Algarve Photo Album

Camping Albufeira

Albufeira Harbour 

Albufeira Marina

Rocky archway on Algarve coast

Coastal walk from Benagil

Large rocky archway

Battleship Bay

Shadowy figures examining blowhole

Palm tree

We have enjoyed the figs from these trees

An almond tree in blossom

Palms along the side of the Marina

Oranges ready for picking

Bark of Oak trees stripped for cork

Oak barks store

Red sandstone cliffs near Vila Moura

Silves Castle

All above views of the Odelouca River on the Parra walk, near Sives

Moira at the trig point on Louro, 312m.

Above spring flowers on our coastal walk

Fishermen repairing nets, Praia dos Olhos D'Agua

Above examples of bridges on our walks and travels in the Algarve

Old John, a companion on our walks.

Rally hiking group struggling up steep hill.

A windmill at the top

Who's Jim's friend?

Fountains at Olhao

Town square Tavira

Cerros da Sobro walk in the mountains of the Algarve

Old type windmill near Silves

The Algarve coastline.

Nesting stork on Silves Castle walls.

Venus and Jupiter at their closest in the night sky.

Cycling group on coffee stop.

Algarve Sunshine

We are now half way through our stay at Albufeira, on the Portuguese Algarve. The weather has been exceptional, during the day it is warm with blue cloudless skies, just beginning to get cold about 4 00pm. It is a lot colder overnight and we have to get into our sleeping bags as well as having the duvet to keep us warm. The winter climate is much like that on the South African high veldt, which we are familiar with. The last time we were here with the Camping and Caravan Club Rally it was well attended but this time the rally section is only about half full. This is due partly to lots of rain they had during the previous two winters, as well as the introduction of a toll system on the motorways. Nobody can work out how the new system works as there aren’t any toll gates where you can pay, it is all electronic and the information on how to get the tags is vague or confusing or expensive. We kept to the minor coast roads to cover the short distance from to Albufeira after crossing the border from Spain.

I was hoping that the group I cycled with on our last visit here would be back, but they haven’t shown up as yet. I have had a few rides on my own but have mainly been running, and going to the gym in town to keep fit. I have been out every day for a run since we arrived here and have now done over 50 days in a row. I usually get out at 8: 00am and run for about an hour. When I get back Moira has my breakfast waiting for me and I relax until it is time to head for the gym. I workout with weights for 5 days each week, they close on a Sunday and I have another ‘rest’ day when we go walking on a Wednesday.

Walking is the only thing we take part in that is organized by the rally people. They have a gentle walk on Mondays around the lanes and tracks through the hamlets in the hills opposite the campsite. On Wednesdays the group venture further afield and we get a lift from the guide, Gordon. These walks are alright but the people are slow and more interested in where the nearest café or pub is for a stop. On Sundays when there is no gym we take the camper-van out to do a walk on our own. We have the Cicerone guide book, “Walking in the Algarve”, which has a collection of day walks; Moira had it sent here by Amazon having ordered it on the internet. We have managed a number of good routes, along the coast which is littered with rocky islets, arches, blowholes, inland through hamlets and orange groves, and another delightful one along irrigation canals to the confluence of two rivers with outstanding views. On our last walk we had a small river crossing to negotiate and Moira did her normal thing, she fell in. The water wasn’t deep but she landed flat on her back getting thoroughly soaked. Fortunately it wasn’t cold and I was carrying my fleece in the day pack so she was able to strip off and put that on. Another problem was that she was carrying the camera at the time and it got drenched. A few days later we bought a new camera but the other one become fully functional again, after a few days left in the sun to dry out. Now we have two cameras but the new one is small and will be much easier to carry when we walk the Via de la Plata in April. When we go on these walks we take lunch with us in our day pack, we don’t need much, a cheese roll, an orange and a flask of coffee. It’s at night when we eat well with the cost of food at the supermarkets being very reasonable, we dine a lot on nice seafood freshly caught off the coast here, like prawns, salmon and trout or have a seafood mixture for a delicious paella.

