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São João

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    • TravelerPORTUGAL 2023
      Day 12

      Ponta da Piedade

      April 5, 2023 in Portugal ⋅ ☀️ 19 °C

      Here we go again! Dianne has another great idea! Boat ride to see the caves! Sounds ok but in reality it was one fun 75 minutes! It was neat to see the caves like the ones we walked over in our previous hike. Again we put our cameras to work and took a few shots!Read more

    • TravelerEurope 2022
      Day 38

      Lagos Listing

      October 15, 2022 in Portugal ⋅ ☀️ 20 °C

      After the fun and vitality of Lisbon it was great to calm down for a few days on the Algarve to break up our trip.

       But first, we had to get here, via two crowded trains choc-a-bloc with confused people and suitcases that wouldn’t have seemed out of place on the Queen Mary. The second, local, train was standing room only, the aisles full of bodies and backpacks.

      As for Lagos, although (since it’s a part of Europe) it does have an incredible history - most infamously as one of the first slave-trading ports - we just enjoyed the warmth and the scenery. As Dennis Denuto so succinctly put it in “The Castle”, “It’s all about the vibe”. It’s probably one of the most photogenic places we have seen.

      Lagos is on the River Bensafrim, with a vast marina full of rich persons’ playthings and a whole industry devoted to marketing and providing all sorts of water-based tours, from kayaks to yachts, caving to dolphin-spotting.

      The old town area, winding up hill from the river, is a maze of cobblestones covered in bars and restaurants, with music playing and people eating and drinking at all hours of the day and night. Just wandering around is fun.

       Just west of the mouth of the river is Praia da Batata, the first of a series of beaches, some interconnected through arches and tunnels in the sandstone cliffs, that stretches a few kilometres out to the headland at Ponta da Piedade. The scenery is stunning, with the golden sandstone cliffs and ridges, the almost-empty beaches and the clear blue of the sea making for a postcard view at every turn.

      For a few relaxing days Lagos is hard to beat, and even though we successfully avoided all history and culture (true to form, some might say), we’re still leaving with some great memories.      Read more

    • TravelerPortugal
      Day 16

      Lagos

      October 6, 2023 in Portugal ⋅ ☀️ 24 °C

      Ein kurzer morgentlicher Stop am Braia do .Zavial.
      Lagos ist die zweitgrösste Stadt der Westalgave. Das Flüsschen Ribeita de Bensafrim mündrt bei Lago ins Meer, am Hafen ist es in einen künstlich angeleften Kanal umgeleitet. Eine schöne Uferpromenade mit Palmen gesäumt ist der Blickfang der Stadt. Viele schöne Gassen laden zum flanieren ein.
      In Alvor auf dem Campingplatz werden wir unsere nächste Nacht verbringen. Inzwischen hat es über 30°.      Read more

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    • TravelerPortugal - Rota Vicentina
      Day 2

      1. Etappe Lagos-Luz

      January 11, 2023 in Portugal ⋅ 🌙 15 °C

      Es gibt nicht viel Beruhigenderes als Meeresrauschen oder? Besonders mag ich dieses leise sssssss, wenn das Wasser im Sand versinkt. Angekommen in Luz nach meiner 1. Etappe von 11km sitze ich hier nun am Strand und blicke aufs weite Meer hinaus. Viel gibt es nicht zu erzählen außer, dass mich das Meer und die Sonne und die Natur hier sehr schön empfangen. Mir geht es gut mit mir! Lassen wir die Bilder für sich sprechen.Read more

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    • TravelerWandern Südportugal
      1
      Day 19

