Jo’s Monday walk : Todos a Caminhar!

Something a bit different this week.  We’ve often remarked that we seldom see Portuguese people out walking, as we stride around the countryside.  Maybe they don’t regard it as a leisure pastime, or are simply too busy earning a living and looking after their families.  It obviously hasn’t gone unnoticed because, a few months ago, we came across an initiative called ‘Todos a caminhar’- walking for everyone!  Sponsored by local councils, it aims at promoting better health in the community.

Each Sunday morning, at 10.00, a different venue across the Algarve hosts the walk.  A couple of Sundays ago we turned up for the one at Castro Marim, a beautiful village right by the River Guadiana.  I had visions of tramping through the salt pans with flamingos wings beating the air all around me, but it was not to be.  Coaches had arrived from all across the Algarve and, there in front of the sports pavilion, a sea of people did variations on a ‘warm up’.  Unphased, we joined them, and off we all surged, on the road out of the village, but nowhere near the salt pans.

Almost immediately we were in open countryside, in an area unfamiliar to us, and surrounded by chattering groups of Portuguese.  Determined older ladies and their gents, who were keen to show they still had what it takes, groups of giggling teens, singles striding away, everyone using up those calories so they could enjoy a really good, late Sunday lunch.

A right turn took us up a hill, in the direction of Vista Real, and so it was, a royal vista.  Once we’d gained height, far across the fields I could just make out the outline of the mighty castle at Castro Marim, with the Guadiana beyond.  As the hill dipped again there was an option to collect a free orange and a bottle of water, and complete a shorter circuit of 3.5km.  Fitter individuals could tackle the longer 10km course.  Well, what do you think?  In for a penny…

It was a blustery day, with rain threatened, the scudding clouds encouraging us to pick up the pace.  The group was well spread by now and we were keen not to be last.  There were arrows marking every junction and cheerful helpers riding back and forth, ensuring no-one had come to grief.  After another steep climb, with views of the salt pans, there was a second opportunity for water and an orange.

A couple of horses, probably bored with the sparse grazing, took an interest in us motley passersby.  The route climbed through the village of Monte Francisco, a few characterful older properties and a sequence of mostly new villas.  Locals nodded a polite ‘Bom dia’.

The best views of all were afforded to the Castro Marim Country Golf Club, a swish establishment with as extensive and beautifully laid out golf links as any I’ve seen.  However, nothing surpassed my first sighting this year of a cistus in flower.

Smiling down the home strait, the blossom twirling in the breeze, I enjoyed the placid cows and the ruin.  Soon we’d come full circle, and finally I sighted my first flamingo.  And where there’s one, there’s often another, isn’t there?  Not quite as I’d hoped.

It took us about an hour and a half to complete the 10km.  We marvelled at the scale of the operation.  Not all are as big as this one.  There were ambulances on hand, in case anyone over exerted themselves, and everywhere, smiling, happy faces.  Best of all, the rain held off, the clouds blew away and afterwards we treated ourselves to delicious tapas on a lovely sunny corner in nearby Vila Real de S. Antonio.  Life could surely be worse!

So much variety, here in the Algarve!  I hope you enjoy sharing it with me.  Come back next week because I have something rather wonderful to share.  Meantime, thank you very much for your company, and if you have a walk you’d like to share with me, please feel free.  Details, as always, are on my Jo’s Monday walk page.  Please do visit as many of these walks as you can.

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Mosaics, history and emerging Spring in Israel from Lisa this week :

Shoham Forest

Meg takes us time traveling through the twists and turns of her beloved Australian landscape :

Aragannu

Let Amanda take you back in time with the amazing Pergamon Museum in Berlin :

Finding Heine and Treasures in Berlin

Still shivering with Irene in the Midwest!

Chilly Reflections

And heavens, Janet almost disappears in the snow!

Monday walk… winter walk

How about some warming stew with Jackie?

El Guisado Stew

And you can usually rely on sunshine from Lady Lee :

Gardens by the Bay, Singapore

My good Danish friend is giving us an easy option this week.  Thanks so much, Drake!

Walk the easy way

But Cathy doesn’t know the meaning of easy.  Go along with her and Mike, and just enjoy yourself!

Prague, Czech Republic : exploring Mala Strana

This one won’t take long.  You have to love Tobias’ sense of humour!

A tour of the Academy

Thanks again to you all for spending time with me.  I have another busy, but sometimes lazy, Algarve week ahead.  Take good care!

137 comments

  4. That was a lovely walk and I’m so pleased it included some Portuguese. We have Spanish friends who could never understand our desire to walk everywhere when we had a car, and they constantly worried that my husband would catch a cold or develop kidney problems by going out in the October sunshine without what they considered adequate clothing. Nobody worried about me, of course, I was a mere woman. Loved your descriptions and your photographs and can’t wait for next week’s treat. Thanks, Jo.

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    1. Did you miss last week, Mari? It involved a train ride, too. 🙂 🙂 We are slowly becoming more Portuguese and wearing a coat wherever we go. 🙂 But I often have to take it off. Us hardy northerners. Thanks, darlin!

