The village of Mafómedes is located in the municipality of Baião, in the parish of Teixeira in the middle of the Marão mountain range, about six kilometers away from the center of the parish.
It is, still today, one of the most isolated places of the county of Baião, nestled between two steep slopes of the mountain, very close to the peak, is a beautiful, happy, magical place with a beautiful river.
In this small village, there are about 30 inhabitants, most of the people are elderly, who since the very beginning have dedicated themselves to pastoralism (in which sheep and goats predominate) and to subsistence agriculture, based on ancestral techniques.
You will find a diversity of autochthonous vegetation, namely the oak, the ferns, the chestnut tree, the mimosas that in these stops can reach up to ten meters. Not being an autochthonous species and being resistant in all types of soils and climates, its growth hinders the development of local tree species. The carqueja also predominates.
The largest number of cattle in these areas is goats.
Under a free and open pastoral regime, the animals "are not left to their fate". Accompanied by shepherds all day long, they feed freely on the steep slope and return at the end of the day to the village. Excellent examples of Goat Galega (do not be fooled by the name, they are Portuguese indeed) are created, as already indicated, in freedom, with a totally natural diet based on herbs, carqueja and without any kind of supplement. These animals have a high ability to adapt to the environment and are highly resistant to diseases, are therefore hard and robust as the surrounding space. These animals take advantage of hard pastures and bush vegetables, have a high percentage of double and triple deliveries and their milk is for consumption or to be processed into curd.
