Until the penultimate decade of the century. XIX, the highest mountain range in mainland Portugal was still an unexplored territory. If we do not count with the few shepherds who dared in their rugged peaks and with a pair of foreign naturalists, no one until then knew Serra da Estrela. In 1881, six years after its creation, the Lisbon Geography Society organized an expedition to Serra da Estrela with sixty scientists from the most diverse disciplines - from botany to medicine, from zoology to meteorology. The expedition was led by Hermenegildo Capelo, the hero of the crossing of Africa, and the expeditionaries' adventures were many. On the trail of this fantastic adventure, a visit by the hand of researcher Helena GonçalvesPinto and José Conde, biologist at the Serra da Estrela Interpretation Center.