WAGS 09.01.2019:Though we walk through the Vale de Telha.......

        Rod had done more than his share in our absence, and I was getting rather concerned at not only pushing the limits for our gentle WAGS strolls, but also at the numbers turning up, which strung out the field and made the catering at the end difficult.
       I decided to test the theory that the nearer to Silves the walks were, the greater the attendance, and called for a walk in the Vale de Telha/Ribat de Arrifana area which is over 35 km from Lagos let alone from Salir or where Terry lives.

A splendid day with clear views to the West

       Quod non erat demonstrandum (QNED). We had 18 this week, and I had thought 16 was a more than sufficient number!  Perhaps I had made the walk sound too attractive, with promises of a gentle stroll, no climbing and views of a Moorish Necropolis, the Ribat de Arrifana, now a National Monument, dating back to the 1100's. Not only that but one of the headlands we would pass was the scene of the Battle of Atalaia in July 1943 where a Focke Wulfe Condor crew, who had been bombing the Allied Mediterranean-bound convoys met their fate and crashed into the clifftop. Plus there was a good possibility of the customary WAGS eating food together ritual at the end

        The meeting point didn't go too well, despite comprehensive instructions on my part; none of the 3 restaurant/snack bars at the start was open. Happily I had spotted a reliable place on the way in, Solar dos Vales, so headed back there for the caffeine, and stood outside as we were early, hoping to intercept WAGS on the way to the RV. Moderate success, we got all except Hilke and Andrew and Lindsey plus the cafe looked promising for catering for up to 16 for lunch, so we placed our orders there and then.
         Once gathered we minimised car use, and went to find Hilke, Andrew and Lindsey at the original RV and then drove to the start.

Excellent starter pic. Putting the camera on an Audi bonnet makes all the difference!
John has really got the hang of the tech!
L-R: Antje with a moth-eaten Sasha, Antony with Ember, Chris, John, Mervyn (Rod's guest),Geraldine (trainee WAG) Paul, Maria, Myriam, Hazel, Hilke, Lindsey, Rod (standing on a podium), Jill, Terry, Ingrid, Peter (also on a podium) and Andrew. 

See what I mean by 'moth-eaten'! Sasha fell victim to a rogue hairdresser.

Rod's guest, Mervyn is a distinguished scholar who had delivered a talk to the Archaeological Society on the Alcazar in Seville the previous evening. Also distinguished by his walking garb which would not have been out of place on a Church social.  I guess Rod had not passed on the message about the walk before he packed! He did however have the essential Tilley, and boosted our total to 6 1/2 Tilleys.
     Andrew had forgotten headgear completely as he is a bit out of practice, but after an unsuccessful trial of Lindsey's hat, went for the Johnny Depp look!

Pirate of the Algarve

We set off on a sandy path through some thick scrub, so the first half hour at least was single file.  There was much discussion as to the source of a sweet scent filling the air with few visible flowers. Eventually it was concluded by our resident Botanist, Lindsay that it was the heather. She also later identified  a common bush with white berries as Corema Album,  part of the Ericaceae family. Bittersweet to taste,. Used for jams & liqueurs. Medicinal, antipyretic. Also ornamental use. The Portuguese name is Camarinha or Camarinheira or in English, White Crowberry.

Corema Album

After some dead-reckoning navigation, we reached some dunes leading to a spectacular view of Foia to one side and the coast to the other..

Totally unposed!

The tide was out.

At this point we coincided with the Rota Vicentina with it's  green and blue waymarks.

Following the Rota Vicentina south towards the Ribat, we crossed several handy boardwalks built over the marshy bits and needless to say, treated as team photo ops.

A perfect day for walking

The views on this walk are stupendous.

Ponta de Atalaia

With a modicum of help from Google Photo Editor!

A nicely composed shot of Antony's shadow appearing to bend over into the sea,

         Soon we were at the Ribat de Arrifana, admiring the remains of stone walls partially protected by rusty wire fencing. The excavation and studies were carried out from 2001, and it is claimed to be one of the most significant finds and sites exposed this century.

