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selenakOn to my last but one post. The very last will be posted from Germany and only happens if I get lucky tomorrow, my departure day, because the flight doesn’t leave until the evening, which means after driving from the Algarve back to Lisbon another crack at the Jeronimo monastery, the inside. This time, I booked tickets. But for now, one more pictorial ode to the beauty of rocks and the sea. For after all that hiking, we did join a boat tour to visit the various grottos and caves sea, erosion and air formed out of rocks from the sea side. And I’m happy to share some of the most beautiful results with you.
Most cave tours start at Carveioro, this city, which we only visited in passing, due to it being packed full of other people. Also, it’s supposedly the St. Tropez of the Algarve.
But it does have a good beach to get on a boat on. You’re up to nine or so people (we were seven), plus a guide and a captain, and you cruises along the Algarve coast.
Where you start to see profiles when looking at cliffs:
And admire bays that used to be private. When the Portuguese overthrew their own version of fascism, they also ensured that all beaches should be accessible to all the people all the time. So no private property beaches or private hotel beaches. This one, Cavalho, used to be one, though
Then your boat start to steer inside those dark gaps that form cave entrances. Like the cave nicknamed the Hippo Cave.
Entrance and exit. I love the colours, don’t get me wrong, but being inside looking out suddenly reminded me of my least favourite scene in “Return to Night”, one lesser known novel by Mary Renault. *waves at Naraht*
Most of these caves or grottos or bays get their light through an opening in the cliff structure. Like here:
The Looking Glass Cave:
Sometimes you wonder whether your boat will fit…
On to the entrance of the Cathedral Cave, where according to our guide the local fishermen go to pray for a good season:
Time for another profile:
Some places are overcrowded (we’ll get to the star attraction soon), some, nearby, no less, are lonely, like here, despite their beauty.
The star attraction is the Benagil Cave. Famous for being accessible only by water, either by boat or through swimming, not by land. Here’s how you approach one of the two entrances:
And that’s what you see:
I wouldn’t want to be a kajak paddler in that crowd, but I was mightly impressed by Benagil all the same.
Now, the cave tour ends with Marinha. As a reminder, from the land, Marinha looks like this:
Whereas if you approach by sea, the rocks form, as our guide pointed out, a “drinking elephant”:
The rock in the middle has an animal nick name, too. Care to guess?
King Kong!
The signature rocks are of course the double arches. For Minbari or MacDonald’s, depending on your fannish persuasion.
Our boat guide mentioned that the way we took by boat is also one of the most popular walking tours, “The Trail of the Seven Hanging Valleys”, between Carvoeiro and Marinha. I had walked what I thought the majority of it already in smaller installments, but once we were returned to Carvoeiro, I decided to walk back the entire route, and then the additional bit from Marinha to Porches where we are staying. Considering I photographed most of the valleys already, I’m presenting only a few locations new to me here:
See, if you pull stunts like this, then no wonder you pray for divine help with your fishing!
Another beautiful lighthouse, Alfansina.
That was yesterday. Today, we rounded off our time in the Algarve by visiting a few beaches more via walking, because it will be years till I’m able to come back here again, and it’s all so incredibly beautiful. This grotto and little cove, for example, is hidden near the Praia Coelho:
Some praias earlier, at Praia Castelo, low tide presents us with this:
and this:
And it’s time for one more Portuegese church at a distance, this one called Senhora da Rocha:
For my sea-and-rocks finale, I present an early morning walk I did, because morning and evening light are best, and what a way to say goodbye to a country that has completely swept me away:
And that’s almost a wrap up, except if my online booking means I won’t have to queue long enough to miss my flight and I do get a chance to see the fabled Manuelismo in monastery form tomorrow before returning to Germany and Darth Real Life.
Most cave tours start at Carveioro, this city, which we only visited in passing, due to it being packed full of other people. Also, it’s supposedly the St. Tropez of the Algarve.
But it does have a good beach to get on a boat on. You’re up to nine or so people (we were seven), plus a guide and a captain, and you cruises along the Algarve coast.
Where you start to see profiles when looking at cliffs:
And admire bays that used to be private. When the Portuguese overthrew their own version of fascism, they also ensured that all beaches should be accessible to all the people all the time. So no private property beaches or private hotel beaches. This one, Cavalho, used to be one, though
Then your boat start to steer inside those dark gaps that form cave entrances. Like the cave nicknamed the Hippo Cave.
Entrance and exit. I love the colours, don’t get me wrong, but being inside looking out suddenly reminded me of my least favourite scene in “Return to Night”, one lesser known novel by Mary Renault. *waves at Naraht*
Most of these caves or grottos or bays get their light through an opening in the cliff structure. Like here:
The Looking Glass Cave:
Sometimes you wonder whether your boat will fit…
On to the entrance of the Cathedral Cave, where according to our guide the local fishermen go to pray for a good season:
Time for another profile:
Some places are overcrowded (we’ll get to the star attraction soon), some, nearby, no less, are lonely, like here, despite their beauty.
The star attraction is the Benagil Cave. Famous for being accessible only by water, either by boat or through swimming, not by land. Here’s how you approach one of the two entrances:
And that’s what you see:
I wouldn’t want to be a kajak paddler in that crowd, but I was mightly impressed by Benagil all the same.
Now, the cave tour ends with Marinha. As a reminder, from the land, Marinha looks like this:
Whereas if you approach by sea, the rocks form, as our guide pointed out, a “drinking elephant”:
The rock in the middle has an animal nick name, too. Care to guess?
King Kong!
The signature rocks are of course the double arches. For Minbari or MacDonald’s, depending on your fannish persuasion.
Our boat guide mentioned that the way we took by boat is also one of the most popular walking tours, “The Trail of the Seven Hanging Valleys”, between Carvoeiro and Marinha. I had walked what I thought the majority of it already in smaller installments, but once we were returned to Carvoeiro, I decided to walk back the entire route, and then the additional bit from Marinha to Porches where we are staying. Considering I photographed most of the valleys already, I’m presenting only a few locations new to me here:
See, if you pull stunts like this, then no wonder you pray for divine help with your fishing!
Another beautiful lighthouse, Alfansina.
That was yesterday. Today, we rounded off our time in the Algarve by visiting a few beaches more via walking, because it will be years till I’m able to come back here again, and it’s all so incredibly beautiful. This grotto and little cove, for example, is hidden near the Praia Coelho:
Some praias earlier, at Praia Castelo, low tide presents us with this:
and this:
And it’s time for one more Portuegese church at a distance, this one called Senhora da Rocha:
For my sea-and-rocks finale, I present an early morning walk I did, because morning and evening light are best, and what a way to say goodbye to a country that has completely swept me away:
And that’s almost a wrap up, except if my online booking means I won’t have to queue long enough to miss my flight and I do get a chance to see the fabled Manuelismo in monastery form tomorrow before returning to Germany and Darth Real Life.
