I’m a Wandering Man

I knew as soon as I woke this morning that I wanted to go for a very long, brisk walk. As Marc had a lunch date with a fellow artist from the Algarve Society of Artist community, of which he is a member, it allowed me to head out and let my nose lead me. As it turned out, I ended up back at the Ria Formosa trail near the airport but I continued for several kms beyond where Marc and I had turned back. By the time I arrived back at the car I had walked 16,87 km! Loved it.

Somebody has attached two painted wooden “idols” along part of the boardwalk.

I was impressed with the quality of the boardwalk and delighted to see that it went on for many kms. I probably could have walked to Quarteria, which was roughly another six or seven kms. As far as I could tell, the boardwalk continues to the village. Another time perhaps.

I did cross over the boardwalk to the Praia de Faro and continued along to the Praia do Ancão, which is the farthest I had been and then decided to go further to Praia do Garrão,which I know goes as far as Quarteria.

At the Praia do Garrão I took the boardwalk across the protected park land and headed back toward the Quinta do Lago community. The new boardwalk zigzags in and out of the shoreline, the costal lagoon, the wetland and as you will see from my next photos, a haven for birdwatchers.

By the time I was winding my way back to the final km or so before arriving at my car I came upon a glossy ibis, which I had never seen before. I’m posting all the photos I took to allow you to see the gorgeous colours through the feathers. He was feasting at the lip of the sand pit on the golf course. I wanted him walk the edge of it twice.

Overall an excellent walk, I should sleep the sleep of the angels tonight. I checked my FitBit to see how I did during the walk and was surprised to see that it had taken me 2 hours 47 minutes and one hour of that was in the cardio zone! Yahoo. That was my objective today.

At the end of the walk, just before I got back to the road, In noticed three people out in the wetland, which is a no-no but it doesn’t seem to be policed much. They were clamming. A messy and dirty job however a wonderful meal at the end of the day!

I arrived home and found Marc and his fellow artist, Bob, still on the patio at Snack Bar Com Tradições. I parked and joined them and was delighted to find despite the late hour, Elsa still had portions of todays prato do dia available (delectable lemon flavoured chicken legs, roasted to a golden crisp with salad, rice, and fries),and that, along with a lovely cold Sagres, became my lunch. Body happy, belly happy, life, as I know it, continues to be grand.