from Cercal do Alentejo to Vale Seco, 21,1 km

Breakfast is not included in my room rate but the staff still carelessly lets me in. I eat all up.
The lady, seeing everything disappearing, comes to ask if I want more of anything and then brings a piece of foil for wrapping the only unconsumed item, a piece of cake. Cool, stealing from breakfast made official. I'm again in the area where people in the hotel inquire what direction I'm walking.
It's pleasantly chilly outside. Round hills with solitary big trees from where cuckoos call. Even though the landscape has been created by humans it still forces me to stop for taking a picture after every few paces.
On the gate of one farm is a couple and they want to find out everything about me. The houses are quite useful for toilet stops. When dogs start barking then it means that someone is coming. The perimeter is all the time under control.
Today are a lot of caterpillars on the road. Some of them have already found their death there. I move some of them over the road or back to the roadside. Looks like they're trying to dig themselves into the ground but earth is dry and hard. These pregnant butterflies are really ugly.
A lake comes into view and I eat the cake on a hill in order to celebrate it. The trail goes close to the shore and water is quite warm when I try it. So of course I have to climb in. Since no-one is in sight I won't bother with swimwear. When out again it's possible to see a car driving past very slowly.
A message arrives that Garmin Estonia has found the necessary spare part in Tartu. It's possible to get it right away. I don't bother them with the complicated logistics of our family meaning that everyone has currently migrated south and promise that someone will pick it up on Friday. They just have to hold on to it until then.
I use many shadows of trees to sit. Not because I'm tired but there just are so many shadows available. On one occasion I notice a drama taking place next to my feet. An ant has got a hold of the hindleg of a bee and is dragging it somewhere. The bee fights back and grabs on blades of grass and dry leaves. Most of the time the ant is more successful but then the bee manages to crawl many centimeters the other direction. Sometimes another ant comes to help but it seems dangerous to approach the bee from front. I cannot mess into nature's affairs but let waffle crumbles fall on the scene to divert the attention of other ants. After about half a meter an especially active ant joins in and in the process of a general fight the bee suddenly flies off. Wow. I was siding more with the bee the whole time.
Last kilometers over hills, through the cacophony of birds and various smells. On a meadow all cows have piled up under a tree except one who stubbornly eats in the sun. Luckily there's not much sun and the wind keeps the climate pleasantly cool for walking. It's one of those days when I'm really here and not packing for Hornstrandir in my mind.
No places to stay in Vale Seco but there's a rural turismo a few kilometers before. With a pool, two windmills and lot of flowers. Benches for sitting everywhere. Water in the pool is colder than it was in the lake but I still swim a bit. Just because the pool is there.
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from Porto Covo to Cercal do Alentejo, 16,1 km
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from Vale Seco to Santiago do Cacém, 22,3 km

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