30/07/18 – 1/08/18 – Peneda-Gerés National Park, Norte Region
On the recommendation of Joao, one of our Portuguese followers, we headed to Peneda-Geres National Park. From Guimaraes we drove 40km North using non toll roads, and after carefully navigating some very bendy mountain roads, just over an hour later we arrived at our luscious green location. It was pretty evident why the region is called Costa Verde (Green Coast).
Also known simply as Geres, Portugal’s only national park was created in 1971. The park covers a massive area, has several lakes, rivers, waterfalls and mountain peaks, which many come to climb (not us). The highest peak, I believe is named Geres at 1545 m.
We found the above free site(GPS 41.6758424,-8.1845612) via our Park4night.com a website and app that we use sometimes to find mostly free places to stay. We were the only moho there on arrival, but a few others did come and go during our 2 day stay. It felt a little cheeky as this is essentially a carpark literally at the entrance to a paid campsite. Having said this, no one seemed to mind, even the campsite’s dog (black Labrador in the photo) came to say hello a few times, and we got a couple of very peaceful nights sleep.
We had a great view out to the lake, and spent some time hanging out there (see below) when it wasn’t too grey or drizzley (yes I know, rain, we couldn’t believe it, but it was quite refreshing for a change). Just above this area there was some picnic tables, which were often being used and outdoors exercise equipment for the public to use.
Just a short walk away, and we were at the lagoon marina with a bar overlooking it. Over the pretty bridge there is a river beach where you can rent kayaks, pedalos, jet skis or be pulled around by a speed boat on a huge rubber inflatable just for fun! The first day it seemed quite quiet considering it was Monday, but it seems this was the final day of an annual Rock festival and so everyone was probably still sleeping or feeling a bit jaded.
After a good nights sleep, we headed off on a trek to the waterfall called Cascata do Arado, which was recommended by the local tourist office we found nearby.
The journey there was an adventure in itself, in respect of there being more twists and turns of the mountain, and then at one point we met a herd of mountain goats. A big black wild looking dog, who you wouldn’t mess with appeared to be herding them. When Marley caught sight of the animals it set him off barking and we desperately tried to get him to be quiet. Our nightmare came true when it set the big dog off, barking aggressively and showing us its teeth whilst jumping up at the moho window, and following us as we slowly tried to move away. Despite Dan’s efforts, it would not leave, and twice got right in front of the wheels and was so close to being ran over. Fortunately, it finally gave up when it realised its flock were almost out of sight! Phew! I’m so surprised Dan hasn’t had a heart attack by now, the things he’s been though in the moho. We’re hoping the marks the dog left will rub off.
Once we reached what we thought was the start of the hike, we eagerly headed off up the hill in our trekking boots, slightly excited as we’d not worn them for ages. We headed into a thick forest only to find that 10 minutes later we’d come out the other side onto a tarmacked road. What the hell, we thought, this can’t be right!
We got talking to a French family who said that they couldn’t find a walking route, only this road. The signs for the route were shocking in that basically there were very few of them. Not wanting to go back, we decided to cut through some dense forest off of the road, which quickly got thicker and thicker, and higher and higher and we started to doubt it was the right decision. We were wondering if we were about to get lost, when we finally came across a sign which indicated we were now on one of the walking routes, yippee!
We carried on walking through beautiful forest with stunning scenery, such as huge boulders that looked zillions of years old, and views of the mountains, valley and lagoon below. I think Dan was as impressed with himself, as I was with him when he stood to pose at the edge of this very high peak on a boulder (below), as he is very scared of heights.
There were so many tall trees, many of which were eucalyptus and pine trees (popular to this region) and we enjoyed their aroma as we walked. There were so many different species of butterflies following us around too. The weather was relatively cool with sunny interviews, and so Marley was a very happy little explorer.
After about an hour and a half we arrived at the waterfall, which was so worth the effort. We were a tad disappointed that the abseilers spoilt the natural scene, but it did look like a lot of fun. On the other hand, they also help to give some scale to just how big it is.
We stopped to admire the view for a while and catch our breath, and then spent some time chilling and soaking our achy feet in the river below. The trek back to the moho wasn’t so long because we were more confident of the route, but it had got hotter by then and Marley, like us had started to flag so he was given a few free rides from us on route.
We were worn out by the end, but we also felt exhilarated having been immersed in such a naturally beautiful place. Although this was just one of many activities you could do in Geres, we felt that this experience alone gave us a really good idea of what the national park must be like on the whole. It will probably be no surprise then, that we would totally recommend a visit to this waterfall, and of course Geres. Thank you to Joao for recommending it to us!!
On our third day, we decided it was time to move on and we continued with our moho adventure heading North East to Vila Nova de Cerveira.
There was so much more we could have done in Geres, but these required a bit of a drive and we weren’t sure there would be moho parking or even if it could get there. We read, considered and decided against some of the following, but thought readers maybe interested:
Soajo and Lindoso are villages that are famous for the numerous amount of unique corn storage houses there (these are also referred to as granaries). These are built on tall legs to keep mice out, and we have also seen them dotted around North Portugal.
Sao Bento da Porta Aberta church is reported to be the first open door church in Portugal. The village itself is also said to be worth a visit.
Termas do Geres – a hot natural springs, which sounded amazing, but as far as we could see this was one of natures beauties that had been sold off and formed part of a hotel and spa business.
Vilarinho das Furnas was a village that was submerged during the construction of the Geres’ dam, which flooded the area creating the reservoir. Parts of the remaining village resurface during dry periods, and these can be seen from the shore, making it a point of interest. The idea of this made me feel quite sad given many of the villagers were opposed to it.
