he'll with a giant fight

CAMINO PORTUGUES Day 10

Tonight we are staying on a farm somewhere north of Tomar. The owners, Veronica and Horatio, came here from Uruguay 3 years ago and have adopted many rescue animals and some rare breeds of sheep and goats. Sarah has fallen in love with this Estrela mountain dog and she stayed out with him until after dark. The owners were sad that he had to be chained up for a while as he had escaped and they are trying to train him to stay in the 5 acre compound. This breed of dogs were used to guard sheep and goats in Northern Portugal, and would fight off wolves if necessary.

We had a tour of the farm and were introduced to all the animals. I loved the horses, and the friendly cats.

We have walked about 14 miles today and it has been up and down and up and down all the way. We were joined for a while by a woman called Mairi from South Africa (but now living in the US). Just after lunch the rain started, proper monsoon stuff. I was so glad that I had packed everything into dry bags in my rucksack!

There is only one restaurant nearby and thankfully it was open. The owner made us a lovely vegan meal with wine and olives and we ate some pears and grapes from the farm. I feel well rested.