Jo’s Monday walk : Remember Culatra?

Some weeks I have no idea where to take you.  After all, there are only so many hills I can drag you up and down in search of cake, aren’t there?  So, I thought we’d take it fairly easy this week and hop on a boat.  Always my default setting.  You might recognise the marina at  Olhão, above.

With 20 minutes of smooth calm sailing, you just about have time to say goodbye to the mainland before you’re approaching Culatra, one of the Algarve’s barrier islands.  You can leap off at the first stop, or continue along the shoreline towards the lean white lighthouse at Farol.  There’s a small village at either end of the island and, after a meander through the cluster of villas and shacks, you can slip off your shoes for a paddle.

It looks like somebody’s been shipwrecked here!  Still, with a ferry every couple of hours, rescue is pretty certain.  It’s a long swim to Fuzeta!

Paddling done it’s time to cross over the boardwalk and pootle about with boats.  I’ll not spend time lingering among the narrow alleyways, charming though they are.  If you remember, we had a good look around last time I brought you here.  A lot of work is going on, laying new paths on the island, so maybe change is afoot.  Hopefully nothing too drastic!

It doesn’t always pay to nose around.  I almost fell foul of this little creature.  He was sitting innocently beside a boat, when I unwittingly invaded his territory.  Leaping and snarling, he made quite sure that I wasn’t up to no good.  I beat a hasty retreat, making what I hoped were soothing noises.

The seagulls were completely indifferent but a couple of small boys playing football were highly amused.  I raised a cheer when I lobbed their ball back to them, over a fence.  Kids here lead a simple life.  In warmer weather they become water babies, diving off the pier again and again, to the cheers of their mates, and swimming like gleeful fish.

On board again, we chug back across the water.  Entertainment is provided by some fellow passengers feeding the gulls, which swoop and perform aerobatics to snatch the bread.  In no time we’re ashore and strolling along the quayside, seeking refreshment.

We find it down an inviting passageway.  Such a nice reward for a minimum of effort.  Healthy, too?  I hope you enjoyed sharing.

More great walks this week.  Do find time to read them, please.  You might make some new friends.  And if you can, join me next week on Jo’s Monday walk?  You know I like a bit of company.

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Cathy honoured me with a link to her Camino walk last week, but I missed it.  Please don’t!

(Camino: day 4) Zubiri to Pamplona

And sometimes she takes me places I’ve never even heard of!  Who says blogging isn’t educational?

Great Sand Dunes National Park

I’m always in awe of her photography, and jealous of the places she’s been.  Thanks so much, Debs!

Victoria Harbour walk

You can share anything on my walks… and Drake often does!  🙂

Equipment

Denzil is right on my wavelength.  A peaceful riverside walk with a castle or two  :

Walking around Westerlo: river, castles and an abbey!

When she’s not eating, she’s shopping!  Always good fun with Jackie :

Market Fresh

All the way to Guatemala next, with Natalie :

Postcard from Antigua, Guatemala

Lisa’s taking us on one of her favourite walks, by the Hudson river :

Jo’s Monday Walk

A short walk with a stroller sometimes suits Alice :

The Welcome Station City

While Irene cheers us with ice blue (and a warm coat and scarf!) :

Sunshine and Blue Skies

Snow can look so pretty, but I’m keeping a safe distance!  🙂  Thanks, Eunice :

A snowy walk to Smithills Hall

Ending with Susan, and some fascinating memories of her time in the Peace Corps, and a very different world  :

Walking Bogota, Colombia

Have a great week, everybody!  Me?  I have another week of walking, t’ai chi, stuttering along in Portuguese and hopefully more lovely sunrises.

168 comments

  1. Pingback: Monday walk…This yard looks sharp! | This, that and the other thing

  3. Another beautiful boat ride and wander, Jo. Oh, the sea and the colorful boats in the marina remind me of that boat ride we took when I came to visit. I can’t wait to see the sea in April and May!! I’m glad that little dog didn’t nip at your heels, though I’m sure he gave you a scare. And thanks for the two links! 🙂

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  4. What a wonderfully relaxed walk, even with the yappy dog as the finale. One can never be too careful when approaching boats, I’ve found dogs are often left to guard the property and they can be vicious. A bite means so much time spent in A & E while you are assessed and without the dog it usually means a nasty injection. I’ve been with two friends when this happened, both times in Spain. Look forward to your walk in Spain next week. Incidentally, how will you cope post-Brexit? Do you have a Polish passport as well as a UK one?

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    1. We have Portuguese residency now, Mari, and are hoping there won’t be too many difficulties. It’s all smoke and mirrors at the moment, isn’t it? We need to come to the UK in Summer to do some child minding so we’ll see then. 😍🌹🌻💕 xx

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  12. Pingback: Burials in Old Calton Cemetery – Travel with Intent
  15. Pingback: A snowy walk to Smithills Hall – Life In The Mouse House

  17. The kids in Portugal/Spain especially the countryside do have a simpler life and very reminiscent of our childhood years. Simple meals, hearty and even when money was short we were never hungry. Well, if we were there was always a biscuit tin to raid. I digress!! Looks an interesting area Jo, to wile away a few hours.

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    1. That’s what’s missing in my Algarve life! A biscuit tin 🙂 🙂 Though having said that, he eats them faster than they could go in the tin! Cake too 😦 Thanks for the lovely reminiscences, Suzanne.

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  18. We haven’t been out yet to Culatra, Farol or even Armona yet this stay!! How hopeless are we?!

    Glad you escaped the dog and found cake, really looking forward to catching up properly on Wednesday with more cake on Wednesday 😊

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    1. You’re not really a sailor, so why should you? 🙂 🙂 Hope they’re not doing anything major over there. There were a lot of diggers. I seem to fall foul of a lot of dogs lately 😦 Yes- see you Wednesday. Robert’s sister here yet?

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      1. They’ve been removing houses 😕 leaving some people homeless and others without their summer homes. They claim it’s about preserving the Islands but given some of the destroyed homes had been there decades not so sure about that.

        You need a stick and dog biscuits!

        And yes arrived safely over weekend 😊

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  19. All that wonderful water and sand and seagulls – haven’t seen any of them for a while. But a yappy dog? Who leaps and licks and eats plastic buckets and mobile phones and paint brushes? Got one of them! Joins me in bed, sometimes with the cat and the mature dog. Not much different from Warsaw and twins. You sound so wonderfully relaxed. Hope all the aches and pains have gone. Sending an Australian hug.

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