Jo’s Monday walk : Culatra- an easy amble

I’m going to be a bit lazy for my first walk back with you.  After all, I’m still in the Algarve, nominally on holiday, but in fact testing out a new lifestyle to see if it suits me.  Many of you won’t be surprised to find that it does.  I have taken you to Ilha da Culatra before, but my Stroller friends were going there recently and I just had to tag along.  I’m sure you’ll see the attraction.

Culatra is an island of fisherfolk, but it doesn’t spurn the attention of tourists or beach worshippers who make the effort to cross over from the mainland.  I regularly promote Enjoy the Algarve, a monthly online magazine full of fascinating events and details.  Culatra features briefly this month and I thought you might like to see a little more.

Smooth as a millpond
Count the seabirds?
Boats for working and pleasure

Embarkation from Olhão is an easy affair.  Ida e volta will get you a return ticket.  We chose to disembark at Farol, the second port of call on this long, barrier island, guarded by a strut of a lighthouse with a red cap.

Weaving between a few cottages and a restaurant, almost immediately you reach the beach.

I couldn’t decide quite what the waves were jumping so playfully over, but they held me captive so that I had to scoot to catch up with the others.  Of course, you can linger at the beach for as long as you like, but the walkers are single-minded folk and food was a top priority.  A boardwalk turns inland, leading back to the village of Culatra, the first port of call.

I couldn’t take my eyes off the bougainvillea
You can feel the heat!
Abandoned?
Maybe I’d stay at this one
With it’s delicious flowers

To escape the heat of the sun there are several restaurants.  As usual I was more interested in my surroundings than food, so I grabbed a quick bite and set off again with my camera.

This villa was opposite my restaurant
The shells were set into the wall
Making a grand image
Another contender for favourite flower
Half a boat is better than none?
No idea who they support?
Here’s a clue
Another pot or two
And a simple veranda

It’s a very basic lifestyle.  Sand and sea rule and necessities have to be shipped from the shore.  As I’m writing this a thunderstorm is rattling overhead and I know that the islands are in the frontline for inclement weather.  Hard to imagine on a day like this, but I’ve heard this ocean roar.

It’s a gritty shoreline
With green hued urchins
Abandoned boats aplenty
And even acrobatic seagulls
And the distant gleam of sandbars

There’s an element of scruffiness that doesn’t suit everybody.  No manicured greens to tee off on here.  But I was highly amused to find, right by the water’s edge, a miniature football pitch.  Evidence of another Portuguese passion!

And then it’s time to make for the ferry, wending back past ochre houses, idle bikes and always a twist or two of flowers.

The still calm waters of Olhão await, Becky.  No changes yet!

I hope you’ve enjoyed being back in the Algarve with me.  I still have another week or so to go.  My daughter joins me on Sunday so I expect to be quite distracted but I’ll try to post another walk next week, and keep up with comments on this one.  Take good care till then!

Please find time to check out these walks, if you haven’t already done so.  Many thanks to all of you for your loyalty and support, even while I’ve been absent.  Special thanks to Meg and to Jude for lovely birthday surprises for me.

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I am a huge admirer of this lady’s work, so thank you very much for joining me, Debbie :

Street art galore

Another lady who always produces beautiful work.  Take yourself strolling with Susan :

A Saturday Stroll at Wave Hill

A Leisurely Sunday Stroll through Brooklyn’s Green-Wood Cemetery

I wonder what Jackie might have cooked up this week?

Home cookin’

There’s nothing like good company on a walk.  Tobias has a style all his own, and I love it :

Perigueux

Les Jardins d’Eau

Candy takes me to parts of Brittany I didn’t even know existed :

Pilgrim Route and Chapels

There’s much more to Birmingham than meets the eye, and you can rely on Becky to find it :

Dragons, Rags and Shiny Things

What’s Woolly been up to?  Keeping very busy!