      Delfine in Lagos

      November 14, 2022 in Portugal ⋅ ☁️ 19 °C

      Heute steht mal etwas ganz anderes auf dem Programm. Ich habe eine Bootstour gebucht und zwar zur Delfinbeobachtung. Das RIB (Rigid Inflatable Boat, mit dem schönen deutschen Namen Festrumpfschlauchboot) ist fix unterwegs und fährt mit ca. 10 Gästen weit raus. 1,5h soll die Tour dauern, aber nach 1h haben wir immer noch nichts gesehen außer ein paar Seevögeln.
      Ich habe mich schon damit abgefunden, als wir doch noch Glück haben und nahe einer großen Gruppe Basstölpel die Delfine finden. Es handelt sich um den gemeinen Delfin (Delphinus delphis), die häufigste Art hier.
      Durch Film und Fernsehen kennt man aber eher den Großen Tümmler.
      Das Boot fährt in die Nähe der Delfine, stellt den Motor ab und die Tiere scheinen von selbst zum Boot zu kommen, unter dem Boot hindurchzutauchen und auch in die Luft zu springen 🐬 😯
      Es sind viele, laut dem Guide 40-50 Tiere. Es ist ein grandioses Erlebnis, nachdem man eine Stunde lang auf den leeren Ozean gestarrt hat.
      Ich hoffe diese Art des Tourismus stresst die Tiere nicht, aber sie sollen von Natur aus neugierig und verspielt sein. Außerdem ist der Ozean ziemlich groß und die Delfine könnten bestimmt leicht ausweichen.
      Freundlicherweise überzieht die Crew die Zeit, damit wir ca. 25 min mit den Delfinen haben. Aber dann müssen wir leider wieder zurück in den Hafen.
      Auf dem Rückweg sehe ich noch die Grotten beim Leuchtturm von der Seeseite aus.
      Danach schlendere ich noch durch die hübsche Altstadt.      Read more

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    • TravelerCovid trip reimagined 23
      Day 32

      Cap St Vincent

      June 1, 2023 in Portugal ⋅ ☁️ 23 °C

      Walking trip from Fort, then on to Cap St Vincent. Guide Carla
      was excellent. We walked around the Cap de Sao Vincente. Carla
      had a huge interest in preserving the habitat. Everything is so wind blown and stunted. We saw palms that had grown into a clump of ‘bushes’ about 40 cms high, and lots of other examples of the result of constant wind. The lighthouse and Sagres fort was were the infant Henrique looked out at the ‘infinite sea with a huge will to unveil the world’ !
      After the three hour walk we drove into Sagres, heading to the port where the fishermen drop off their catch and the restaurant cooks up fish to order. Euan & I had bbq squid! With each fish dish potatoes and a simple salad are served! A great model! Our waiter was half English, half Portuguese and had a great wit. We’re were grateful for his help at the fish cabinet! We watched the fishermen unload their day’s catch into the room below.
      Much less coughing today! Cecily has succumbed to the lurge!
      Eke has had it for 17 days, Trish 15 days ( with a 10 days bronchitis bout prior)!!. 🤞Cecily can throw it off quicker than we have.      Read more

    • TravelerPortugal 🇵🇹🚴
      Day 3

      Lagos bis Portimao

      March 11 in Portugal ⋅ ☀️ 13 °C

      Entspannte 34 km. Nicht besonders schön zu radeln, weil fast durchgehend an der Straße entlang.
      Dafür sehen wir richtig viele Störche. Und machen immer wieder Abstecher an die Küste. Auch hier sehr beeindruckend. Steil abfallende Felsen, dazwischen herrliche Sandstrände.
      Heute haben wir ein tolles Hotel, mit Balkon direkt aufs Meer hinaus 😁      Read more

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    • Doteyboaty
      2
      Day 65

      A 70th birthday bash

      September 14, 2021 in Portugal ⋅ 🌧 22 °C

      We will be missing Margaret’s big Birthday celebrations in October so we do a surprise mini Birthday while she is here.
      Margaret always volunteers to help out with the shopping so I wasn’t able to buy a birthday cake without her seeing - she didn’t bat an eyelid when I put a huge cake in the trolley… Maybe it was because it said happy birthday in Portuguese not English.
      Today it was supposed to rain all day but Margaret’s optimism and sunny disposition shone through, and it was nice enough in the afternoon to go to the beach. Margaret and Donal headed there first and we hung back and decorated the boat. She got a great surprise when we got back from the beach, the cake hadn’t given away our plan at all - she just assumed I had bought it because I love cake.
      We had champagne and presents in the sunshine in the cockpit. The most precious gifts were the ones Ruby and Colm had bought themselves and the cards they had made. They had hit the tourist shops of Lagos before Margaret ever landed in Portugal. Ruby found her a traditional ceramic dish and Colm gave her a bag with a Portuguese tile pattern printed on it. In each pocket he had put a little surprise - a patterned pen, notebook and a Portugal postcard.

