Jo’s Monday walk : Barril beach

Barril beach

Barril beach

I’m sure that some of you will be delighted to know that this is a walk where you can cheat hugely.  It’s definitely one to take the children along on, or maybe you have a husband who always wanted to be an engine driver?

Look what runs alongside the footpath! Too tempting!

Look what runs alongside the footpath- too tempting!

I can’t remember ever visiting the Eastern Algarve without a visit to Barril.  Come along with me and I’ll try to show you why it’s such a favourite.

If the weather’s not too warm and you’re feeling fairly energetic, you can start in the nearby village of Santa Luzia and complete a circular walk.  I’ll give you more details later.  For now, we’ve tossed the coin and decided to do it the easy way, from Pedras d’el Rei.  Your start point is beside the salt marshes and all you need to do is cross over the pontoon.

Looking back over the pontoon to Pedras d'el Rei

Looking back across the pontoon, to Pedras d’el Rei

There are distractions, of course.  A box of ripe figs alongside the pontoon!  I didn’t want to carry them with me on the outbound journey but I really hoped there might be a couple left on my return.  One thing’s for certain- the sea broom will be your constant companion along the way.

The sea broome in delicate shades of lilac

The sea broom, flowering in delicate shades of lilac

Isn't it pretty?

Isn’t it pretty?

One of the big attractions for me is the variety of wild flowers you will find alongside the path.

Many of them, I don’t know the name of
This one has tiny red ants crawling all over it!
This one’s plain. It reminds me of broccoli!
The grasses and their seed heads fascinate me
Just bursting with life!
And then there’s this tiny, delicate flower
And the yellow guy again!

I know this will be a challenge for my friend Jude.  She loves to identify flowers.

How about this one?

How about this one?  An Aeonium?

And you know this is my absolute favourite!

And you know this is my absolute favourite!  The Ice plant

Tiny crabs caper in the mud of the salt marshes.  I stopped to watch two in a courtly dance, but I don’t have a photo for you.  I’d left my ‘still ailing slightly’ camera back at the house, with the battery on charge, and I didn’t have the presence of mind to borrow Mick’s camera till we were part way there! (he didn’t offer till then, but he could see I was getting desperate)

I love the landscape

I love the landscape

With the hump of Monchique always in the background

With the hump of Monchique always in the background

As you approach the beach the flowers I have been calling Livingstone daisies, but I now find are Ice plants, appear in the dunes.  I featured a hot pink in my Six word Saturday, but in the Algarve they are more commonly lemon yellow.

Cacti and aloe vera begin to take over

Cacti and aloe vera begin to take over

And you're onto the boardwalk at Barril beach

And you’re onto the boardwalk, at Barril beach

A little detour to the anchors, of course!  They always capture the imagination.  A reminder of the days when the tuna fishing industry thrived in this area, the rusting “Cemetery of Anchors” provides a wonderful photo opportunity.  I would love to be there are sunset.

I liked the crisp catamaran beside the aged anchors

I like the modern catamarans, beached beside the ancient anchors

And there are beach bars , for refreshments

And there are beach bars too , for refreshment

Here you have a choice.  Remember I suggested a circular walk from Santa Luzia?  If you turn left when you reach the beach, 20-30 minutes walk along it will bring you to a point opposite Santa Luzia,  to which a ferry runs in Summer.  Access is across a long boardwalk.  My husband suggests that you should do this longer walk the other way around, starting with the ferry from Santa Luzia, to ensure that it is running.  He is a very practical soul.

But you and me are going back the way we came.  I still have those figs to collect, remember?  We might even cheat and take that train.  It’s a holiday, after all!

Use it or lose it?

Who doesn’t love the age of steam?

It carries water, beer and anything else the ilha needs

The little train carries water, beer and anything else the ilha needs

Crossing back over the pontoon, I’m not very surprised to find the ‘fig man’ gone.  But then I spot him, coming towards me, wheeling his bike with fresh supplies on the saddle.  He sees me too, and stops, the bike propped against his leg.  ‘Help me, please’, he says, in smiling English, and invites me to take a plastic bag from under his arm.  In doing so, I catch the edge of his cardboard box and the figs start to tip!  We both lunge for them and manage to stop all but one from crashing to the floor.  Phew!  They are 5 for 1 euro, and he pops an extra one into my bag. Thankfully all his customers are not as ‘helpful’ as me.

I haven’t even shown you the beach yet, but it’s a beauty.  Barril is just a small area of Tavira Island, which starts at the mouth of the River Gilao and rolls westward.  If you don’t have a car, a bus will take you from Tavira town centre to Santa Luzia, 15 minutes away, and continues on to Pedras d’el Rei, just a few minutes further west.

I guess I have to show you the beach?

I guess I have to show you the beach!

Next week I think I might take you on the walk where I fell down a ‘hole’.  Life’s seldom dull, is it?

I think I should maybe design a ‘rules’ page for the walks, too.  Not that there are any rules really, but then I wouldn’t have to bore you with the details each time.  Please spend a little while visiting these walks.  They give me an enormous amount of pleasure and I’m very grateful.

