The Algarve, Portugal

Portugal - seems to be the poor cousin to Spain. The unused ground, the poorly maintained secondary roads, the dirty, unpainted and shabby buildings, the lack of new construction all suggest Portugal is still struggling to get over its years of a nationalist and right wing dictatorship that persisted until the early 70's.

The Algarve is the southern coast of Portugal. We were told that "Al garve" means "the west" in Arabic. It is the southern coast of Portugal and west of Gibraltar. The soft yellow sandstone rocks that make up a lot of southern Spain gives  rise to the dusty dry soils of the area, and to the kilometres of yellow-brown cliffs and caves along the southern coast interspersed with beautiful beaches with their golden sands.

The beaches are beautiful - and thousand of tourist have a sit-in on the beaches all summer long to prove it. The beaches are crowded, the accommodation is full and expensive. But we were talking to a waitress in Lisbon who said the Algarve in winter is dead. So it is a matter of the locals 'pressing the olives' while they are around.

One of the highlights of our trip has been a 2 hour boat trip from Portimao along the southern coast to see the coastline and the numerous caves that are in the cliffs. The soft sandstone rocks have washed out over the years to give some amazing and spectacular caves. The boat was an open boat about 6-7m long, and held 15. It was small enough and low enough to get right into the caves.


The cliffs of soft sandstone stretch along the Algarve coast

The sea at work

There are a number of caves of various sizes and depths. Some you can go in one entrance and out another.


Your own private beach with your own private sun shaft accessible only by boat via a cave

The most famous of the Bengali caves. A lot of people swam here from a nearby beach.

The Lovers Cave with its heart-shaped vent above.

A lucky shot of a diver in mid-flight. Must be at least 8m high.

Praia de Carvoeiro - supposed to be among the top 10 beaches in the world. The setting was wonderful, the water was warm but finding a spot to lie down was a challenge. We spent a couple of hours here in the morning.


A local model posing? Just eating lunch in the shade.


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