Next stop was this mountain town only minutes from the Spanish border. Montesinho was Portugal’s last chance to shine in the plant hunting department! Portugal hasn’t been forthcoming with a raft of amazing plants. Here and there we have scored some good ones but nothing like our trip to Croatia/Slovenia/Italian mountains.
Portugal is very much like Spain but with less plant variety we have found. That is not to say that the countryside isn’t stunning – we’ve loved every area we’ve visited – but the plant range has been narrow. There’s only so many mountain ranges of white cistus, purple lavender, white and yellow broom and pink Erica you can be thrilled about. The extent of the lavender is incredible and during April to mid May it is in full flower and really it is an amazing scene with huge drifts up the road sides. Pink and white Thrift (Armeria) too have been wonderful. But precious plants have been few and far between.
Montesinho gave us the cutest little pale daffodil (N. triandrus) growing amongst the rocks at 1,500m, enormous pink Orchids and the rich blue of perennial forget-me-not – Omphalodes beside the streams. As this is one of my most favourite plants it was a thrill to find.
The remote slate roof villages in this area are well worth the drive. Many are mentioned in the Lonely Planet as being in a time warp. Certainly the village that straddles the Portuguese and Spanish borders is one – Rio de Onor – set on a river we saw men scything the grass and ploughing with horses in the large communal vegetable growing area. Yes – any woman I saw was wearing black. I’m not sure they were all widows as suggested, but black hasn’t gone out of fashion in Rio de Onor for quite a few centuries!
Montesinho is a village of 45 souls – they share communal vege growing areas and most are well into their 70’s and over. Set in a high valley (1200m) surrounded by groves of edible Chestnuts and above that wide hillsides covered in sweetly scented white flowering broom.
We had a day driving around similar villages and were treated with the sight of the huge Transmontano dogs guarding and moving the sheep. Wolves have been reintroduced into these mountainous areas and to stop the villagers from shooting them (as they would obviously eat the sheep) – These dogs have been reintroduced to many areas in a Government initiative to protect the wolves. After the wolves were reintroduced the Villagers were offered free puppies. The puppies are brought up with the sheep and consider themselves part of the flock – hence they are happy to stay all day with their mates and protect them from predators. It’s interesting the bits and pieces you learn of the local way of life as you travel around.
In this old village we stayed with a Dutchman – Robert – who has been here for the last 13 years doing up his hotel A Lagosta Perdida which was a complete ruin. It is 800 yrs old, so had seen better times. It now has 6 gorgeous bedrooms and every night you are treated to a beautiful meal cooked by Robert himself. He also has a few paddocks in nearby Franca where 13 lucky rescue horses are living out happy retirements. It’s been a joy to take a rest and enjoy our last few days in Portugal in this timeless, peaceful village. Tomorrow we go north to Spain and the Picos mountains.
