March 10th: The Long March

The idea was to drive to Lagos, an ancient walled town and port, catch a bus to Burgau 12 miles the other side, and then walk back to the cars at Lagos. The walk leader said the bus times had changed and now weren’t suitable, so we drove on to Burgau, leaving one car at Lagos to do the retrieval. Well, I know what I mean!

We stopped here for lunch, at Praia da Luz, around the half-way stage. This resort is quite developed, but with a pretty old quarter and promenade area where we sat and had lunch. It has quite different and sad associations these days, as just behind the large villa on the photo is the complex from which Madeleine McCann was snatched.

Leaving Praia da Luz, we climbed a steep hill that gave us a panorama of the town. The picture shows the view but also more sinisterly the soil erosion caused by the recent heavy rains. That’s the big crack in the foreground. Large sections of cliff have fallen since last year right along this stretch according to people on the walk. KEEP AWAY FROM THE EDGE!!

The last section of the journey took us past a headland full of spectacular weathered rock arches, blowholes and pinnacles that ran nearly all the way back to Lagos.
Lagos was the headquarters of Henry the Navigator in the early 15th century. Sadly, nothing remains of Henry’s headquarters or his school of navigation at Sagres nearby because in 1587 both towns were sacked by Sir Francis Drake. He is still referred to in Portugal as “the English pirate”.