Fisherman's Trail - Day 2 - Walking to Porto Covo

Leaving the small hostel in the early morning hours with a new friend was exciting. We knew where we wanted to go and that it was far, but we were also excited for a day full of beautiful conversations, hiking, and stunning landscapes, so with our backpacks squarely on our backs, we started walking, saying goodbye to the beautiful hostel terrace.

The first bit of the walk was slightly sad, going through an industrial zone for a few kilometers right next to a highway. Luckily, this early, there were not many cars yet, and frankly, seeing the industrial-scale buildings close like this was also awe-inducing for me. It's not every day that I see the giant infrastructure producing the stuff that we use up close like this. And it gives me a sense of the scale of things.

Eventually, we reached more natural areas, closer to the beach, with plants, the smell of salty seawater, the ocean, and sand. Walking down the first beach in the sand, barefoot, down small, unpaved roads was just beautiful. A big smile on my and Yoav's face, the sensation of slightly cold and wet but fine sand under the soles of our feet.

Normally, people skip the first part of the walk and start directly from the small town of Porto Covo, but I'm glad we didn't and got to see this first bit, too. The biodiversity of the plants and the uniqueness of the flora caught my attention. It reminded me a bit of the volcanic succulent plants I had seen in Guadeloupe somehow. Thick leaves, almost leathery and dense and colorful, covering whole swaths of land, with occasional pine trees in between.

Once we reached Porto Covo, it was raining massively, so we stopped by a little local shop. But the waves and the wind on the shores before Porto Covo were beautiful.

My stomach was turning, and I felt quite sick in the restaurant, though, and didn't touch my beautifully smelling food at all.

I was nauseous and almost fell asleep in my chair, feeling exhausted and quite terrible, my stomach hurting as if somebody was constantly punching me in the guts. I packed the food and told my friend that I was going to a hostel nearby to rest and might not be able to continue walking with him, at least for that day.

Once at the hostel, I had to vomit a couple of times and started to get Diarrhea, too. Luckily, the people in the hostel were super nice to me, giving me a bucket and preparing some rehydration solution, but I spent the rest of that day in between the bed and the bathroom. My friend, pressed for time, continued on hiking, maybe I'll see him again somewhere else in the world, who knows. After his meal, he also came to the hostel, wishing each other farewell and good luck on our journeys... then I went back to sleep.

I woke up to see the sunset, went out for a couple of steps, and then directly back in. Sleeping more.