We stayed at Ermida Geres campground and at first had a lot of area in the tent area to ourselves. By the time we came back from our walk the tent area was full. As an American who grew up camping, I am still in shock with our two Portuguese camp ground experiences. This one had baby trees dividing out the spots. You are to park your car and place your tent in the same little area. So cars, tents, cars, tents, are packed in literally like sardines. In Figuiera da Foz campground we had a little more space but neighbors are still very close by! It isn't like in the US or in Australia where each car and spot has their own little driveway and plenty of space in between spots, that you don't hear the neighbors unless they are wild. The spots are literally just dirt, and there is no picnic table or anything. Here there was one set of bathrooms, hot showers, sinks for cloth washing and for dish washing. Then one common area with a bunch of picnic tables.
After we got all set up, we had a lunch, did some reading, then headed out on a short hike and to search for some geocaches. We never found any caches the first day, but we did find an amazing outlook and enjoyed out little hike.
For dinner we bought some Turkey Skewers and Joel BBQed them, we roasted some potatoes with Olive Oil and onions over the fire, and had some salad, and grilled pineapple! Super gourmet camping food, however we both miss the Australian BBQs where you push the button for some gas!! :)
Due to the poorly located common area picnic tables, we could hear a loud group of guests drinking and chatting late into the night, then there were town dogs roaming and barking non stop, then the church bell which began ringing at 6am... It wasn't a very restful night of sleep. We decided to do our planned hike and then head home after instead of staying again over night without much sleep. So I was a little sad to miss out on visiting another little part of the park but we can always go back next time.
Mel behaved so well in the campground. We have a 20 meter cord for her to roam around and she never barked, or made any problems.. Except she hates peeing while on the leash... We had to break the rules at 5am to get her to pee because she hadn't been in nearly a day!
PR in Portugal Outdoors means Pequenas Rotas, or little routes which are generally circular and can be done in a day. We completed the PR 14 which started just outside the campground. It was took us through 14 km of the beautiful park. We had 702m of elevation gain. There were several different landscapes, some with huge boulders that looked like they could be tipped over easily, other steep downhill in the direct sun, awesome picnic benches made with stone. We could have also stopped by the waterfall but were told it was kind of a water trickle because it hadn't rained in so long. The pine trees, eucalyptus trees, and ferns growing everywhere were beautiful, as were the grape vines with some delicious grapes growing! YUM. :) Joel and I stopped in a spot to have lunch and find a geocache. Mel was a super trooper and did a great job keeping up, staying near us and listening when we called her or had to throw her back on the leash if people were coming.She is much better in the car than she was before, usually not vomiting anymore. But she definitely still isn't a fan. She sticks her head out the window and drool flies out constantly. She was so tired on the way home, we laid down the front seat for her and she put her paws near the headrest and passed out! That never happens. It was nice to roll up the window and drive a little faster than we usually do with her!
I'll leave the rest of the weekend up to the pictures for you to see for yourself!
I definitely cannot wait to go back and explore another part of the park!
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| Mel a little exhausted at the end of the trail |
Love again from Portugal!
Nicole, Joel and Mel
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