Today is the 14th of June and waving goodbye to Spain for a little while, we ventured into Portugal. Of course, I immediately got things wrong. (As of today, the 21st, still not sorted)
On a happier note, the weather has cooled slightly for Tippi and she is a bit more energetic. Day one and we decided to go into Portugal quite a ways before stopping. Barragem do Arade was the first stop and it brought back a good few memories of coming here with the boys all those years ago. I then got reminded about the murders that have happened locally and decided to ignore the stories. Ignorance is bliss. I told someone (some of you know her, I’m sure) back in NI about this and she promptly looked it up, and I quote:
“I googled it and there’s been quite a few murders in the area in recent years, too!! 😳
I think you need to move on and get the fuck away from Portugal’s murder capital!!! “
I chose to ignore this sage advice too, sorry.
It was lovely and quiet with only one murderous mosquito 🦟 to have to deal with during the night.
Sunrise was serene and before long we made our way on to another old haunt from way back when, that we all loved for being off the beaten track with a gorgeous beach and a river flowing through it.
Nice beaches for lunch and from atop the cliff here it was lovely. Another old haunt ticked off the list before we went to our next sleepover destination.
Being so hot and no respite from the sun, we moved a bit inland to one of the Barragems I’d visited way back when. Last time we thought it looked like a short walk around the lake, it was probably only 30% full at most at the time and we set off unprepared for the epic journey ahead. My sensible footwear of flip flops, broke maybe a quarter of the way around… Mmm, you get the idea. Tippi and I didn’t try that this time.
We did think quite seriously about staying here for the whole day but for a change, we’re on something of a schedule 😢 to get back to the land of yobs throwing petrol bombs at police and foreign invaders, apparently.
On the way to Evora, we stopped for a looky-loo at the monolithic “Big Balls Henge” (my name for it because I’m a child) and boy, was the “road” there a wee bit dismal.
I remembered Evora for it’s very cool Temple of Diana and how it was even used as a market butchers location. Needless to say, I went back to it. Tippi and I both battled with the heat though.
About 25 minutes away from Evora, another old haunt. Barragem do Divor. Like all of my old lake favourites, there’s a lot more water in them this time thanks to a whole winter of rain that the tourists all moaned about…
The water here was lovely, warm close to shore and nice and chilly a bit deeper. Needless to say, Tippi camped in it. I did join her often though, at least once or twice an hour until sunset. Consider my weekly, and monthly, bath taken.
Great spot to camp and the Storks weren’t too loud for me. This one was in a tree about twenty metres away. They are now considered a bit of a pest in Portugal as they no longer migrate south for the winter, global warming has meant they can’t be arsed to fly away when it’s warm enough to stay here and ruin their own habitat by over hunting, and ruining all the places they try to nest. This one is in a tree, the amount of nests I saw on power pylons on my drive is staggering.
Next major stop was a lovely lake, with free WiFi? Barragem do Caldeirão
The afternoon was boiling hot and swims were often, but then a big storm moved in and pelted it down for a while. The temperature went from 31° to 24° in about an hour. It felt like stepping into a fridge. Bliss!
31°? I laugh at your idea of heat, says future me.
Then… Then came perfection.
I almost feel like Alex Garland when he wrote ‘The Beach’ and the slight paranoia that comes with finding such a perfect spot that you don’t want to tell anyone about it. Because they’ll ruin it. That’s just what humans do. So I’m going to be selfish, and not broadcast the location, but if you ask nicely…
I’ll probably nicely ignore you…