Most Inspirational Moment
I don’t know if I would call it inspirational but certainly, the most memorable moment was at the start of one day of walking . On one day,we started by walking through a small village where I had an encounter with a local lady. She pointed to a tree full of cherries, then pulled off a large branch (and a small one )and handed it to me and encouraged me to eat the cherries. I don’t think I will ever forget that moment. The cherries were delicious,by the way. Another was this beautiful organic winery that we went to which had spectacular organic food and wine. I tasted the best gluten free bread ever at this winery. The scenery was so spectacular that I felt like I wanted to have a constant video camera going to capture every moment.
Thoughts on Group Leader
Rita was excellent as was the other guide Lina. Both were kind, caring, generous with their time to answer any and all questions. They often went above and beyond to ensure that we had the best trip possible. Rita would often drop back to see that we were all doing ok and then would bound back up to the front. Some of us nicknamed her ninja girl because she would suddenly appear without even snapping a twig underfoot, ha ha. As I was usually at the back of the pack, I had the good fortune to spend a lot of time with Lina who with deserved pride, shared her knowledge about Portugal . She was so knowledgeable about the various flora and their uses . It made for a much more interesting trip for me which could have been just an exercise in trying to stay with the pack. I learned much more and have a great appreciation of the beauty of the Portugal countryside.
Advice for Potential Travellers
Not really as I’m a pretty neophyte traveller myself. I prefer guided tours as a result. Pretty much all of the other travellers in this group were experienced travellers.