A variation on a magnificent hike

With the temperatures ranging from the high 20s to mid 30s this is not a walk to attempt at the moment, and with the hunting season starting again in less than a month it is probably best to wait until the autumn.

However back in April when we were hiking it was glorious. We were covering much of the same ground as we had explored earlier on in the month, a deliberate decision as we were checking out the one section we had not yet explored. It proved to be just as marvellous as the earlier one, and in some ways even better as there was less up and down! The skies though were much more variable; still it made the views even more extraordinary.

The photographs in the gallery above are taken in the order I took them, just a few seconds apart as I looked around me. The sky really was changing that fast. Just take a look at this panoramic 180 degree one!

By the time we reach the trig point the skies were quite dark, and the rain gear had been out of the rucksacks for a little while. I had hoped to have had our picnic here, but we decided it might be better to keep moving!

It was a good job we did as minutes after I took the shot above, there was a short shower. Fortunately though nothing as dramatic as the skies would suggest, and a minute or so later the ground was drying up and we were sitting down to enjoy our picnic. Well I kind of stopped to eat my lunch. I kept stopping to pick up the camera again. I simply couldn’t resist the view with its constantly changing skies.

By the time we had finished lunch the blue skies had returned showing the Baixo Guadiana in all its glory. This is such a beautiful part of the Algarve; with Spain on its eastern border, Alentejo in the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the south.

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Within the 940 square kilometres there are ‘mountains’, river valleys and of course the coastline creating a Mediterranean-oceanic climate. Most of the population live in Castro Marim and Vila Real de Santo António, and so outside these areas there are probably less than 5 people per square kilometre. By the way I may have said mountains but that’s only because that is what everyone calls them, but they are more hills than mountains! The lack of height though doesn’t detract from their magnificence.

I didn’t take many more photographs on our return as we were retracing our footsteps on a walk we had done a few weeks earlier. However I did find one or two things, and as you can see I also found one or two blue squares for the other me, as well as birds of course for MrB!

As is my habit these days I am going to remain vague on the exact route we took. It is not that I don’t want you to discover the Baixo Guadiana but I would like to keep this particular walk a secret!

However there is still plenty within the Baixo Guadiana to explore as you can see in this rather lovely promotional video. You’ll also discover, which is very important, how to pronounce Baixo Guadiana!

Recommend watching in full screen and the volume on – Baixo Guadiana promocional video (Eng) from Odiana on Vimeo.

PS The WP gremlins seem to be around this week, and I am having problems with the video. Sometimes it doesn’t appear!! If this is one of those times click here to visit the original site. The video is the one at the bottom left of the page. It is rather nice.