Faro; Saturday, 18 February, 2012

An early start, and a quick breakfast, before I walked back into town and to the station to catch an early train west along the coast to the town of Lagos.

I arrive in Lagos mid-morning and had enough time to wander around the centre and take in the key sights such as the former slave market, the church of Santa Maria, the Bandeira Fortress and the town museum before I needed to head back to the bus station to pick up one of the infrequent buses further along the coast to Sagres.

Sagres, at least until the 15th Century, was the end of the world. This is as far South West as you can come on the continent, to the West lies just open sea and until the voyages of discovery proved there was land beyond. Even today it has the feel of a town on the end. The massive open skies and surrounded by sea far into the horizon.

The actual most South-Westerly point, The Cape of St Vincent, is about 4KM round the headland, but is inaccessible by public transport in mid-February, and with all the cycle hire shops closed, and only three hours until the return bus, not achievable in the time I had.

Instead I walked down the peninsular of land sticking out from the town and out to the impressive fortress which straddles the headland.

I had a long wander around the fortress site, and by the time I made it back into town, there was only about 15 minutes until my bus, which was a shame as the smell of grilled fish coming from one of the restaurants was highly tempting.

Back in Lagos I had a bit more of a wander around the town centre before heading back over to the station and catching the train back to Faro.

Having been salivating at the thought of food since Sagres nearly four hours earlier I made a beeline for the centre of town and had a very pleasant fishy supper, before heading back to the station and catching a cab back to the hotel.