Fishermen’s Trail Day 3

The past two days, I’ve been woken by a rooster’s crow at dawn, but today, there was no rooster to be heard. I suppose that’s because we’re staying in a newer part of Salema. Sunrise here is at 6:30 AM.

We started hiking just after 8 AM. On the first two days, we met many hikers, most of them day-trippers. You can tell the difference between them and those hiking the full Fishermen’s Trail by the size of their backpacks. Today, we didn’t expect many day-trippers, and we were right; we hardly saw anyone. There aren’t many tourist spots along this section, and we’re too far from urban Lagos for day trips.

This 20 km stage is also considered the most challenging. The trail involves a lot of ascents and descents on quite steep inclines at every cove and bay along the coastline. For us, coming from a mountainous country, these climbs weren’t challenging, but you really have to watch your step to avoid stumbling.

Speaking of watching your step, today there was a snake on the path. I barely saw it, as it looked just like a branch. It refused to move when I poked it with my trekking pole, so we had to go off-trail into the bushes to get around it. I looked it up later and found it was a Ladder Snake. They aren’t venomous, but a bite can still hurt, so it’s best not to take any chances.

It’s usually windy along the coast, but today it was practically still. With a clear sky and temperatures in the low 20s Celsius (70s Fahrenheit), it got hot in the sun. We sought out breaks where there was a slight breeze. We didn’t get any shade, but there was still no reason to complain.Today’s goal was the small town of Sagres, located at the very south-western tip of Portugal. We grabbed ice cream and drinks when we passed the town’s shop before heading to Tonel Apartamentos, where we’re staying tonight. This hotel has a fantastic outdoor pool. We’ll have hotel breakfast tomorrow.