This was not planned but we take a taxi up to Pico Areeiro.
The situation of the trail next to Levada da Negra looks uncertain according to my online research. Or rather, it looks like at least half of the trail is heavily overgrown. The weather is also not very inviting with strong wind and a bit of rain. So we take the easy way out. Or up.
Not much to see on our drive up the steep streets and jeep trails. The cloud is so thick that we barely see the road. To gather some courage we have a coffee in the café at the start of the trail PR3 and watch the wind playing domino with the plastic chairs on the terrace.
When we go out some time later, storm-proof and everything, it turns out to be very bearable. It's surprising for us, Northerners, that a southern storm is warm. The wind is actually not so bad and it's not even raining properly.
The descent into mystic foggy landscape begins immediately. Wind gets less the more down we go. For a moment even sun comes out. It starts to drizzle and thinking it will blow over soon, we don't put on our rain pants. So by the time we reach the café at the lower end of the trail, we're totally soaked. There are some people in dry suites. Is it that bad?
It takes a burger and two coffees for our pants to get try and the sky to turn summer-blue.
After a brief visit to the visitor's center we continue along the road towards
Chão das Feiteiras camp site. It is huge. And it's still very windy.
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