Day 5: Carrapateira – Vila do Bispo – Raposeira

I wake up, pack my backpack, say goodbye to the room, and go have breakfast at the place from the night before. I get a French toast with butter and jam and a big bowl of yogurt. Delicious! I wait until 9 o’clock to go to the minimarket to stock up on supplies for the stage, and then we’re off.

Almost immediately, I arrive at Praia do Amado, full of surfers. From here, it’s a series of ups and downs between the various beaches. I take a very nice, less frequented detour and find a section with a cliff dropping straight into the sea. This detour isn’t very well marked, but it’s lightly traveled and has its own charm. From here on, the sea is left behind, and you enter a plateau covered entirely in white flowers! Pure magic!

I decide to take a detour from the classic path to reach Praia da Barriga. It’s a different kind of trail, but from there on, I’d only have 5 km of dirt roads with wind turbines and country lanes. I reach the beach and decide it’s time for my second swim in the ocean. This time there are fewer people, and the ocean is rougher than before, so I don’t overdo it. I cross the beach, have a coffee, and head back inland toward Vila do Bispo. In this part, I really don’t encounter anyone, it’s very hot, and there’s a steep climb. I arrive in Vila do Bispo, grab something at the supermarket, and then do the last 2 km toward Raposeira, where the hostel awaits me for the night.

The hostel is nice, and there are only four of us. I take a walk around the town and then cook dinner, but not before enjoying another magical sunset from the top of the little hill in the village. In the evening, the four of us chat on the balcony until it’s time to go to sleep.

I wonder what tomorrow will be like, since it’s the last stage? What emotions will I feel?