Common Treasures: setembro 2015

A CORNER IN PARADISE – Horse Stream Beach
Sesimbra, Portugal, 19/9/2015

Sometimes paradise is so near. There are thousands of beaches along the coast, West and South, some big, some small, some well known and constantly full of people during Summer or unknown and almost empty even in Summer. Horse Stream Beach (Praia do Ribeiro do Cavalo, Sesimbra, Portugal) is one of those paradises still almost untouched by human presence, mainly because the access is very difficult and somewhat dangerous. It is located very near from Sesimbra, a fishermen village where the sea is especially blue. It’s only 40 Km from Lisbon, about half an hour from my home… and yet I had never gone there… because I didn’t even know that existed until three months ago when I watched a documentary about it on TV. The most part of the people who were on the beach on that day were foreigner, from many different countries… And I asked myself “How is it possible that all this people know about this place and come here to enjoy it and I and the most part of the people here (with the exception of the local people of Sesimbra) never heard about it?” On that same day I made the decision of going there as soon as I could. There was work to do, then I was away from home and also from the country, but as soon as I came back I went there.

Going to Sesimbra is easy, there’s a good highway and then a National Road. In Sesimbra one must go to the safe harbor and follow until the road ends close to the sea. Then, on the right there’s an unpaved road for about one mile and a half. On that point the road ends and what seem trails are seen in several points among the bushes, but only one is advisable to go down to the beach. And even that one is very narrow, steep and dangerous. In many points only one person can pass at a time and it is better not look much down, mainly those who suffer from vertigo. I fell once, not in the main trail but in another one that I had tried first. But all is worth to get down there. And coming up is always a little easier.

The best trail is the one that begins in the point where there are some big rocks on the ground with graffiti and the word “Amor” that also appears in several rocks along the trail. Some gentle souls had the wonderful idea of painting and writing on the rocks along the main trail so one can avoid getting lost. It was always reassuring to find one more rock painted; that meant I was on the right trail. The way down takes about 15 minutes. It’s not much but it seems more because of the difficulties. During half of the way it isn’t possible to see the beach, only bushes and stones and with the several trails around it’s always possible to get lost. About 20 meters high it is finally possible to see a partial view of the beach (the West side, the one that stays in the shade earlier after sunset).

Since I only went there in the afternoon, the pictures I took are mainly of the sunny side. The beach is bigger than it looks in my photos. And there were there more people than I expected. Half of them went there by boat, an easier way. They leave the big boats near the beach than go there in small boats. There were a few people in tents that intended to spend the night there. And also some people doing scuba diving even in the late afternoon when the shade already covers about half of the beach. The high cliffs protect it from the wind and strong sun but also bring shade earlier. When I returned to the top, the sun was still shining bright over the village and the castle on the top of a hill. The water is limpid of a clear blue-green colour and the waves are very smooth. There are spots with very soft sand and others with plenty of pebbles. In both sides East and West, there are big rocks covered with several kinds of bushes and a few small caves, some inside the water and some in the base of the cliffs. Like in any other beach around here, there are nests of seagulls in the cliffs and on the rocks. They gather near sunset, fly low close to the sands and water and land beholding beauty from near.

Below is a selection of pictures that only show a part of that fabulous place and not with the best light. Let us hope that paradise remains a paradise for a long time…

GPS coordinates:

N 38º 26’ 01”

W 9º 07’ 47”