Quinta das Abelhas
Geocaching
Jon and Suzanne's Geocaching Adventures
Jon found the Quinta das Abelhas site as he has this thing about yurts. He suggested we might stay in one for our main summer hols. He showed me the website and our interest was piqued more and more from what we read. Since finding the site, we now regularly scan the Pure Portugal site and are considering relocating to Portugal and living a more sustainable lifestyle. So, how to explore this region, and get the most out of a two week break ... this is where geocaching, one of our hobbies, comes in.
Geocaching is simple: Someone hides a container with goodies in, and notes the co ordinates with a GPS unit. The finder (you) can locate the container with only the use of a GPS receiver. The rules are simple: "Take some stuff, leave some stuff".
We have been geocaching since July 2003. We found out pretty quickly that geocaching is more about locals sharing their knowledge to take you to the best (sometimes little known about) places. The real "treasure", in our opinion, might be a fantastic view, a peaceful place, a geological phenomena or interesting building. We have used it to discover various parts of the UK, Italy and, most recently, Portugal. All we do is print off the pages of the caches that interest us most, take our GPS, a map of the area we are in (in the UK we print off maps using MemoryMap, but for caches abroad we usually buy maps in advance or in the locality itself). Maps are advisable as you will see below we had some fun without adequate mapping. Of course, now that Andy and Sophie are seasoned geocachers they will be able to provide invaluable advice on where to park etc, and help with Portugese translations! Be warned, Google's Portugese to English translation is ... interesting *. The problem is that the words are changed literally without the benefit of grammar etc, though they do summon a smile... The cache itself, contains a log book and swaps. Caches differ in size from 5 gallon bucket (seriously!) to a small film cannister, and some are smaller than that! The idea is that you log your visit, make a swap if you want to. The swaps are nearly always of little value, this is to prevent people raiding them to steal the contents. Unfortunately, sometimes they do get "muggled" and vandalised.
While we were in central Portugal we attempted the caches below, though there are many many more that we will do next time:
Historical Villages - Linhares - If you visit the link you will see from the pictures that this is a historic village with a mediaeval castle, that has the most breathtaking views. This is one of those times when the GPS seems to indicate that the cache is located inside the middle of a 12 foot thick wall. On closer inspection it wasn't far off the truth! This is where it gets really exciting as you get to do your Indiana Jones and scrawl inside a cave. Suze managed to get absolutely covered in dust and dirt. No wonder the friendly locals were encouraging us to go in and quench our thirsts with a freezing cold beer (70 cents per bottle) ... divine.
Historical Villages - Piodão - Lovely little place, very quaint, and also very busy with coach loads of people going to visit. The cache was not in the village itself and this is where a map would have proved very helpful. We misunderstood the instructions, as it was a Google translation, and ended up going up a lane for about 3 miles. Then we turned back and had a second bash, and ended up on the wrong path again. We did some bushwhacking and Indiana Jones type hurtling down a hillside and eventually found the right path. But at this stage Suze was well and truly ... scratched ... so we went back to the village for a delicious cold beer ... yum.
Covão da Ametade - We found this almost by accident and were actually on our way to Poço do Inferno (we never did make it to that one). We drove up from Seia up towards Manteigas in the mountains. Covao da Ametade was at the top of the valley just down from the breathtaking area around Cântaro Gordo. The road journey is very enjoyable for the passenger as the views are fantastic, though when we went up the valleys were in cloud and we were in glorious sunshine (temperature inversion). This location was like an oasis, completely at odds with the rest of the mountains as there was a wooded valley with picnic tables and a small river running through. We didn't actually find the cache because we realised that we were not wearing appropriate footwear and it was an exciting walk up the valley. Still, there's always another day.
PR1 Rota dos Laranjais - The PR1 is a beautiful signposted walking route up through the orange groves and does a circuit of neighbouring villages. We intend to return and do the whole walk armed with a map (cos we feel safe and secure with nice maps) and we need to start it early before it gets so HOT. We didn't actually find the cache for this one but we were very close to it (we looked at the Spoiler pictures on the cache site when we got back home and we must have almost touched it).
Fraga da Pena [Arganil] - This was one of the first we did and it was a lovely place to have a picnic by the waterfalls. The place is a popular local beauty spot and is fairly easily found and a lovely place to explore. It is worth bringing a towel if you are brave enough to go in the COLD water.
Expedição Scientífica à Serra da Estrella - This wasn't the most exciting as there were no caves, or monstrous sized boulders to negotiate, and no hostile animal life to chase us. However, it did lead to a very peaceful place with wonderful views and it was really easy to do, flattish ground, easy to find, no problem. It was also an insight into the history of the Serra de Estrela mountains.
We interspersed our stay in Portugal with lazy days, geocaching days and sight seeing days to Avô and Goís for the lovely river beaches. We reckon that a couple of hours at either of these locations, reading, picnicking, dipping your feet, sunbathing etc, would recharge the batteries of the most rundown city dweller. Highly recommended.
Madjon & Suz June 2008.
* We are working on translating local geocache details into English and these will be available at Quinta das Abelhas for guests to use.