A more learned treatise than I could hope to write can be found HERE

Free admission!

The remains of the Fiscal Post.

4-Tilley Study Group

A shorter and more easily digestible article about the historic site can be found in the useful Vale de Telha Community website,   HERE

Chris decided he had WAGSed enough for the day taking a more direct route back to the cars and left 17 of us to soldier on, 

From here we continued on the Rota Vicentina a short way looking for the memorial stone to the German Aircrew.  Along this section, I almost achieved the Leader's Dream - to blamelessly lose 50% of the walkers. As it was, I only lost 8, 9 having stayed together under the Leader's tight control and made it to the memorial stone which was actually off the Rota Vicentina closer to the cliffs.!

A memorial stone to the 7 German aircrew lost during the Battle of Atalaia .  They are buried in the cemetery at Aljezur, and in 2013 there was a ceremony to commemorate the 70th Anniversary of their loss.

The aircraft crashed into the cliffs just below this point after being damaged in an encounter with a Beaufighter of 248 Squadron.

More information on this battle can be found HERE

From here it was a short walk back to the cars, for those that followed the leader. The 8 lost sheep, loosely led by Antje missed the left turn directly back and added several hundred extra meters to their walk.

There were, as is the case as WAGS embrace smartphones (well some anyway), several sets of stats and tracks, but I prefer the Gold Standard Garmin figures from my purpose built GPS. I could delve into an exposition of sampling rates and receiver sensitivity, but I might lose the rest of the field!

The climb figures were modest, and I can't recall when they happened - in fact Rod's Samsung recorded 230m 0f climb and descent, using the ViewRanger App.

LocusMap on my OnePlus 5 showed the walk and in blue, the Rota Vicentina

It was similar to my Garmin on ascent, but somehow was 900 metres less in distance.

John's device was not heading for controversy. His stats were comfortably in the middle:

Distance: 6.4 kms.

Total time: 2 hrs 40 mins.

Moving time: 1 hr 52 mins.

Moving av: 3.5 kph

Ascent: 161 metres.

Maria had told the cook at Solar dos Vales 1 o'clock for lunch, and most of us arrived bang on time, and divided into two sub-groups, TM's and Bifanas on one table, and Prato do dia which was grilled chicken on another. Those who had learned from last week and brought their own sandwiches congregated in the front conservatory.

The remainder were inside:-

Hot piripiri with the frango!

Black beer for Maria

Hazel matched her jumper with a generous serving of vinho tinto,

Rod, Antony and Mervyn were sidelined as they were last to arrive, their driver (Antony) having wandered off with the car keys at the end.

    A very pleasant walk on a lovely winter's sunny day.

A senior WAG named Peter

Was an extremely petulant eater.

All he could manage

Was a finely sliced sandwich

Which made him break wind - on repeater!

WAGS 02.01.2019:First footing in Santa Margarida

First WAGS walk of the New Year, and Terry A had volunteered to lead. Even though it was rather a lot further East and North than the familiar WAGS stamping (or shuffling) ground, Rod had accepted with the alacrity of a man who had done his share for the previous 3 weeks.
      Actually, Terry had done another walk from Santa Margarida last Valentine's day, and I notice that when blogging it, the terms 'alacrity' and 'accepted the offer'  figured prominently on that occasion.  We are short of offers to lead in the WAGS and although there is a general preference for Silves and West, who can blame a volunteer for choosing their own neighbourhood?  But as Terry noted, the longer walks we did formerly when AWW members are a challenge when it comes to compressing them into a WAGS format.
      A  large crowd awaited us when Myriam and I arrived at Santa Margarida with Janet barely 30 seconds before the appointed hour owing to minor navigational difficulties and two back seat drivers!
Terry was expecting 14, and it took a head count some 2 hours into the walk to convince some we had 16. We never did find out who the extra two were! Unfortunately the Cafe was closed, but a considerate leader led us into the village where we did find a quick bica from a reluctant hostess for the more desperate..

Here is his report, which by the standards of the 3 previous weeks , is quite verbose!

