We were fairly successful in getting up early. I think we arrived in Taviras at about 11am. The bike ride there was lovely, and we saw all the things we'd missed out on last night due to the darkness. We were quite excited to spot a young flamingo (the young ones are grey instead of pink), but were not very good at sneaking up on it. It turns out that they straighten the U bend neck out while flying.
The salt pans were full of little tracks running between them and we've decided to go back again tomorrow for a couple of hours and have a good look round. We've had enough of towns now.
We were boiling hot again when we arrived, which gave us a good excuse to have an ice cream. We had another wander round, bought some tacky mementos, and then when I got freaked out by the man pretending to be a statue winking at me we had a couple of pre lunch beers.
We wanted to have lunch in a particular restaurant called Biko, which had been recommended by Claire's cousin Donna. We chose a table outside, purely because it was a bit stuffy inside. The outdoor tables were in a narrow alleyway so didn't have a lot else going for them. Just as we'd ordered, the sun decided it was time to pass over the alleyway, so we spent nearly the entire meal eating in the heat of the midday (ish) sun. We were back in shadow just in time to pay the bill.
Anyway, apart from the heat, the food was very good. I had clams in garlic sauce, which is a local speciality and was delicious. Claire had steak and chips which she said was good for the price (from this, I assume it was not as good as the Number One steaks from The Plough in Etruria).
We went back to the bikes straight after lunch and started making our way back as we were booked on a boat trip.
The ride back was hot as hell, made worse by the fact that we were both too hot from the alleyway meal. As soon as we got back, we took all our clothes off and lay in front of the air conditioner on full blast. I had a cold shower and then we rushed off to go on our boat trip.
We'd arranged the boat trip via a desk at the apartment's reception this morning. We wanted to go on a tour round the nature reserve and hopefully see some more birds. The trip we originally wanted to go on was not available until tomorrow, but the lady there was quite insistent that the one that goes from the local jetty was far better in just about every way and we could go this afternoon.
We had only been waiting at the jetty for a couple of minutes when a rather odd couple turned up. He was called "Jonty" which pretty much says it all. He turned out to be a fairly quiet chap, whereas she could not seem to stop saying things to demonstrate how stupid she was. Like "ooh, that must be Faro" when we'd only been on the boat a couple of minutes (Faro is about 30 miles away and it is where the airport is, so everyone must know how long it takes to get there).
The trip was sold as a birdwatching/nature trip. So we assumed that the driver would point out different birds or other interesting things, with a bit of a commentary, and we even hoped there might be binoculars and bird cards. As it turned out, the driver spoke less English than I do Portuguese. It didn't matter though, because he just shouted things slowly to us in Portuguese so of course we understood him just fine.
We did see several interesting birds, including a white stork, although I don't think the driver was particularly interested in them as he didn't really slow down.
Just before coming back, the driver took us out onto the open sea so we could see the coastline stretching away. Jonty's girlfriend did not take very kindly to this and started making the most pathetic little girly screams I have ever heard every time we went over a wave. I don't think the driver could cope with all the noise as he turned back pretty quickly.
We've spent the evening having a buffet dinner at the apartment. I have been wearing the most hideous outfit ever for dinner. A pair of green/blue checked shorts, a red t shirt and a blue/red checked shirt over the top. Its because all my other shorts are feeling a bit tight!
Tomorrow is our last full day here. We're going to have a look round the salt flats first thing and then go to the beach after lunch. Hopefully we will not get sunburnt this time. Then a final meal in our favourite local restaurant "Copacabanas" before packing our bags ready to leave the next day.
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad
Location:Tavira and Cabanas
No comments:
Post a Comment