This is the Coa River, just near where Ribeira de Piscos enters it. Our guide was Antonio who knew the birds, the long histories of olive cultivation, almonds, who pointed out the shepherd on the other side of the river, the sound of bells ringing over the water. The entwined horses were beautiful on their warm rock, still affectionate after 20,000 years.
And when I asked if I could see the meanders, not usually part of the tour, he led me up a hill, over rough rock, to a brown piece of schist, the faint delicate lines etching water, one set meeting another. Turn and look, he said, and there below us, Ribeira de Piscos entering the Coa. Wish you were here too, 20,000 years earlier, or later, no matter. Horses in sunlight, the sound of bells, a narrow creek finding a river, tiny bee orchids in bloom everywhere after the rain.
...Theresa Kishkan 