This morning we take the train to the little station of Conceição to get back on the route again. Today spring is in full force with 21 degrees and sunshine, so it's great hiking weather! We walk from the station along the road to the water. We're still in the Ria Formosa that we first walked past, at the end of stage 8. This is the last stretch of this 60-kilometer nature reserve, after which we rejoin the ocean. We walk along the quay of the fishing village towards the paths through the dunes. There's a man with a Beagle standing in the middle of the path and we get talking. He is half Portuguese and half French, so we can make ourselves understood to some extent. Our French is okay, but Portuguese is still a difficult language. He draws us out a map in the sand of the area with villages, the water, forests and our campsite and explains exactly how best to walk. He walks with us for a bit to show us the way under a cliff and points out a plant you can eat like salad. It tastes salty, the man compares it to pickle and it's indeed very tasty. We continue on small paths along the water, low bushes and man-sized white flowering gorse. A little higher up there are a few villages, a castle and a church, but we keep walking along underneath, until we pass east along the last water of Ria Formosa, cross the dunes and arrive at the ocean.
It remains a mighty sight. We find a spot on the edge of the beach to take a break. A sandwich, cup of coffee, pancakes and the shoes off. Lovely!
After the break, we keep following the coast to the campsite. About 7 kilometers along the beach, and the shoes stay off. We walk barefoot along the water. Sometimes on the beach, then again up to our calves in the sea. The water is cold, but we soon get used to it. There are so many beautiful shells that our pace drops drastically. But we are in no hurry, our tent is already set and at 18 kilometers it's a modest stage. We take it easy and walk the last bit through the village to do some shopping and are back at the campsite in time. Again it was a beautiful stage, hiking the last bit of Ria Formosa and it being the last one through Portugal... The next stage will take us into Spain!
