but for the grace of........ and Rod decided to lead a walk in the area just in case we might stumble across something useful. He had already been out the previous weekend with Charles, using their local knowledge to guess possible areas to search, without result.  By the time of our walk we had many cold nights and chances of survival were remote, but nevertheless with the blessings of his wife and daughter we made the effort.
   Sadly we achieved no result, except to perhaps realise how wild and vast the local countryside is when confronted with looking for a human being. Endless possibilities.

   We met at Cafe Oriq, which despite being scheduled to open at 10 am was stoically closed, as if the owner had seen the gathering gaggle outside and weighed the profit on a few coffees against the pleasures of a few extra minutes in bed.

The searchers: L-R Lindsey, Jill, Terry, INGRID,  Rod. Anita Bainbridge (wife of John who was missing) Geraldine, Hazel, Chris, Antje, Janette, Myriam, Paul John H. and Sasha front. Ember and Java were also recruited as search dogs, but were out of sight.
  Tony demurred when he heard Rod was leading, and we welcomed Lindsey for a rare visit

A very good turnout of 13 WAGS, and as you can see a chilly morning by Algarve standards, and there may have been some frosting of the lens, or else a combination of John's preference for a shady location. and over processing of the finished product explains the lack of sharpness.

We had walked in this area many times but our Historian and archivist, John produced some photos of the previous outing in December 2016, which demonstrates that history does repeat itself, and photographers recapture similar shots. Many of the cast were the same.

 Then...........................

........and now!

We did take a different route than the last time, and the various measuring devices made differing estimates as to how far we went, but we will go with the more flattering 8.57 km given by my Garmin.

I don't remember going that fast, but since several walkers are wearing Hazel's scientifically vindicated magnets about their person, there may have been strange forces at work!!
Somehow our climbing abilities were also displayed as the Garmin had us as achieving 405m. of total ascent. This is indeed possible for a WAGS walk led by Rod.

First stop was a farmhouse where the elegantly dressed occupant was summoned from her boudoir by the barking of her 8 chained dogs, to receive a notice of the missing man and a request to look out for him, from Rod.

We carried on a short distance to another grander dwelling whose owner Rod knew, but alas she was not currently in residence.  With all hopes of tea and biscuits dashed we attempted to continue past this, but found our way blocked by cut brush and natural matos.

No way through - as shown on the map below.  On closer inspection of the Google Earth picture, it looks as if there may have been a way through. Something for further investigation!

The track on 07.02.2018 We went in a clockwise direction, and retraced our steps from 'No Way Through'.

Just for interest a comparison with our route in December 2016

This was done in an anti-clockwise direction with an unplanned steep and rugged climb immediately south of cafe Oriq, which Rod cunningly avoided on our return this time, although a previous fire had denuded the slopes of that area, making the tracks easier to see.

Again, it was a bright clear day and we were rewarded with some splendid views.

Janette out in front at her customary pace.

The early weather had been so severe that John had wisely brought a nice woolly hat in addition to his Tilley, which he was using as a bib..

John's best Bear Grylls impression!

A casually posed photo in front of the well-secluded electricity station.

And then we set about finding the route down past the various wire fences and gates to a useful lower path.

This is how a younger lady dismounts a bank...........

But when your Pilates-honed joints and dodgy ankles are taken into consideration, the more mature ladies rely on the Support Team.

Eventually we were on a good track back down to Cafe Oriq, with some still muffled against the biting cold, (about 14C with a light wind!)

Cafe Oriq was in the middle of a feeding frenzy by local tradesmen, and our chances of a swift bifana were not promising, so we repaired to another of our local breakfast favourites, Mira Rio, where they were overjoyed to feed us and produced an array of TMs and bifanas of an acceptably high standard in a short time.

The ladies table, harrassed by Terry

The men's club infiltrated by Antje. WAGS support diversity!! Rod is NOT about to launch into one of his customary speeches.

Sadly no trace of John Bainbridge. Our thoughts are with his family and hope that he is found soon whatever the outcome.

"A writer needs three things, experience, observation, and imagination, any two of which, at times any one of which, can supply the lack of the others."
–William Faulkner