Flamingos & A Change of Scenery

 

My first stop on the way to my new place was at the Ria Formosa Park in Olhao.  The Ria Formosa Park is a series of mudflats and lagoons between a barrier island facing the Atlantic and the towns on the mainland.  It starts around Faro and stretches way East from there.  The wild flamingos were there!  There was a walking path around a salt water and a fresh water lagoon; they were in the salt water but I couldn't get very close to them.  I could see them really well in my binoculars, and the photo is the best my phone camera could do.  Interestingly, beyond the lagoons where the flamingos were, there were mudflats being worked by clam diggers.  Most that I saw had buckets and bicycles and many were wrapping up well before noon with a full bucket of small clams to ride into the town market to sell. 

I had lunch in Olhao, which has markets that I'll visit another day (maybe tomorrow) and a reputation for great restaurants to have fish.  The town is not known up as a tourist destination so much as a working fisherman's village.  I will give it a closer look another day, but here's my shrimp for lunch.  It was served with a basket of bread to sop up the butter, shrimp broth, parsley and garlic in the dish.  So good.

And then I came to my new home for a week.  Those of you who thought you might come -- and there were several of you! -- your bedroom in my new place is empty.  This is quite a change of scenery from my January home.  I'm facing the Ria Formosa and from my balcony, I can see the river and birds, the town (about a 10 minute walk), the gardens at this place and the beach on the river (there is a beach on the barrier island that can only be reached by ferry or boat).  No cliffs!  I think I'm facing directly south but will have to let you know if I've got a west view of the sunset.

Although I will definitely be heading back to Olhao and to Tavira to explore more (and to the vodaphone store for a new 30 day SIM card), I could see spending a lot of time on my balcony here or in the garden painting the river.