      For a celebratory dinner we go to a traditional restaurant which Margaret had enjoyed several times on previous trips here. The food is cooked on an open charcoal grill and we eat cuttle fish, ribs and tuna. The views are nearly as good as the boatyard - we are looking across at the train station.
      The party rolls on to the funfair and Margaret instigates a ride on the King - this will definitely catapult her into her seventies. Ronan, Colm and I join her and we start off laughing which quickly turns into screaming and as the King does a 360 overhead and thunders back around to the ground there is silence and white knuckles. Once the King slows down, our voices find laughter again. Margaret O’Driscoll’s joie de vivre is incredible.      Read more

    • Doteyboaty
      Day 64

      Nana and Grandad arrive

      September 13, 2021 in Portugal ⋅ ☁️ 24 °C

      It is such a pleasure to welcome Margaret and Donal to Regal in Lagos. Ruby and Colm bound down to meet them when they get dropped off at the Marina by taxi.

      Donal and Margaret have played such a big part in this trip. We have been inspired by their sailing adventures and they have been a huge support to us on ours. We are here thanks to them.
      We are so grateful for the countless hours of work Donal has spent on Regal over the last two years. We figure that he must be missing it by now so we treat him to a full day on her tweaking and improving things. We really spoil him by bringing him to a restaurant that’s next to the chandlery and right in the middle of the boatyard- the view wouldn’t be to everyone’s taste but the food is superb.
      We have a day at the beach where we set up camp and on the other two days in Lagos we get there for a swim and a jump in the waves. There are several trips to Pingo Doce Supermarket - primarily because you can get a coffee and a fresh Pastel da Nata there for €1… everyone was volunteering to do shopping.
      We crossed the footbridge several times to go into the main town of Lagos. It is a different experience there as Margaret observed, like another town. The Marina area has all you need and you go over the bridge to experience the hustle and bustle of the thriving tourist town.
      On our last day in Lagos we leave the Marina to tie up outside on the visitors berth. Access under the footbridge to and from the Marina is only available between 9am and 8pm and we want an early start in the morning. It is such fun watching the bridge lift up while the pedestrians wait and watch on either side - our moment of celebrity, we smile and wave for people’s holiday snaps.      Read more

    • Doteyboaty
      2
      Day 62

      A week in Lagos

      September 11, 2021 in Portugal ⋅ ⛅ 25 °C

      Lagos Marina is a lovely place to be. The Pontoon we are on is very big and lots of boats come and go and more ARC boats arrive. Perhaps it is the transient nature of it that makes it so friendly. We meet lots of different people who all have interesting stories.
      As I am walking into town I hear a heavily accented voice calling ‘ Margaret’ - I figure it couldn’t be me as I don’t know anyone here. It turns out that I do, It is Yerc, a young Dutch boat hitchhiker I had a met a few days earlier before he left for Portimao. He had hitched a ride on a 38 foot a English boat which had all the crew it needed as far as we could see. There was the owners, their 9 year old daughter, 20 year old son and another man as well as their Collie. I find sharing this space with my immediate family a squash and a squeeze so I am full of admiration for people who share their boat with strangers.
      Yerc is back in town looking for a lift to the Canaries and from there he plans on hitching a ride to the Caribbean. He is one of 3 young boat hitchhikers we meet in Lagos all hoping to cross the Atlantic, The most ambitious of them is a young French man who is trying to travel around the world without money.
      All on board Regal are all happy to be in one place for a while and with have a mix of jobs and fun here.
      We finally source wheels for our Dingy at the super chandlery here and Ronan installs them - This will make bringing the dingy ashore a whole lot easier from now on.
      We do a two trolley shop in the Pingo Doce supermarket and make a terrible racket wheeling the trolleys on cobbled paths past the lovely cafes at the marina interrupting people’s coffees and serenity. Shopping excursions take so much longer than at home and is a much sweatier affair. There is navigational challenge of an unfamiliar supermarket - doing four laps to find honey then hauling all the shopping back to the boat followed by stowing it in on the boat - in cupboards, under seats and under the floorboards. Feeling frazzled after all this, the best solution for the crew is an afternoon at the Marina pool - We pay a pretty penny to get in and we make the most of the pool, the loungers and the table service.
      During the week we have trips to the beautiful beach nearby and walks in and around the town which is humming with tourists. People are here from all over and we by the end of the week I don’t even twitch when I hear an Irish accent, it is so prevalent.
      We finally pull the school books out of their box in the bilges and start to get our heads around boat-schooling. After 2 hours of maths the books are shelved as preparations begin for Nana and Grandad arrival.
      I continue to do regular Orca watch online and am very happy for our sake that they seem to be migrating north.      Read more

    You might also know this place by the following names:

    São João, Sao Joao

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