Faro; Sunday, 19 February, 2012

What should have been a long lie in was slightly disrupted by the cleaners deciding that 8:30 on a Sunday morning was the ideal time to hoover the corridors. After a busy breakfast (everyone else appeared to have been looking forward to a lie in and was therefore forced to have breakfast at the same time after all being woken together), I walked into town and brought a ticket for the boat tour of the Lagoon and visit to the Ilha Deserta.

The Island forms part of the natural barrier that helps to create the islets, salt pans and lagoon of the Ria Formosa, which in themselves help to protect Faro from the Atlantic.

The Island is, as its name suggests, almost completely deserted. With the exception of some fishermen’s huts and a stunning restaurant (built using sustainable wood, up on stilts, accessed via a boardwalk and fully solar powered all to protect the natural environment) the island is completely empty of buildings.

I had a very nice and filling lunch in the restaurant, before going for a walk around part of the island.

From the restaurant there is a board walk that takes you along the Northern part of the island, being able to take in the scenery, without damaging the flora and fauna. After about a kilometre or so, the boardwalk swings inland and down to the south coast, where it takes you down onto the beautiful sandy beach at the most Southerly point in Portugal.

It’s then a very pleasant walk (or in my case pleasant, but slightly chilly paddle) back along the beach towards the restaurant.

In the end with the paddling and taking in the scenery it took me over two hours to walk the two kilometres, but that did include quite a bit of paddling in the sea.

Back at the restaurant I had a late afternoon beer before it was time to catch the ferry back to Faro, across the Lagoon flooded with the light of the setting sun casting an amazing glow on everything.

Back in Faro, and still stuffed from lunch, I had a bit of a wander around the town before I caught the bus back to the hotel and an early night.