Manta Rota day 2 & Tavira

Tues 16^th

A mixture of sunny spells and some cloud today but very pleasant in the sun. After lunch we cycled along to nearby Altura to check the free parking spot out. We found the marked cycle path which is marked out by a painted blue line to follow. The town was unremarkable and the parking spot not very pretty, much better in Manta Rota. 

We returned and sat down with our neighbours Pat & John formerly from Aberdeen. They have been coming to Portugal for years and know all the best places to stay. So maps out, pens ready, we listened to their advice and marked up our maps. It really is one of the best ways to find out where to go by chatting to our fellow motorhomers. We also have told people where we have been and recommended spots to stay.

Manta Rota autocaravannas parking

Weds 17^th

Beautifully and sunny all day, shorts weather again! We had a bit of excitement first thing - workmen had opened a fire hydrant close to the site entrance to drain a pipe ready for repair. What they didn’t bothered about was that it started to drain into the site and under our vans. Three of us had to quickly move all our chairs and shift the vans to another, drier spot pronto. Much shrugging of the shoulders from the site warden and the workman when asked why they hadn’t warned us? – jobsworth sprung to mind.

move quickly!

Scoot out we went into Tavira, 15 km along the coast. We parked up and I noticed a hairdressers, needing a haircut I enquired if they could cut my hair? 2 mins later I was in the chair having my hair washed. She then cut my hair, trimmed my eyebrows and hairy ears! My hair was then washed again to get rid of the annoying little bits, all of this for just €7. Tina then decided to have her hair cut as well. Same great service, both haircuts for €22. What a bargain. Tina was getting worried when she saw how much hair she was having cut off – but I think it looked good! The two girls were born in Switzerland and moved to Portugal. Their views on the Spanish were – “all fiesta & siesta, they don’t work hard enough” !!!!!! As for Spanish shops not opening on Sundays – “how could we survive with no shopping on Sundays???”  Very nice girls with a completely different outlook on things from us oldies.

Tavira was really interesting, with a warren narrow cobbled streets. The main bridge was built by the Romans. It was struck by the plague in 1645, then partially demolished in an earthquake in 1755. The castelo in the old town is only a shell, it dates from the 8^th century and has a lovely calm garden inside what remains of it today. The steps up to the ramparts have no rails and are not for the faint hearted.

Tavira riverside

Tavira Cathedral

We returned to the van via Cacela Velha, a tiny cluster of house overlooking the lagoon and nature reserve.  A cup of tea finished a really good day exploring. We like what we have seen so far in Portugal.

no hand rails....

Thurs 18^th

Oh dear, yet another sunny warm day J it was warm enough for tee shirt and shorts – on Dec 18^th!  When writing up my journal over breakfast I realized that we had exactly 100 days left to go of our adventure. Crikey, where has it all gone?

As the weather was so nice we decided to do some clothes washing and stay another day. It really was warm. A fellow Brit cycled past and stopped for a chat. He was fulltiming in a big old Mercedes van and in his words were “just chilling out for the karma man”  Nice, friendly bloke but definitely on the hippy side of relaxed.

After a lazy lunch in the sun we went for a stroll through the nature reserve and to a lagoon. Very quiet with lots of birds to observe. One particular type (a sanderling Tina reckons) was tiny and almost ran over the sand in their quest for food.  We returned along the beach, paddling in the shallows and looking for interesting shells to collect.  Did I mention we were feeling relaxed?

lagoon

really beached high

sunset

As we got back to the van John next door said that they had just seen a Swedish motorhomer attempt to drive over a boardwalk to get to the site. It had all gone horribly wrong, as 2 wheels had crashed through the boards leaving it stuck at a bit of an angle. Of course we had to go and take a look. Oops, seemingly another case of blindly following the sat nav’s directions.  The lady driver was being interviewed by the GNR (police) and will most likely have a fine to pay.  As I am typing this I can see the lights of a breakdown truck trying to extricate them.

stupid sat nav........