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  6. What a great healthy initiative by the communities and I love any opportunity to join in local events when abroad…Clearly you do too – thanks for sharing this along with your usual fun description…and tapas in the sunshine at the end – perfect!

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  7. Certainly a very different kind of walk to your usual ones though it wouldn’t be for me – I’d rather be on my own with the dogs so I can listen to the sounds around me and stop for photos where and when I want without feeling I need to keep up with others. You got some good photos though, I especially like the one with the cows and the ruin 🙂

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  9. Pingback: Amsterdam: walking East – The Glasgow Gallivanter

  10. Wow, what a lot of people! They haven’t got in the way of the scenery though which is, as always, beautiful. I have a cistus like that in my front garden but nor expecting flowers just yet ….

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  12. Well this is different. Not used to seeing you in such a large group. I’m not keen on groups with all the chattering etc. as I like to listen to the silence / nature around me when I go for a walk. And no-one in your photo was carrying a camera. Just noses down, striding away. Good for exercise I suppose, but it seems like a lot of fuss to organise. I wonder how many people will continue walking on their own? You, of course, got some lovely photos and I especially like the two blue and white houses and the ruin on the hill with the cows and the black sky. Now that alone is worth going on that walk. When do you go off to Jerez then?

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    1. We enjoyed this one because we hadn’t been up that way before. When we got further along the crowd thinned and a lot of oldies just did the short walk. We were very near last because of the photos. We did the local one yesterday with much lower numbers and a couple of friends. I think the idea behind the free walks is a good one and I’ll be joining the keep fit too. Jerez next week xxx

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      5. I have several that I can’t properly reach – not unless I learn how to balance on the roof! And others that require a very tall ladder being hauled into place. I shall tackle those a little later in the year. But I did have them open today, despite the fog 🙂

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      7. We HAVE a window cleaner, but even he cannot reach the windows at the back. Unless he wants to negotiate the cattle. Ankle is much improved, but shoulders painful now. Need some warm weather!

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    2. I’m like you Jude I love the silence and being able to see the nature so not for me this……however it does look fun and what a pace. They usually say runners take 55to70minutes to do 10km so Jo you were AMAZING 😊

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      1. Maybe they misjudged the distance Becky because it didn’t seem especially fast. We got into it with a couple of friends from Cabanas and it’s just a variation on the things we like to do. This weekend was much quieter -the lanes behind Santa Luzia and out to Barril. All good with you? XX

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      2. Ah perhaps they did then…. or you are a secret professional marathon runner as they’d run a 10k in 30minutes!! So walking in 90 whilst taking photos would be a breeze 😊

        We’re less adventurous than you in mixing things up – today off to a veggie restaurant in Faro before Harriet catches the train to Lisbon.

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      3. See my response to Jude. 🙂 🙂 Veggie restaurant any good? My Cabanas friends’ daughter is vegetarian and is coming out next week. They were asking for suggestions so I’d appreciate the name? 🙂

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      4. If she likes buffets she’ll love it. Need to get there before 1pm though as it gets very busy. There is another in Faro and one in Fuseta – I’ll send you the whole list 😊

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      5. Walking 6 miles would take around 2 hours (for someone under 40 yrs the average time per mile is 20 mins) for someone my age it is more like 30 mins a mile so this ‘walk’ would take me at least 3 hours and that’s not including time to take photos. Jo must have skates on!! (Or perhaps the 10Km is just an estimate… )

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      6. I’m getting cross with you two. 🙂 🙂 Mick uses Map my Walks and yesterday recorded 18 minutes per mile on a flat walk and we weren’t hurrying. I would expect to do 15 if we were. Our hill walks record 23 minutes average. We started walking after 10.00 and were finished before 12.00 so I may have erred by 20 minutes. I didn’t realise you were keeping count. 🙂

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  13. An hour and a half to complete the 10km with ups and downs :O That is some amazing pace, Jo. Towards the end of last year I took up walking – and I aimed for an hour and a half to do 10km…and each time I’d finish it puffing and dripping with sweat lol 🙂 You really are fit.

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  14. I’m not used to seeing crowds on your walk…or ambulances ‘just in case’ . Am sorry that the flamingos were not quite what you’d expected ( 😄) but it sounds and looks as if you had a great day none-the-less.

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  15. How fantastic! Our local town hall has recently started to organise events like this in Spain and I’ve noticed more groups of folk out together walking early mor ings or cool evenings…it’s lovely to see and to do.

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  16. What a lovely walk for you all and it must have been very different for you to have such a large group of people accompanying you! Did they wonder about all your photographs?! Ahh…the cistus in flower is beautiful and the promise of spring to come! Visiting an RHS garden at the weekend (in warm sunny weather no less!) it was a delight to see camellia bushes in flower. Thank you for letting us walk along with you all! 😀❤️

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    1. I had to keep dodging so as not to trip people up Annika,but I’m used to that with the Strollers and Striders groups. I do love camelias. We have a garden event here just before we come back to the UK xx

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    1. That’s often a problem for me too, Deb. I was just admiring some of the Blue Hills landscape in Oz but I have no earthly chance of getting there. Nice to look though, and thanks for your company. 🙂 🙂

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