After our day out around Lagos, we checked into Camping Turiscampo at Espiche, not very far from where we were the previous two nights. Yes Ann, it does have an exceptionally smart bathroom, it’s nearly up there with the one we found in Venice, and it’s definitely the best one we have found so far on this trip.
The next morning we drove over to Burgau and staggered down one of the very steep streets for a stroll along the beach. Before we left, we supported the local economy by buying potatoes, cherries and a tea towel.
With the cloud breaking up a bit, we drove further along the coast for a look at Salema. This village had a much longer beach and there was practically no-one on it. We paddled through the cold waves, right up to the far end and then all the way back against a strong chilly wind; I guess that explained why there weren’t many folk on the beach. The Boia Restaurante was set right on the beach and having now burnt off our breakfast croissants, we picked a table at the window, ordered lunch and enjoyed gazing out to sea. Back at the campsite, it was too cool and windy to sit by the pool, so we settled into our armchairs beside Eileen, whiled away a few hours and then had a cocktail and a beer at the pool bar later in the day. Rodney watched some soccer on the TV, but I just couldn’t watch Norway being slaughtered by France…..
On Wednesday, we drove along the coast, taking a few side tracks to check out the beaches at Zavial and Ingrina and then parked Eileen in Sagres. We walked from one end of town to the other, had delicious Italian hot chocolates and Portuguese tarts in a café above the Marina, and then started walking again. We walked a lot that day. We followed the edge of the cliff out to a viewpoint above the breakwater, then continued along the clifftop to a promontory with views both east and west. Looking west across Praia Baleeira, we could see the full length of the beach, Eileen parked in the town above and even further on out to the Ponta de Sagres. It was a beautiful view, but too expansive to squeeze in to a single photograph.
It was a good walk back to Eileen and then we chose to drive her round to the Ponta de Sagres. We paid to enter the Forteleza de Sagres which was re-built after being destroyed by Sir Francis Drake in the 16th C. Didn’t hear about that one in our history lessons at school. Prior to that, this was where Prince Henry the Navigator, set up a school of navigation in 1415, which would pave the way for the future ‘Great Discoveries’. The views from the fortress walls are spectacular and we continued our walking by taking the path right out to the very end of the point and back. From there you can see right across the bay to very last headland, the tip of Iberian Man’s beard; the southwest extremity of mainland Europe.
Our mission on Thursday was to go for a good hike around Cabo San Vicente, which is the very last headland in Europe. It seemed rather a long way for my dodgy knees to cycle from the campsite in a headwind, so we decided to drive Eileen over there and start our hiking from the place we wanted to see. As we arrived at the Forte do Belixe, four coaches full of tourists pulled up. Dang, bad timing!
Never mind, we wandered in and enjoyed the views along the south coast and up the west coast of Portugal. There was originally a convent with a small tower on the point, which good old Sir Frances Drake destroyed in 1587. After that a fortress was built and various lighthouses have been built and rebuilt on the site. The current one is dated 1846 and it guides hundreds of vessels each night as they pass the point. The light has a range of 95km, making it one of Europe’s most powerful beams. It was a good sight to see and Rodney was rather glad he was seeing it from the land this time.
After a good roam around the buildings, we started our hiking. We walked for nearly three hours, only stopping briefly to buy ten churros covered in chocolate, which we ate while picking our way over the rough ground along the clifftops. I will pass on a hint; it’s not easy walking with a cone of churros in one hand and a hot sticky one in the other and be able to watch where you’re going all at the same time. I would advise sitting down to enjoy churros con chocolate to their full potential. I have to say that, when we could look up, the views, as we tottered around on the rough ground, were really quite remarkable.
There was a fantastic array of wildflowers all over the ground, the variety was almost as good as the alpine flowers we walked amongst in Switzerland and Italy. I picked some more wild rosemary to use in one of our home cooked gourmet dinners……, gourmet? We even spotted a few short irises growing out of the sandy soil, which resulted in us having to stand still for a hug. It is our 22nd wedding anniversary in two days’ time, and I held a bunch of irises when we took our marriage vows, so it was an unexpected and lovely surprise to see some there.
We stopped briefly to watch a couple of fisherman dropping their lines down the massive cliffs in to the ocean 75 metres below and somehow not catching their lines on the jagged rocks. We cheered when one of them pulled up a small wriggling fish, then he leant down to his bucket and proudly showed us he had already caught a far bigger one earlier.
We looked down in to coves and caves on both sides of the headland and finally stopped at the Fortaleza de Beliche situated right on the edge of a cliff and now slowly falling into the sea. Opposite was a café, perfect for a cold drink before embarking on the walk back to Eileen.
It was still only 2pm, so we moved Eileen a couple of kilometres back along the south coast and walked down the 143 concrete steps to Praia Beliche. It took us an hour laid out flat on the sand before we could pluck up the courage to make our last attempt at swimming in the ocean, our last chance on this coast before we head north to the even colder Atlantic rollers. Rodney bravely managed it, but I just couldn’t get in any further than waist height, at which point the lower half of my body felt like ice on bone and I had to return to the warmth of the sand.
Spending time on the farthest west beach on the south coast of Europe seemed rather special; from tomorrow morning, we’ll be heading north for the next two months.
If this is the most south-western corner of mainland Europe, where are the other three corners?
