9/2 – after a hearty breakfast of ham and cheese sandwich, juice and coffee, Mario drove us back to where he found us yesterday so we could complete the remaining 10 miles of our walk to Santarem. This will be an easy day, as our heavy packs are at the hostel, and we are just carrying a camera and a canteen of water.

We walked along the levee until we left the river:

Then we had nine miles of dusty dirt road, with tomatoes, squash, corn and grape vineyards lining both sides of the road. And yes, we sampled both the tomatoes and the grapes – sweet and tasty, although a bit dusty!

Finally, we saw Santarem in the distance, and knew we were only an hour’s uphill climb from home.

Here are the first citizens of Santarem to greet us:

Halfway up the hill, we stopped at a cool fountain to clean off some dust before walking into town:

There is an American pilgrim from California, Anita, staying at the hostel tonight, and we had a nice chat while we cooked our respective suppers. It’s nice to be able to communicate without a language barrier!