Jo’s-Monday-Walk-Wk39_Le-Hamel_Australian-Memorial

Jo’s-Monday-Walk-Wk40_Le-Hamel_Australian-Memorial-2

Jo’s-Monday-Walk-Wk41_Tank-Monument

Carol explores her own backyard, but Australia’s a big country :

Staying Up, Looking Out

I do love a garden, and Cadyluck Leedy has a really fine one to share :

Jo’s Monday Walk : Sandhills Horticultural Gardens

And a place I’ve always wanted to visit :

Jo’s Monday Walk : Mont Saint Michel, France

Why not try it Marsha’s way?  The scenery is beautiful, even if the company is grumpy :

Why We Didn’t Take the Train to the Grand Canyon from Sedona

How to Get Someone Out of a Grouchy Mood Even if you’re at the Grand Canyon

I wouldn’t have expected to miss fog, but Jude’s walk on misty Bodmin is hauntingly lovely :

The Cheesewring

And finally, Kaz gladdens the heart with a gazillion, glorious jacaranda!

Jacarandas of Woolloomooloo 

Much love to you all from my sunny Algarve home.  See you soon!

 

166 comments

  1. Your photos pull me right in! My bougainvillea is blooming beautifully right now, too, and it must be that our climate holds some similarity to the Algarve. I could be very comfortable on those beautiful beaches, that certain. I’m sure you’ll have a very special time with your daughter. Enjoy!

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    1. Hello, Debbie 🙂 🙂 Good to hear from you! I think there are definite similarities (and in some of the coastline too, though obviously not here in the eastern Algarve where it’s flat). I’m getting excited for Lisa’s visit. We’ve already had my son and partner, and her 5 year old, which was novel for me and great fun. Thanks, darlin!

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  2. Looks like a lovely spot, Jo, whether surroundings or food are your priority. Got to have the second to keep seeing the first, right? 🙂 Enjoy your time with your daughter. I’ll be seeing our younger one in just over a week. Hurrah!

    janet

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  4. I quite like places that are a little ragged around the edges – not fond of anything too perfect!
    And I really, really envy the ‘ease’ of travel you Brits Europeans have (airfare-wise). It is so expensive to travel in and out of Canada.
    I have a walk post planned – but it is still in my head and in my camera…. will work on it.
    Enjoy your time showing your daughter around.
    and belated birthday wishes – hope you can keep on celebrating 🙂

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  10. Do I get the sense that you may be considering permanence in the Algarve? I can absolutely understand why this may be so. These photos are stunning – again – and I’m saving a few boats for boatophile J. I’m glad you sacrificed food for some delicious details. The flowerings are wonderful against cream and mustard. Very different palette from my daybreak beach walk. I loved coming home to the contrast. Are you looking forward to the return to other home? Hugs veiled in pink dawn.

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    1. Yes, this is the beginning of the ‘run in’, Meg. If not now, then when? It will be nice to share it all with Lisa, even if only for a few days, but it’s almost as easy for her to visit me here as at ‘home’. I did tell her I couldn’t guarantee the weather here, to which she replied ‘and you can in Hartlepool in November?’ 🙂 🙂 She’s no sun worshipper but I’d like fine weather to show her around (but no beaches 🙂 ). It will be strange, no doubt, and there will be things that I miss, but on balance…. 🙂
      Incidentally, I had a lovely surprise phone call yesterday from one of my Polish uncles. I tried my very hardest to summon a few Polish words but I was smiling fit to bust. Thank you for the hugs, my lovely friend.

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  16. I wasn’t familiar with the Portuguese word culatra but I looked it up and found it means the kind of breech that is ‘the part of a firearm behind the barrel.’ I’ve searched a bit online but haven’t found an explanation for that name.

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  20. So happy to see a new post, Jo! And this was another beautiful walk. I can see why you find the Algarve so appealing. As always, I look forward to the next walk, and thank you for linking to two of mine. You’re always a generous blogging friend.

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