When the GPS becomes useless…there are always other aids

T2 E5 – Grândola>>Vale do Guizo

Leaving Grândola was not easy. There were major works on Avenida Jorge Nunes that prevented us from passing and we had to improvise through streets, alleys and alleys.

We passed under the train line and paid attention to the notice on the Caminhos de Santiago Alentejo e Ribatejo website, warning of the change of route on the way out of Grândola (Aldeia do Futuro) and that we should follow the “yellow arrows”.

Therefore, GPS is perfectly useless, but we have to thank José Louro for the indications and photos that are on the site and allowed us to do this first part of the Way without any problems.

We only had the normal directions and GPS support again more or less in the middle of the route, in the border between Grândola and Alcácer do Sal. The difference between the old version and this new one was that we walked another kilometer, but as we were going to walk 21, one more, one less, it doesn't make any difference.

If I had to sum up today's route, it would be simple: all straight as far as the eye can see, in the first part, a road with good ground and cork oaks on one side and pine trees on the other, in the second part a sandy road, with pine trees on one side and oaks on the other.

To kill homesickness we saw the train to the Algarve pass (the pedestrian crossing to cross the railway line is a work of art) and we passed over the A2. When we go by car, we don't notice it, but those who are walking in the silence of nature suffer a shock when they are confronted with the noise of the highway.

The biggest difficulty we felt was the length of the route – I'll say it again, it was 22 kilometers – and the difficulty of doing half of it on loose sand. We even used the passage of a jeep to enjoy walking over the tire marks, where the sand was more compact. What helped us was that the route had no ups or downs.

Curiosities: we passed through scorched earth (literally, there was smoke coming from several places), through several kilometers of eucalyptus nurseries (with irrigation network and everything!), with advertising for João Paulo and Zé Casaca in a cork oak (bark strippers?) , warnings of “Forbidden to pick mushrooms, asparagus and other wild products” (if the arbutus were in this last category it made no difference, today there were no arbutus trees…), a yellow arrow in a geodesic landmark (I don’t know if this is allowed), another being eaten by fungi (it's nature at work) and when I saw a watermelon all over the place, I remembered the watermelon saga (this is for them to re-read Season 1).

Upon arriving at Vale do Guizo we were very badly received by a dog that decided to show service and attack the crowd, but the iron stick that serves me as a stick was very efficient. And Nossa Senhora do Monte, whose church (XNUMXth century) was right there, must have helped.

We ended up, as usual, replenishing liquids, this time at O ​​Baracinha. Tomorrow we'll talk about him.

Oh, it's true. It was expected to rain today. It did not rain.