The fall Moira had in the river wasn’t the first she has had during our trip; she had a couple of mishaps when out walking in Spain. She hurt her wrist in one of these tumbles but some weeks later when in Portugal it was still causing her pain. She couldn’t lean on it and it didn’t seem to be getting better, so she paid a visit to the health centre which is close to the campsite. They x-rayed it and discovered a small bone was broken but fortunately had started to heal. They said that for any other treatment she would have to go to the large hospital in Faro about 50 km away. She decided that as it had begun to heal by itself, she would live with it. She bought a wrist strap for support, which helps, and it is slowly improving. Luckily there was no damage done to it on her latest disaster, no doubt the water helped to break her fall.    

Our plans for walking Via de la Plata route of the Camino to Santiago are progressing.   We have arranged to store our motorhome at the campsite we stayed in Conil. From there we will get a bus to Sevilla where the route begins. We got a Cicerone guide book for the pilgrimage, also sent out by Amazon, and we have worked out that if we walk 20kms each day it should take about 7 weeks. If we begin at the beginning of April we will be finished towards the end of May and be back to the UK for the birth of Margaret’s baby in June.

We have our big satellite dish up and are picking up the BBC TV channels from the UK and the radio stations. There is also free internet on the site but it is not very dependable, normally good enough for checking email and downloading the newspaper each day. On occasions when it is really efficient and I am able, with a proxy server that I linked up with from the net, to make use of the BBC iPlayer to download any programmes that we’ve missed.

Last Saturday with nothing much on the TV worth watching we decided to play whist that the rally wardens had organised. On the first few hands we didn’t do very well but my game picked up and by the end I had won the first and only prize, a box of Quality Street sweets. This week the whist is on today, Thursday, as they are having a Valentines dance on Saturday so we are getting ready to head up for the game. It is a quiet easy going life here and we have another five weeks of it before we move on. We don’t plan to be doing anything different than we have been doing up until now, its hard going!!

Our stay at Los Rosaleda, Conil de la Frontera

December 2011 

Our six weeks at Los Rosaleda campsite in Conil is coming to an end, we leave for Albufiera in Portugal this Saturday. The site hasn’t been very busy but we are told that after Christmas and New Year it is full with retirees like ourselves getting away from the winter rains and snow. The row where we are camped had only a couple of motorhomes and caravans on it when we arrived but now it is nearly full and the remaining places are reserved for people arriving in January. The charges for a spot here over winter is very reasonable, it cost us €9 per night. The electricity is extra and metered but it works out at about €1.50 per day, which covers all our cooking, lights, fridge and TV, fortunately it is warm and we haven’t had to bother about using our heating. Another good thing about Los Rosaleda is the free Wi-Fi, which is available over the total site, the download speed is very good and I am able to take advantage of BBC iPlayer to download previous programme. Also Moira downloads the ‘Daily Telegraph’ each morning on to her iPad as soon as she wakens. I have our big satellite dish set up and the reception is alright. I am able to get BBC 1 & 2 along with all the radio channels, so we have plenty to keep us fully entertained.

There is a small gym on site but for some reason, probably for Health and Safety concerns, it is only open for 2 hours on Monday to Friday mornings while the attendant is there. I have been having a short run first thing before going to the gym for a workout, each morning, so I am keeping fit. There is also a Pilates class which I go to along with Moira. I found it quite difficult at first trying to get my legs and body to stretch into various awkward positions. Either you have to be double jointed or maybe I’m just old and stiff, but it is getting easier after a month of agony.

The lighthouse at Cape Trafalgar

We have been doing a lot of walking as the weather has been perfect for it. We have had a couple of rainy days but mostly it has been clear blue skies but luckily not too hot when we have been walking. One long walk was out to the lighthouse at Cape Trafalgar. This is the point where off the coast the famous sea battle took place 200 hundred years ago and Admiral Nelson died. It was a long walk all along the beach; it was about 30 km there and back and took us about 8 hours. As you head along the sand there are old stone watch towers at intervals that were used as lookout points centuries ago for invasion forces or pirates from the Barbary Coast of North Africa. Any sign of enemy action and a fire was lit in the tower which would be spotted from the other towers who then lit more signal fires and defensive plans and manoeuvres were put in place all along the coast. There was nice surf on this coast and plenty of people keeping warm in wet suits were taking to the waves with their boards. At Trafalgar just off the rocks below the lighthouse there were some really big breakers and the sea was black with Lycra clad surfers. We sat watching them as we were having our lunch at the lighthouse. We normally take a flask of coffee and sandwiches with us when we go on these long excursions, we don’t pay the exorbitant restaurant prices.

