Algarve, Day 7 - Jeep Safari

Aimee and I swam, then she went down to the beach and I read by the pool. Relaxing morning in preparation for what we anticipated would be a busy afternoon. We then walked to a restaurant that we had previously noted was popular and had a very reasonable "Full English breakfast" and freshly squeezed orange juice, for lunch.

 We were picked up at the hotel, at 2pm, by the jeep and Miguel, our driver. The only other passenger was Jack, a young man from Bath, England, down for a 5 day holiday.

Sitting on bench seats along the sides of the back of the jeep we headed out of the built up area of the coast.

Once we were out in the countryside and on to dirt tracks, Miguel suggested that we stand up, getting better views. He did say to sit down if we saw any policemen.

An old well that would have been donkey driven.

Our first stop

was the castle of Paderne.

Built by the Moors and then recaptured by the Christians

This is one of the 7 castles depicted on the Portuguese flag, representing the defeat of the Moors in 1249.

The castle was closed, and has been since the start of Covid, but Jack climbed a wall and took this photo of the inside for me.

All the countryside tours stop at this castle and there were various jeeps, quads and dune buggies there.

One of the drivers of a competitor.

From the castle we could see the Roman bridge in the valley below.

We drove through narrow, winding streets of hillside villages. Far away from the gleaming white walls of tourist hotels and apartments.

Down into dry river beds. Even though we are at the tail end of their rainy season, lakes and ponds are low and river beds are dry. Miguel told us this river bed had not seen water for 3 years.

He showed us lemon

and orange groves as well as olive, quince, fig and carob trees.

A tight, village corner with a mirror so we could see the van coming from the other direction. The the debate was....who backs up.

Off on to the dirt roads again, so much fun standing in the bouncing vehicle, seeing 360deg, wind in our hair (dust in our eyes).

Through a farm with cattle, goats,

sheep and pigs.

Up more dirt tracks to a hill in the range that protects the Algarve from the northern winds

It was a beautiful view but my panorama shot did not come out. Aimee took a few shots of me on the swing, close to the edge, laughing the whole time because, although she tried to get me at a different point in the arc, they all turned out the same. Too close to the edge for her to get on the swing.

Our last stop was in a pretty little hillside village to taste the local liquor, honey and piri piri sauce. The later is very hot and required multiple honey tastings after.

Originally produced by Portuguese in Southern Africa^[8] (there is still a debate whether Portuguese initially produced it either in Angola or Mozambique),^[9][10] the sauce is made from peri-peri chilis (used as a seasoning or marinade). From Wikipedia.

We then had a short amount of time to wander in the village. Swallow nests.

The rooster is a symbol of Portugal. Miguel told us the legend ...something about a man saved from hanging by 3 calls of a rooster.

The church was closed.

The village square, in front of the church.

Miguel had rolled the roof back on as it was getting chilly and we sat as he drove us back to the coast, dropping first Jack and then us at our respective hotels.

We were both exhausted and invigorated, wind blown and a bit achy from the jostling but we had loved it and will inquire about another tour out into the countryside.