From Órgiva in Andalusia, Spain, it took a full day of driving – and topping up with expensive fuel thanks to the newly created war – in our rental car to reach the final two Portuguese destinations of our Southern Iberian Peninsula trip.
Sniffing the air in the Portuguese countryside
It was the middle of March by then. We had a five-night gap between two-week rentals and, since I wanted to explore the Algarve a bit more, I had booked a short stay in São Teotónio, in Portugal’s Alentejo region. Sleeping in the actual Algarve province was cost prohibitive for us.
São Teotónio and the West Coast
The only nice day in the forecast was the day after we arrived, a Monday. An online friend of mine – fellow memoir author and successful artist Alison Sheldrake – lived in nearby Aljezur and we agreed to meet for lunch that day in Odemira, only a ten-minute drive north of us.
To fully take advantage of the sunshine that day, Mark, Maya, and I set out on a coastal walk in the morning, which might not have been the best idea as we showed up to our date sweaty and exhausted!
(As always, hover over or click on photos in galleries to read their captions.)
Nevertheless, it was a great opportunity to check out two pretty beaches that are part of the famous Fisherman’s Trail. One even had a waterfall!
For a couple of hours, we enjoyed local food and getting to know Alison and her husband, Dave, better. Their rescue dog, Zara, and ours, Maya, got along just fine. Well, both pretty much ignored each other after the initial introduction. It was a lovely time.
Rain was predicted for the following afternoon. Once again, we tried to make the best of the weather before that happened by driving farther north and focusing on exploring the coast and another section of the Fisherman’s Trail.
We started at Furnas Beach, which sported a wide stretch of sand and the mouth of the Mira River. Curious about the town across the river, we made the 20-minute detour into Vila Nova de Milfontes to check it out.
Then, we followed a dirt road for a while to gaze over a cliff and cove before reaching Cavaleiro Beach. We didn’t feel energetic enough to climb down to the actual sand and then back up again.
Instead, we continued our drive to the lighthouse to eat our sandwich lunch on the boardwalk and check out popular Cabo Sardão while backpacking hikers continuously passed by.
By the time we reached the cute village of Zambujeira do Mar, threatening clouds had gathered. We stubbornly walked through town and along the cliff trail before running back to the car as the first fat raindrops appeared.
The weather remained crappy for the rest of our stay in the area. We dealt with research, searching for a 4×4 Vario van, travel logistics, future bookings in France, and job and writing tasks for me. In between storms, we walked into the center of São Teotónio for groceries.
Ironically, our shortest stay during these 2.5 months in southern Europe turned out to be the most pleasant regarding accommodation. This small rental house – for once – had everything we needed, including modern appliances. Unfortunately, the weather wasn’t nice enough to sit outside on the patio.