16 Old Walkers sitting on a Wall: L-R Antony, (with Ember) Janet, John, Terry M, with Myriam, Terry A, and Jill with Becky, Lindsey, Ingrid, Paul, Geraldine, Hazel, Rod, Tony with Shadow and Jess, Maria, Monica 

Well what a turn out for a Wags walk I thought I had 14 coming but two more sneaked in, all on time all found parking under the watchful eyes of the locals standing on their balconies warming up in the sunshine and what a lovely morning it was, dry blue sky and sun, but it must be a New year thing the Cafe was shut!!! no notice on door nothing they missed an early morning bonus, but no problem time for a quick one at the Cafe in the square, John Paul and myself first through the door to find ourselves in a time warp cafe circa late fifties with a lady who must be a contender for the most miserable one we have come across even beating the one Ian Scott spent years trying to get a smile out of three bica’s was all she could manage so we beat a hasty retreat.

To get back to the reason why we are all here is to have a walk and the walk was a repeat of the one from last year with some changes cutting out two climbs to leave just the one which is an easy one, so down hill we go, some seem to go down quicker than others so we were soon spread out but we could hear Myriam regaling all her latest holidays also her latest head gear suitable for all kind of conditions, 

Myriam's new ex-HK Millinery - suitable for Mosques, Cathedrals and Beekeeping

Soon we walked through a cork forest most recently cut, as we turned off onto a track to take us along the bottom of the valley we were all to gasp at Myriam’s amazing Chinese  granny type walking stick complete with light, music, attack alarm, and more the mind boggles, lets get on this was a new track I had found as a Wags first  to out on to some small quite lanes through small villages all very quiet after New Year's night, now for the one hill that was not too bad any way made a change from going down then a little way left down the road to the track opposite Ros’s house to find someone has put a gate up but it was not locked so we carried on regardless to the top of Vale de Vinagre to walk East through the Orange groves back to Sta Margarida.

The day was problematic once more in finding somewhere to have a toaster and drink as normal, Alte was full up with people who have nothing to do except eat and drink so we went our separate ways in search some sustenance, Jill and I went back up to the Alte Hotel for a coffee  just the Manager Pat who I know quite well from Algarve Walking Days and one young lady cleaning the bar glasses on duty, after the hello pleasantries any chance of a coffee and a tosta mista, Pat informed me they had no kitchen staff on,  also no fresh bread only yesterdays bread but as it’s you I will do you coffee and a tosta mista, so we got to enjoy a late lunch after all, talking to Pat she said the bakers don’t bake New Years day hence with a shrug of the shoulders no bread.

Never mind the problems I think we all had a good walk to start the New Year thanks to all who came.

Perfect walking weather

Busy road this one!

King of cabbages

Emerging from the undergrowth 1

Emerging from the undergrowth 2

Emerging from the undergrowth 3 - even the dogs were breathing hard!

Sticks are a must-have accessory for the discerning lady walker!

The walk was carried out at quite a pace - John made it 4.3 km/hr, and I certainly felt we had a walk especially the next day. Use it or lose it as the saying goes.

Here is the track according to Locus Map by way of change.

and the stats according to Locus Map, including almost 300 m of climbing.:

and also Garmin. Differences may be accounted for by (a) two starting locations and (b) inherent inaccuracies in the software.

A curiosity on the way round was this road sign:

At first our resident Portuguese linguists didn't have much idea, but research (Google Translate) had the word carrasco referring to an executioner or a cruel man. Later enquiries in a more comprehensive traditional paper dictionary (Myriam's) ,  revealed  a rarer meaning of a grove of a species of olive with an implication that it was difficult to pass through. This was substantiated by the lady cook in the Veranda in Chinicato where I had lunch on Friday, who said it was a valley with a lot of bushes.

    It was a good walk on a perfect walking day to start 2019. However, when we attempted a mass TM or bifana expedition into Alte, we found that 16 was too many - the restaurants and snack bars only wanted to serve full lunches, or had no bread, and that there were a remarkable number of tourists hogging the seats in our preferred haunts.  We gradually lost enthusiasm, and Tony went home as did Terry M and Monica, Lindsey and Ingrid. Terry A and Jill went to the Alte Hotel which left 9 of us intent on food agreeing to meet at Intermarche in Messines and decide from there.

