T2 E1 – Santiago do Cacém>>São Bartolomeu da Serra
Making a season 1 summary, I remember that the adventure of this walk began in Cabo de S. Vicente and ended in Santiago do Cacém, two hundred and so kilometers and a series of episodes later.
Big productions take time and, a year later, yesterday, the new season started, with only two protagonists and the logistics of going to Santiago do Cacém, in the bus of the career that passed through Lagos, S. Teotónio, Odemira and Sines.
The trip took three and a half hours, which started with a headbutt (and the respective “rooster”) when putting the stuff in the trunk and in the middle of a very interesting human biodiversity. And in the rain!
For the sake of consistency, today we started from where we had arrived, from the Igreja Matriz de Santiago do Cacém. In front of the City Hall, we saw, for the first time and in prominence, the symbol of the Caminhos de Santiago, with the stylized scallop and the yellow arrow. By the way, it was convenient that the Tourist Office of the Historic Area had some information about the Santiago Alentejo and Ribatejo Ways, which was not the case.
On the main road, we crossed paths with one of the only two people we encountered on the way: a motorist who almost shrugged his car off to let us pass – and who wished for a “good walk” – and a bicyclist, almost at the end of the section.
In terms of the animals we saw, we had a huge dog that, if it hadn't been well tied up, would have left us in pieces, and some nice horses willing to pose for the photo.
As for the animals that we didn't see, there must have been lots of wild boar – the pasture where we passed must have been a wild boar's paradise, so many and so extensive were the places where it was noticed that they had been digging there.
Speaking of mounted, it was fantastic. The route was made, for the most part, in the shade of these trees, which was very useful because, despite yesterday's rain, the sun was strong today.
Time must have helped, as the amount of mushrooms we found was huge. They were large and of different species, we don't know if they were edible or not. I can't resist telling that joke that says that mushrooms are all edible - some only once...
Still in the cork oak, we highlight a wooden table for travelers to rest a little, with benches made of cork oak branches, in the shade of an arbutus tree – and of course I ate some ripe arbutus.
The path is well marked, with the exception of the very beginning, when we left the asphalt for the land, where the signal was damaged. And so we reached the end of the stretch, where we replenished liquids in the café of the São Bartolomeu da Serra Residents' Association.
By the way, it was very interesting to find, at the foot of the Parish Council, a reading fridge. I've already met the reading booths, where old telephone booths are reused as small libraries where you can leave or take books. Now a fridge…the idea is spectacular. Congratulations to the Board.
And so it was 11 km of route… but wait, so this stage is not scheduled to end in Roncão? Well, read on for the next episode…
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