We had a week in Portugal to celebrate the end of winter- any excuse really.

In fact, we were officially in Portugal to attend a presentation of holiday and lifestyle investments, having “won” the opportunity to do so when in Rhodes last year.

In reality, this meant we had a week’s free accommodation in return for attending a tour of the adjacent hotel (which was much nicer than ours) and a presentation designed to tempt us into parting with a significant sum of money in return for cheap luxury holidays forever. Or something.

We didn’t go for it.

So that left us with the rest of the week to enjoy Portugal, which we did.  We hired a car at the airport. I figured this would be a good opportunity to get to grips with driving on the right. After a couple of nervous days, things seemed to click into place, just like everyone assured me they would.

Hiring a car turned out to be a very good move. As alluded to before, the hotel wasn’t up to much. The pool and bar area were deserted and there was a building site (see photo) next door, so there was no reason for hanging around the hotel a minute longer than we had to. We managed to explore a decent amount of the Algarve in the time we were there. Some of the highlights included the coastal scenery in the west and the sandbars and wetlands in the east.

At Ponta da Piedade we were able to follow a cliff top walk to a narrow, steep set of steps which brought us to a tiny sheltered cove. From here we hired a boat to take us around the coast, through arches and grottoes for a breathtaking half an hour. Later that day we stopped at the equally impressive Algar Seco where the old sea floor has been raised high above the current water level exposing an eerie science fictional landscape that is best viewed in the moonlight according to a friendly local.

 

This was all in sharp contrast to the eastern Algarve where sandbars and wetlands combine to create a birdwatcher’s paradise. Now, I’m not a card carrying birdwatcher but found the whole thing pretty damn fascinating. Especially on the final morning of our holiday when we ate breakfast while watching Spoonbills feed in the estuary.

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Other trip highlights included the macabre Capela dos Ossos- a chapel decorated with human bones and skulls, and the megalithic tomb at Alcalar, which we stood atop and watched the approaching thunderstorm.

We also got to meet some dogs with webbed feet and I saw my first ever wild snake swimming up a river towards a ford that we had just recently crossed- causing a massive case of the heebee jeebies.

However, all too soon the week was over and we flew back to Cork, perhaps for the last time and earnestly began preparations for the BIG TRIP beginning next month.

Yay!