Alvor to Sagres

This will be a little photo heavy as we've not had a campsite for a while and for some reason my ipad mini won't charge from the van. I probably have to buy an Apple charger for around £30! ( edit...I wrote this 2 weeks ago....but no wifi)


These Russian Dolls were from a market in Lagoa, I have a set at home but mine are from around 1978, where as these have a sticker that says 1998. I love how they look and when/if I ever make a sewing room then I will have a shelf especially for them. Though I guess I will never remember what is inside each!
Alvor in the guide book looks like a small old fishing port....it has been modernised, lots of lovely restaurants and still has some character. It was popular port in Roman times and despite suffering extensive damage in the 1755 earthquake it is still a popular holiday town, with a superb beach. We stayed on the Aire here for €4, but the constant wind was blowing dust at us all day, so we continued west.





On to Lagos which had loads of tiled houses with old wrought iron balconies and fortifications left by the Arabs in the 8th century.





This is a statue of Henry the Navigator who turned Lagos into an important naval centre in the early 15th century and financed expeditions down the coast of Africa. It is here that in 1441 the first slave market was held and a plaque indicates the area under the arcades on the far right of the photo.


We finally managed to get a shot of an Azure Winged Magpie. These we have seen many times in large flocks, much brighter to watch than our magpies.


At Boca de Rio we parked as close to the beach as we could and stayed until our food ran out. The sea was quite warm, but still no surfing.


The next beach at Praia de Ingrina was even nicer, though we planned to eat in the restaurant, only to find that it was closed on Tuesdays. If we had a day like this at home this beach would be jam packed. Tim caught 3 mackerel out on the rocks, but they weren't big enough to eat, so he let them go.


On to Sagres, the town furthest west and also the name of the delicious beer that we have been drinking. The far south west tip is Cabo de Sao Vincente where there is a lighthouse, so we peddled over for a look and found yet another beach (Praia do Beliche Beach).....this one had surfing waves and was down out of the wind. It's been very hot....but only if you can hide from the wind!
There are many tiled houses, but this one looked like it was done from a sample pack, very cheerful amongst all the white houses.


This Rosa dos Ventos, wind compass is inside Prince Henry's fortress, though there is some disagreement on what it was actually used for. Lots of wild flowers and birds on the coast path, Choughs too.....though unfortunately we didn't see any.


Our first view of the west coast, looking out over the Atlantic, though Libby was glad she had 4WD to get here.