Fire and Water

Last week we had the worst fire yet in this area. From the upper floor windows of our apartment here in Tabua, we could see the flames and smoke as the Serra de Acor burnt in the distance.

It was clear from this distance (about 15km) that the fire was a terrible one, and between Tuesday and Thursday it spread over a huge distance. Fortunately, though, the weekend was a little cooler and by Saturday there was no sign of the smoke we'd been seeing for days.

My sister Barbara was here for the weekend with her husband, and we had previously planned to visit the lovely slate village of Piodao high up in the Serra de Acor. In spite of the fire, we decided to go and take a look. It's about an hour from here by car.

As we began climbing into the mountains, we saw evidence of isolated fires. Then suddenly, as we reached one particular ridge, we were in a landscape that was completely blackened and burnt. It continued all the way to the village -- miles and miles of scorched trees and undergrowth. Amazingly, the few villages we saw had been saved in the main; each one a green oasis in the midst of burnt out crops and forest.

It turned out that the fire had passed right by Piodao too, leaving the village unscathed but the surroundings a bleak, smouldering mess. We left by a different route -- to the east -- and stopped at a beautiful swimming hole we discovered previously. This is a picture taken back then:

Now unfortunately everything around it has been burnt to a cinder; although the water still appears crystal clear, swimming here wouldn't be quite the spectacular experience it was before.

Anyway, after a cool weekend, this week has continued cloudy and less warm. In fact, we've even had a little rain -- just a few showers. Not much to speak of, but more than we've seen here for many months! It's a bit depressing to think that had it arrived a few days earlier, a whole mountain range could have been saved....