.
We had a full day planned. Out to breakfast at a
nearby cafe we had scouted out the night before. Then we would walk to
the front and check out the much vaunted farmers' market where the locals dress
in traditional Portuguese costume. After that, we would take a walk over
footbridge crossing the river mouth to where we would board the cruise taking
us along the rugged Portuguese south coast and into the grottos.
Well...we
were out at 9 and the nearby cafe was shut. We walked down several streets
towards the front and 90% of all shops were shut. The ones that were open were
bars selling booze, coffee and cake. I guess the Portuguese are not early
risers on the weekend. There was no sign of the farmers'' market either, and in
fact we checked later in the morning and there was still no sign of it.
We
did find the fish market open and had a walk around, trying to identify any
fish that were similar to ours, but here it was all new. I wish we could have
tried the barnacles as we had seen Rick Stein eating them, but they didn't seem
breakfast fare. While at the market I bought a banana to have with coffee. John
was still hankering after a croissant and luckily we chanced upon the only cafe
actually open and serving something that we could recognize as breakfast at
that hour,
From
here it was a short, sunny walk over the footbridge to the other side of the
marina. Around the marina, things were much more polished. million dollar craft
rubbed shoulders with the flotillas of tourist boats. We took a look around and
waited to be called to board.
There
must have been about 30 different companies offering coastal explorations.
There was everything from high speed craft to large yachts and catamarans ..to
small tenders. We opted for a small tender as we thought that would get us
closer to the rocks and perhaps inside the caves. It was an excellent choice.
As we sped by, under an intense blue sky, it was interesting seeing the beaches
huddled in the embrace of the massive cliffs. Some were quite small and to
access them there were hundreds of steps to climb down. We passed an arch built
between two cliffs by the Romans. Today, this archaeological remnant belongs to
the man who bought the nearby cliff house.
Minutes
after starting our journey, the rocks became craggier and the caves scoured out
of the cliff surface by the pounding of the sea, became larger. The skipper
casually steered the little craft straight into the yawning openings,
showing us some rocky bridges above that hung above us perilously and looked
ready to collapse. The oranges, reds, oranges and yellows of the rocks glowed
vividly in the intense sunlight. There was one formation where the sun shafted
down deep into the water turning it the most intense aqua and turquoise. The
sea was crystal clear and looking straight over the side, I could see the cliff
continuing deep below the surface. As our craft entered the caves, the swell
bobbed us about.
The
tourists who had taken a kayak tour of the caves arrived by bigger boat and
then slid into the water on their kayaks, Hanging on to a rope they were towed
by the boat between the different rock formations, but honestly, they saw no
more of this natural wonder than we did. On the trip back to the marina,
we passed a life sized replica of the Esperanza, the ship that Vasco De
Gama used to make his incredible voyages of discovery. This was trip really
worth doing.
We
took a long, slow walk over the footbridge (which had been raised to allow the
passage of a high masted catamaran out of the marina and out to sea), along the
seafront, back towards the mouth of the channel, where earlier in the day we
noticed a little hole in the wall place that sold sandwiches and drinks. I had
chicken and roasted green peppers with mayo. Johnny had tuna and salad. We had
a picnic under a huge palm tree and with the most wonderful sea breeze fanning
us, we paused and let the world go by.
We
thought it might be fun to see the cliffs from above by going along the
boardwalk. This trail wound its way around the coast over the natural vegetation
and offered stunning views of the secluded beaches below and some great views
back to Lagos and out to the Atlantic ocean. Getting to the boardwalk ended up
a bit like a two km forced march in the heat. Neither the paper map or google
maps were strictly accurate, and despite my reservations we pressed on. Yes, we
did find the boardwalk eventually and a glorious structure it was, but by the
time I had done the big walk and climbed the 50 or so steps to the top, my tank
was empty. I waited at a viewing point and Johnny walked on for a while. The
holiday flats and hotels that had populated the hillsides blazed white in the
strong sunlight and it was a stunning view across the whole bay. As I sat
there, relishing the refreshing breeze coming of the water, a German tourist
asked me for some instructions about how to get back to Lagos via a sea track.
Boy did she pick the wrong person. Still, she stopped and we had a chat. It
turns out she was from Cologne in Germany and had read a lot about Australia.
Eventually,
Johnny returned and we made our way back, stopping to buy some fruit and muesli
to have for breakfast tomorrow. We didn't want a repetition of today's
fruitless search for a bit of breakfast.
After a lovely afternoon rest we headed out again as the day cooled down. Wondering what the old wall would be like, we took a short hike up to it through the park. The wall passed about 50 metres from our guest house but up on the hill it was a massive defensive structure.
Shortly after this we grabbed jackets and headed
out to dinner. This time it was a nearby garden restaurant. Sitting out there
amongst the greenery as the sun faded was lovely, despite the breeze turning a
bit chilly. We had two enormous meals, John a fish platter and I, a meat
platter, then home for coffee and watching another hilarious episode of Crunk
on youtube.
