I know that when you put the words WOMAN, WILDERNESS and ALONE together in the same sentence, your stomach starts to churn, but let’s demystify that now, because if you do it with safety, planning and willingness, anything is possible!
Who is Malu
I’ve always been insecure, especially when it came to new experiences.
My parents, for their sakes, had to get used to a girl with a million dreams in her head, but full of (mostly silly) anxieties. They have lived a good part of their lives hearing “what if I don’t make any friends?”, “what if I can’t communicate properly?”, “what if something goes wrong?”, “what if I don’t succeed?”.
To this day I find myself insecure when I propose new experiences (and I guess that’s normal, right?) but one thing is for sure, there have been very few times when I’ve stopped trying new things because of these insecurities, in that second of madness I’d buy the ticket, book the hotel, sign up for some voluntary action and whatever God wanted.
And didn’t he want a lot of good things?
Hoje, depois de me jogar nesse mundo sem pensar muito, eu gosto de dizer pra quem pergunte que nasci pro perrengue! Estar no meio do mato, só com uma mochila, acampando e vivendo com pouco me traz uma sensação de liberdade que eu não sei explicar, é gostoso demais!
And it was exactly this feeling (and of course a few other things) that made me quit my job and my life in São Paulo to study sustainable tourism abroad, and what an experience it was… I opened my mind to a way of seeing the world that already lived inside me and just needed a little push to blossom! And here I am today, taking advantage of the European summer to live out new dreams.
Next week I’m going on a 6-day trek in the Pyrenees (a mountain range between Spain and France) and I wanted to share some of my crazy bush girl experiences with you.
Why the Catalan Pyrenees?
To have my first experience of a high mountain traverse on my own, I chose to walk the circular CARROS DE FOC (Catalan for “Cars of Fire”) route, which connects nine refuges within the boundaries of the Aigüestortes National Park.
To complete the basic itinerary, you need to be very willing for 5 to 7 days. The whole route is 55km long and has a total elevation gain of 9200mts, which means a lot of up and down between the mountains. I think there are three main reasons why I decided to experience this route:
- The park’s organization helped me a lot when it came to organizing my trip. As soon as I decided to do this trek, I sent an e-mail asking about a few things: is it easy to do alone?
Is the trail well signposted?
Do more people do it solo?
What are the best tips?
What is the best route?
Not only did they reply very quickly, but they also gave me valuable tips and reassured me about the issue of being a woman doing the trek alone. - I know, I know, Europe is a sea of possibilities.
I could go to Italy, Greece, Croatia, Portugal… But why not encourage a bit of local tourism?
Sometimes we dream so big and forget that there are beautiful things to see right next to us.
The Pandemic will certainly change the way we travel a lot and local tourism will come with everything!
But don’t panic, that’s not a bad thing!
Getting to know our backyard is incredible!
As well as helping the local economy, the chance to connect with those close to us is wonderful! - To live this first experience I didn’t want to go camping in the bush straight away, carrying things would be more difficult, sleeping alone in a tent would certainly be mentally challenging and we know that as a woman a lot of anxieties go through our heads when it comes to traveling alone.
That’s why sleeping in refuges seemed like an excellent idea.
After a whole day of walking, arriving somewhere warm, with food, a minimally comfortable bed and being able to meet new people would be perfect.
Refugios are super simple structures that shelter mountaineers after a long day of hiking (stay tuned and I’ll show you what they look like).
Precious information
Booking the refuges: you need to book the refuges in advance and pay a percentage before the trip.
Reservations can be made via the website https://www.carrosdefoc.com/en/ or with the help of the route’s call center (trust me, they can help you with everything).
How to get there: The most incredible places are always the hardest to get to, so be prepared!
From Barcelona to the park entrance I’ll take a bus (Asla Company) for about 4 hours to a small town called El Puent de Suert, then another bus (public) for 30 minutes to Boí and a shared cab that drops mountaineers off at the park entrance.
Phew, and the adventure hasn’t even begun. But what about the food? Booking the refugios entitles you to breakfast and dinner.
There is also the possibility of booking what they call a Picnic, which is nothing more than a snack to eat during the trek.
But of course, always pack that little something that makes you happy (in my case, cookies).
Costs: These will vary depending on the number of days you’re staying, but on average I spent 500 euros to make the journey (refuges, food, sections of the road).
Best time: the route only opens in summer (between June and October) and the best months to visit are August and September.
Temperatures are warmer and there is no snow along the way. Get ready to walk a lot and be 100% in touch with nature!
And if you get scared, go for it!
