ALVOR FERIAS HOTEL

... and watches from the wings. Then sheºs in... battered and bruised as she battles those gladiator waves to enter the playground. Ok, letºs try again... getting past those rollers as they come into shore aint so easy... and they do it again... it was the washing machine effect and sheººs out for good this time. Lym grinning on the horizon for the next 15mins bobbing up and down as there are no waves out there, then he gets the Bold 2 in 1 ...

14 Nov
we awoke early and decided to go for a stroll along the river bank to the point where it met the ocean (NOTE AT TIME OF WRITING, we have an entry for Odeceixe to insert). En route we had a quick wash using water that was effectively run off from the hillside. Proceeding on at the beach, we were greeted by two sea otters, happily frolicking in the surf; a wonderful pre breakfast feast for the eyes. As the tide was running very low, surfing ...

Another typical Porto Covo morning: bright, blue and upon inspection, very large swell; too large for us. Decision time - do we stay or move on? It was easy and unanimous, time to break camp and hit the road once again heading south. We looked at a couple of likely surf / camp destinations, until opting for Odeceixe, a town which straddles both the Alentejo and the Algarve ...

Over the last couple days I've watched my shaky plan fall around me. I don't really know where to go next, and surprise bills are depleting my meager funds. Thankfully I'm stranded in Southern Portugal, its cheap and beautiful, indeed there are less desirable places to be stranded.

I decide to join a group of young kiwis heading to Lagos; partly for the social aspect, partly because I would like to see more of the coast. Faro ...

... br>"How was that for you James?"
She's serious. Apparently she thinks I should be excited about my upcoming two weeks with them. I tell her what I'm thinking about their whole little scheme. I wouldn't say that I sugar coated it for her. She's surprised, and I demand to talk to Frank. Frank sees this whole volunteer program as a great source of free labour, its just unfortunate that we like to eat three times a day.
"This is the way we've always done it. If you don't like ...

... of Lagos, and many beautiful beaches of Barlavento of Algarve as Meia Praia, Praia D. Ana, Porto de Mós, Praia D. Maria, Burgau, Solária, Batata, beach of Estudantes, Pinhão, Camilo, Canavial, etc….

Head on to the Cabo de São Vicente (Cape St. Vincent - the southwestern tip of Europe, and considered to be the “world’s end” in the Middle Ages), the trip continues towards Sagres ...

In Albufeira, we went to a Portugese bullfight, not the real deal as in they don't kill the bull, rather they stab them in the back with a bunch of arrows. I thought it was mean, especially the first bull because it was pretty much still a baby and looked scared instead of angry. Jon ...

The kiting in Alvor is supposedly one of the best spots in Portugal, because of a huge shallow lagoon, however the wind was in the opposite direction so we ended up kiting on the sea side in the waves. Exhausting, but very fun to launch off the waves. We met a wicked ...

The west and south coast of Portugal is pretty much a long stretch of beaches surrounded and separated by huge red cliffs and you can get from one beach to another by crawling through caves in the cliffs (I also think that's where the bums sleep at night...) We did some surfing at a small secluded beach that I had been to 4 years ago with my family. We’re ...

... plant life was so low-lying, but the usual gale force winds you find here explain it. Lucky me I suppose - it was damn nice wandering about on the best day Alexandra had ever experienced there apparently. As we reached the lighthouse and cape, the extreme westerly point of continental Europe, evidence of tourism picked up - Germans swilling beer ...