Pereiro
GPS route – Walking-in-Algarve – Santa Catarina da Fonte do Bispo
5.2 mi. Easy 32m B&B Cas al Cubo
Pereiro, the fruity track, is a walk of about 4 miles that starts at bed and breakfast Cas al Cubo and leads you south. It´s not the most exciting walk, and it took us a while to make it correct. The revival of the local economy causes a closure of many old tracks. Orange groves, avocado plantations, and other “fruity” developments have created fences, stonewalls and simply plantations where once paths used to be. We are planting and harvesting here; the signs say and finding a way around (and partly through) the plantations is a challenge and gives a good insight in the development of the Algarve.
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Pereiro walk starts, as said, at B&B Cas al Cubo. After 400 meters it leaves the standard route and leads past a fence towards the south. After a few hundred meters, the fence stops and an unkempt path appear. This is the path we keep on following. The area is absolutely silent, apart from some screaming partridges and blue jays. After a mile or so, the route enters the Pereiro area with some scattered houses. The route crosses the road between Pereiro and Santo Estevão and crosses under the highway A22 in the direction of the Cerro da Cabeça. Here the route turns to the east.
Strolling along the highway
This part of the walk looks absolutely uninteresting on the map. It follows the highway A22 and offers a view (and the sound) of it on several occasions. Still we were surprised at the panorama this part offers. On the small hilltops the view towards the hills is amazing and at one point the B&B is even in sight. Behind the gasoline station you just have to follow the route into the new orange grove and the first real challenge is exiting this orchard and entering the overpass. Big fences have been placed but conquering them is not too hard. From this moment on, the walk becomes somewhat of an obstacle course.
Pereiro now really becomes “the fruity track” because it follows paths through the different orchards. Sometimes you´ll have to ignore a fence or a small gate. Walking through doesn´t hurt the owners, as long as no fruit is pulled of the trees … which is tempting, we must admit. In the first version of this walk, we made a mistake and we took a wrong path. That forced us to find our way through the bush, for a lack of tracks. However, in version two, this mistake is corrected. Our walking guests can make this relaxed walk without scratches or problems to discover the landscape south of Cas al Cubo.