Drake has us perilously climbing a French ruin :

http://ledrakenoir.wordpress.com/2014/06/11/no-ordinary-forest-outing/

You know Yvette loves art?  Meet Modigliani! :

http://priorhouse.wordpress.com/2014/06/10/dinner-with-modigliani-monday-walk-wjo/

Alberta is staggeringly beautiful, until Sue almost comes nose to nose with a bear :

http://traveltalesoflife.com/2014/06/10/canmore-abandoned-coal-mines-and-a-black-bear-bonus/

I got really excited when a newcomer to my blog took me on a walk beside the Seine :

http://kanwalkwilltravel.com/2014/06/14/a-walk-along-la-siene/

And my plant expert, Jude, has excelled herself in the Lost gardens of Heligan :

http://smallbluegreenflowers.wordpress.com/2014/06/09/garden-portrait-the-lost-gardens-of-heligan-part-ii/

Paris is popular this week!  Isn’t it always?  Christine’s is delectable! :

http://dadirridreaming.wordpress.com/2014/06/17/walk-around-la-madeleine/

 

Happy walking, one and all!

125 comments

  3. Pingback: Jo’s Monday Walk: A Garden Walk in Ronda Countryside | The World Is a Book...

    1. Thanks, Viv 🙂 Have a lovely meet up with Tilly. I didn’t know whether I should suggest joining you but thought 3 might be a crowd. I’d hate to spoil anything and you and Tilly go back a long way.

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  9. Jo, another beautiful walk in Tavira. I love the boardwalk, the cacti and aloe vera, and the anchor cemetery. And of course the figs! Can’t wait to read about the walk where you fell into a hole! That I would have liked to have seen. 🙂

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    1. I was a bit of a mess when they dragged me out, Cathy, but survived to tell the tale 🙂 What would life be without the odd slip? (or 50!) If you ever get back to ours I’ll take you to Santa Luzia and Barril.
      I keep checking for new posts from you but I know you have other things on your mind. I’m already looking forward to the China blog 🙂

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      1. Glad I finally saw your story of the fall, Jo. And I’m glad you survived to tell the tale!! Please be careful! I hope I will get back your way one day. Maybe I’ll drag Mike along to meet yours! I’m looking forward to China too. It should be an adventure for sure. 🙂

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  10. Well, it’s late in the day, very late, but I made it for your gorgeous walk Jo, phew…just what I needed, now I’ll sleep very well indeed!
    Where to begin? What a glorious place, the beach looks divine and I do love to see all those wildflowers (and yes, Jude is great at identifying them!). Ice plant grows prolifically in California, especially where we first lived by the bay. They do so well in arid, sandy soil and I love the way they close their heads at night 😉 The anchors on the beach are fascinating and of course, as you say, what beats a ride on a steam train? Glad I could hop on as I am a little tired now…so I’ll just take in the fabulous landscape. Looks very windswept, and I love that…!
    Thanks for another great walk Jo, loved every minute of it.. 😀

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    1. Thanks for staying up to walk with me, Sherri 🙂 A good way to unwind at the end of the day. I know you’ll have crawled into bed, pulled the duvet up and drifted right off 🙂
      I am lucky to be able to go there, Sherri. Trouble is it makes you want more! Especially as it’s been so grey and miserable here since my return. I lie- we had 3/4 of a sunny day and then a couple of hours one evening! Ah, well- I’m still smiling 🙂

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      1. I did drift right off Jo…thank you 🙂
        Did you get some sunshine yesterday? It was lovely here but gloomy today. I can understand you wanting to go back…;-)
        I’m going to post another walk about Barrington Court later today to show everyone what it’s like now in June as compared to March, so I’ll link to your Monday Walk too…hope you enjoy! 😀

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    3. Oooh, Barrington Court in June – I will look forward to that Sherri. It was June when I visited, 5 years ago returning from Somerset. It was gorgeous!!

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      2. Well, I hope so Jude! But you will be cross with me because I didn’t have my camera (thought I did, my oversight) so used my phone, which was fine, except that my battery was low so I couldn’t take as many as I wanted. Still, hopefully what I got will give an idea of how much it has changed in just a few months…and yes, you are right, it is gorgeous there right now.

        Although… Jo…not going to make it today (pushing it) so will post it on Friday for sure. I was being a tad overambitious… 🙂

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    4. Thank you so much, Sherri 🙂 I had already retired to the bath with a book when you posted this so it’s early morning reading for me. Then I must scurry to finish 6WS. It’s all ‘hurry, hurry’, isn’t it? And the sun’s shining so I’m hoping for breakfast in the garden before I walk down through the park to my zumba class.
      Hope you have a lovely weekend plan. Or just relax and be lazy 🙂 Not easy with the family about! Have a joyful one, whatever! Hugs!

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      1. No problem, just glad I got there in the end, haha!! That sounds wonderful…a nice bath and a book! You are a very busy lady Jo! I had breakfast in the garden with hubby who just got back last night from a business trip a couple of hours away from Prague 🙂 Hope the sun is still shining for you 😎
        A nice, chilling weekend thanks Jo, out with friends later. You have a lovely weekend too and see you Monday…hugs right back to you 🙂 x

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  13. Love the beach! The eastern Algarve looks lovely Jo. Thanks for name-dropping! But I can’t identify these flowers – the yellow one looks like a common thistle and I’d day that those red ants are actually spider-mites – horrible things. And what’s not to like about fresh figs.
    With goats’ cheese and pomegranate dressing – yummy 😀

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      2. Bless you, hon, you’re working overtime! 🙂 I’m just doing a windows for tomorrow. Hard to drag myself in out of the garden tonight. The sun finally materialised after days of grey. Thanks Jude 🙂

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      3. It has been beautiful here all day, and this is when I really miss a garden to sit out in and enjoy, I really do need to find a house. With a garden!

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  15. Enjoyed every minute of that Jo, flowers, figs and all 🙂 Have never heard of an anchor cemetery before. Makes for a surreal landscape!

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