On the way Maria remembered a restaurant in the outskirts of Messines and the Jazz and the Audi diverted there, forgetting that the Frewmobile had gone on ahead.  By the time we had suffered another rejection at this restaurant, we had lost Rod and Antony but 7 of us managed to arrive at Intermarche and order coffee and giant TM sandwiches.  I won't rate it as a gourmet experience, but as it was about 1440 hrs by then, it hit the spot!

Janet models a generously proportioned sandwich

Still waiting but........

......another satisfied customer.

And so we reached home almost 8 hours after setting off for our little stroll, probably having added more calories than we spent.  

Now on a serious note - for those who have read thus far, and have the stamina to continue.  At the top of this blog is a header which sets out the ethos of the group, which was started back in 2015 by myself, Rod and  Chris for those that for one reason or another no longer wanted the longer , more vertically challenging AWW walks, or felt they were physically unable to keep up with the newer walkers. The focus was on 'Limited' and 'Invitation Only'.   Over the years, the group has expanded and there are now about 23 on the list of whom all except 2 are current walkers. Some crossover walkers from the AWW have been welcomed, but as a general principle, it was never intended that the WAGS would be an alternative group for AWW who  for any reason didn't want to go with the AWW that week. WAGS means WAGS!!

   So to make it clear, if you are invited to walk by WhatsApp or email then you are a WAG and welcome. However in an effort to control numbers and preserve the viability of the apres-WAGS gourmet snacks, all guests should be cleared with the walk leader or Rod or myself.  We don't want to burden ourselves with rules, (that has led to friction before!) but to enjoy a social walk by concensus, and the key word is enjoy the interaction as well as the exercise. Enough said - "Res ipsa loquitur"! (Ask John!)

A Long Distance Walker named Terry

Disliked to use a Dictionary.

His walk explanations

Had no punctuations - 

Which made them grammatically scary!

WAGS 19.12.2018 Montes de Cima: Rod yet Again!!

The meeting place .

Blogger still in absentia, another placeholder blog based on a minimalist report from Rod.

A more modest turnout of Janet, Ingrid, Yves, Dina, Terry and Jill, Antony and Rod gathered at Taberna do Manel in Montes de Cima. Peter and Frank had withdrawn at the last minute with various ailments and Jill was not feeling too well which obliged her and Terry to pull out after half an hour. (do hope all are feeling better by now).  A walk of no great originality except for an extra loop of distinctly off piste nature thrown in for good measure. This might have elicited a few moans but in the event it was bravely born with nary a squeak! Thereafter all was straightforward.

Back at the Taberna the usual high standard of Tostas was further enhanced by Janet's delectable mince pies.

Rod produced his usual ViewRanger trackplot and stats, which show that there was a litlle bit more up and down than is customary. Myriam posted from Hong Kong a demand to know who ate her share of the mince pies!

Antony came good with a selection of pictures .

A well-composed starter pic with all the honey at the front.

Pick a path!  Was this a WAGS walk?

They Walked among Untrodden Ways 1: Is the odour of the Cannabis Sativa getting to Yves?
Caption Competition : What has Ingrid got in her mouth?

They Walked among Untrodden Ways: Part Deux: Dina and Janet looking for Rod's mythical path.

They Walked among Untrodden Ways: Le Troisieme: "There used to be a path here when I did the recce!"

He Led among Untrodden Ways: The Scout Dog reports there are no paths ahead.

At last - a path and a welcome dip for Ember

    

Hallucinatory Effects of Walking through Untrodden Ways

The Autodromo Pestana Apartments

Another view of the Hotel

There were no recorded photos of the post walk eats at Taberna do Manel - perhaps the Chief Reserve photographer was not aware of the requirement!

An old lady walker named Dina

Was fond of a drop of the vinha.

 On Wednesdays she walked

And she talked and she talked

But her stories they never got cleaner!