TRAVEL - Watersports, culture and nature exploration

1. Foz do Arelho ( 14'th of october)

Lagoa dos Obidos, a place near Caldas da Rainha, is a kind of lake which has connection with the Atlantic Ocean in Foz do Arelho. Allthouh it's flat water, not bad for a low level windsurf session or catamaran sailing.

Near this lake is a camping place called 'Camping Foz do Arelho'.

Then there's the famous beach Supertubos in Peniche. But I'm only beginner so I have to train like a militar before I'll be able to surf the point breaks. If you are born in a country without waves ...

• 13-17 December - Lagos, Portimao, Silves .. (Algarve)

This place is a heaven for birdwatches like me. The ciconia ciconia, who is moving out of northern Europe is everywhere making nestplaces.

The waves were cool that day in Praia de Porto de Mos (Lagos), but sometimes not my level, about 3m. I have still more then 8 months to practice.

• 21-27 December - Palmela, Setubal, Oeiras,  Ria Formosa.. (Algarve)

This weekend started with the birthday of Suzy in Palmela.

The 23th of December I was surprised about 'O Castelo' and the windmills in Palmela, this was incredible . I made time for observing the birds, which were different from my region (Leiria- Beira Littoral).

In Portugal, they also like to paint the tiles on the walls in the cities. This art makes part of the traditions of the country.

The 27th of December, in Ria Formosa, I made a bird registration in the 'salinas' or salt planes near the port of Faro. Many seabirds who can only be registrated in the summer months in our country, are present at this place the whole year around.

This one is the himantopus himantopus, recognizable by long paws.

The weather in Algarve stays quite stable the whole year around, it doesn't rain like in Porto/ Viano Castelo or Gerês. The land is more flat, has some famous wine and the houses are also a bit more primitive (except for the villas of the British invaders).

• 24th of january - Serra de Alvao e Vila Real

A german friend, Cathrin, went to Porto to visit my project. I travelled to Porto , we did some eco-tourism in Serra de Alvão and went for city-tripping in Vila Real. I discovered the old cottages for corn storage, watermills, ... an incredible experience. Even snow !

• 9th of february. Gruttas

 I made a 20km bike tour ( cause I'm to poor to buy/rent a car and in this area there are no bus connections) to 'as gruttas de St. Antonio & Alvados. It was like a pearl of beauty , I cannot say that these area has the most beautiful caves I have seen, but anyway the shape and quantity of column and stalagtites/mites is significant !

•  16-17th of february. Trip in Gerês

We decided to make a trip of 2 days to Gerês. It's about 380 km in the north of Serro Ventoso (Bezerra), the place were I live. Jonathan and me rented a car and we put Daniel and Soraia (Portuguese friends) in it while we passed Porto. Daniel is an ecological portuguese ICT-expert and bicycler. The advantage was that Daniel was like a scout, he guided us through small riverbeds to reach beautiful spots; not too turistic.

Peneda-Gerês has borders with Spain and several bassins or 'barragems'.

The second day, we passed a road near a mountain-river. The cristal/blue water contains truit and the waterfalls are beautiful in the winter (rain season).

3th of March - Rappel Chão das Pias

We, Ruben Severino and me, made a rappel installation on the top of the cliffs in Chão das Pias. The weather was moderate, strong windgusts but we didn't care. Unfortunately, this area hasn't been equipped with anchorpoints yet , it's our task to provide the cliffs from anchors;


















16 march . St Patrick´s Day  - Eve in Pragal


The idea of making an Irish tradition alive (Anita and Ita, EVS from Ireland).  The result were some typical elements and to many crowd in the Irish bar.
























6 April 2012 - Torres Novas - Ranchos folcloriques de Portugal 


When it´s´about folclorique, Portugal has a strong culture. They have traditional professions like blacksmith, agriculture labourer, milkman, ... and all of them got represented with typical clothes. In the demonstrations like this one, several performances of several ranches take place (Algarve, Alentejo, Luz dos Candeiros (ours in Arrimal my neighbour  town ) ). But to participated, they only allow if 1 year experience or more.


















19th of April. Sintra - Palacio da Mouro  - A Place of Beauty


The castle itself has an amazing spiral, circling downwards and downwards ... . A parc for children with some sculptures of animals makes it worth to do family visits.

27th of June - Porto de Mos Piscinas and Festas Sao Pedro

Acrobacy and other ---

Underwater camera.

12th of July - Paraglide in Fonte da Velha ( Parc Natural Ponte de Arrabida)

If the weather conditions allow it, we fly about 30 minutes with the power of the wind. But 16 knots is a minimum requirement.

19 - 21 of July  - Penıche snorklıng and seafıshıng . Santa Cruz Parapent - extended flight

Survival Skills

What we do in the case that there´s no wind neither waves ?

We try to apply the principles of the philosophy of Jeronimo - Try to live sustainable with the elements of nature - First Lesson . 'Survival techniques'

Catch a fish from the ocean

Collect firewoods

Grill it on a fire

Go wildcamping, enjoy nature, but don't leave any trace !

Snorkling in Papoa Beach ( near Forte da Luz)

The amount of seastars and sea urchins is incredible. I considered as non - intursive to take some of them for my collection.

Sétubal

Since I arrived in a queue of kayak - participants I had no option to participate, all the kayaks were already rented ! Last time, in april, I had more luck and made a nice kayak tour on the river of the Sado. 

I decided to visit the castle.

Santa Cruz

Conditions with a smooth wind breeze for long flights.

25th -28th of July Windsurfing and expedition Berlenga

In 1 hour you can reach Berlenga from the marina in Peniche. It was an excellent day because anyway there were neither waves nor wind. 

Larus michaehelis is the typical seal in Berlenga. There are more seals then humans on the island. Many nest places can be localised.

I still don´t know what specie of fish I catched but it tasted awesome. Because I was hungry and it´s more biological then a veggiteran burger from the supermarket it was justified I guess ...

I discovered a place to jump from the rocks near forte de S. Baptista.

2nd - 4th of August- Serra de Estrela and Barraigem de  Marechal Carmona

Visting a Portuguese friend (who I met on the train travel). A fishermen with a boat.

A 100 pk engine made us racing at 80km/h , it was a crazy

Later I rented a kayak and a guy invited us on his jetski. then my camera got destroyed by a stupid hunter guy who poured water into our boat .

Here I was driving it (slowly)

8 - 11 August

The online option which was left over, was a surfing life ... like a hippie. Camping near the ocean, storing my board in the house of a friend or near my tent, drying the wetsuit in the sun of the south, ...

I learned myself to catch ´sardinha´, I ate it because it is biological nutrition (not from the north atlantic ocean)

I learned to make a stew on a small fire, to collect the materials to do it ...  a simple life for EVS with an ambition but only small amount of money and financial possibilities.