Body boarding at Cape Trafalgar

There were plenty of other nice walks in the area, along country lanes and farm roads but our favourites were the ones along the magnificent beaches. I have been doing some cycling; the group that I cycled with when we were here previously haven’t arrived yet. I went out one day with a guy from Holland, Franz, but he rode a super fast racing bike and I slowed him down on my heavy semi mountain version. I wasn’t very cycling fit then but have done a number of rides on my own; I am now feeling more comfortable in the saddle though my bottom isn’t quite in shape yet. Moira has got her new electrically powered bike and has a few rides but is waiting until we get to Portugal where there is a cycle track going into town from the campsite.

One of the many secluded beaches

Another visitor to the campsite who we have become friends with is a guy from Holland called Peter. He is a seasoned traveller like us, and has a blog going about all his ventures. He calls it, www.doingwalkabout.com, unfortunately it is all in Dutch, but I told him about my blog and his English is good so has been able to read it and we have compared notes. During his stay here, until the spring, he is busy writing a book about all their travel adventures. Just this week a couple arrived and their ‘van had an Isle of Man number plate. I had seen a ‘van with IOM plates last year in the site we stayed at near Denia, it was the same people and they recognised us. It’s a small world. There is an English couple near us, Dave and Tina, they have been coming here for years and Tina said she remembered me from our last stay, well it was my ‘I climbed Kilimanjaro’ t-shirt that she caught her attention.   

We both were suffering from the cold a couple of weeks ago. I got it first, a sore throat and feeling tired. I must have passed it on to Moira who had it much worse and did a lot of spluttering and coughing. We are alright now and we didn’t have to bother about a doctor, we just doped up on pain killers.

The town of Conil de la Frontera

As I mentioned previously when we were coming down through the middle of Spain that we were tempted by the signs indicating the Via de la Plata route of the Camino de Santiago. Since we have been in Conil we have given a lot of thought of doing the route. The plan is to start at the beginning of April after our stay in Portugal. We will come back to this campsite in Conil where we can store the motorhome during the period of our hike. We have ordered a book from Cicerone who do all the hiking guide books and it will be delivered to the campsite we are heading for in Albufiera. We will spend the next three months working out an itinerary; the route is about 1000 km from Seville to Santiago de Compostella taking us about 50 days, so needs a lot of planning. We will also have to get plenty of walking training done while in Portugal so that we are super fit for this marathon hike.

The harbour at Cabo Roche

Thursday 15 December

Watch tower near Conil

Watch tower at El Palmar

Watch tower near Barbate

Viewpoint from forest walk

Today we went for a last long walk. A German couple who go to the Pilates told us about a beautiful route from Canos de Meca, the little town at Trafalgar, over the cliffs to the town of Barbate. They said they take the bus to the start of the trail and catch another at Barbate to come back to Conil. We thought about it that way but in the end decided we would walk the beach route to Trafalgar and continue from there over the cliffs to Barbate for the bus back. We left at 9:00 and the tide was out so the sand was hard packed and we made excellent time reaching the lighthouse at the Cape in three hours. From there it was a two hour hike over the cliffs. It was the best walk we have done in a long time. The trail made its way up a steep path and through a National Park forested with coastal pines and eucalyptus trees. We stopped in a spot with the sun warming us through a gap in the trees and had our usual packed lunch. On the cliff top there was another of the series of watch towers and a wonderful view point where we azure blue ocean stretched out before us and the surf broke on the golden sands far below. When we started to descend from the crest the trees thinned and we had a glorious panorama of the coast to the town of Barbate and its harbour full of luxury yachts. When we reached the town the most difficult part began and we had to find the bus station. I tried out my Spanish with ‘Donde esta la estacion de autobus’, I seemed to be understood as the directions eventually took us to the bus.

Clifftop view

Friday 16 December   

All that needs doing is to pack up again, ready to set of for the border tomorrow. We will take two days to get to Albufiera stopping for a night at a free aire just over the frontier. I had my last session at the gym this morning and used the whole two hours to get as much done as possible.

 The weather has been first class up till now and we are hoping it will continue, but at least we are avoiding all the rain, hurricane winds and now snow those are the conditions in Scotland this winter.