Summer snow.

Now I know that last year I promised to post details of this year's Festival Dos Pescadores in advance of the event, and to that end I visited the offices of the Junta De Fergusia in Santa Luzia during the month of June to obtain all the gen.

Despite the fact that the festival was less than six weeks away they were unable to provide me with any details over and above the start and finish dates.

Thus I arrived with Joan on the 6th of August with no prior knowledge of the itinerary for this year's festival.

It was once again a great success and I will post more details later as the story I wish to relate on this occasion revolves around an altogether different and far less welcome event.

The forecast record summer temperatures were much in evidence and consequently my first fishing expedition was left till late into Friday afternoon when the sun had passed it's fiercest.

As I left the house to walk to 50 or so yards to the pier I immediately became aware of a huge ominous looking black cloud hovering in the otherwise perfectly clear blue sky above the Serra Do Caldeirao some 8 kms inland.
Further observation of the cloud from the pier itself revealed a gigantic column of what was by now obviously smoke rising from the hills to the atmosphere above.
The Serra was clearly well on fire.

Nevertheless I set up my gear and commenced my quest for fish and it was some two hours later with the acrid smell of burning vegetation growing ever stronger in my nostrils that I noticed what looked like snowflakes falling all around me.
The fierce up currents caused by the heat of the blazing hillsides had sucked tons of ash into the stratosphere and it was now being deposited on the coastal towns and villages of the Eastern Algarve.
By the time people arose from their beds on the following morning everywhere was covered in a fine layer of grey ash which was to remain throughout our 2 week stay.
Summer snow in the Algarve!!!!!!!

Later enquiries revealed the full extent of the disaster.
The fire started around 3.00pm in the district of Cabeco Velha near Sao Bras De Alportel and burned on a six kilometre front to Santa Catarina Do Bishpo.
Three hundred firemen with 106 vehicles and 5 aircraft managed to bring the conflagration under control by 7.00am Saturday morning but not before many beehives, fruit and olive trees, vines, cork oaks and other agricultural assets were lost on the 1ooo hectares of land affected.

Open Roads

I have read many articles by British ex-pats and tourists alike on the "joys" of driving in Portugal.

They invariably give Portuguese drivers a terrible reputation which in my experience is totally undeserved.

I have undoubtedly encountered far more aggressive and inconsiderate road users at home in England than ever graced any "Estrada national".

It has to be said that a lot of Portuguese drivers leave their manoeuvres till the very last minute, drawing to within almost touching distance before whipping out to overtake vehicles in front of them.

They also tend to choose the most unlikely (and sometimes downright dangerous) places to execute their overtaking.

It has however to be remembered that Portugal was western Europe's late starter in terms of economy and infrastructure and, as i once read somewhere, the Portuguese went directly from Donkeys to Datsuns so many current Portuguese drivers have no elder relative whose driving wisdom they can inherit.

In general however i find them very laid back and accommodating, generally in no kind of hurry and quite prepared to adopt the Portuguese "Noa faz mal" attitude to differences of opinion on the highway.

The real joy for me of motoring in Portugal is the lack of congestion.

It is literally like turning the clock back 30 years with miles and miles of clear highway stretching out in front of you regardless of the time of day or your proximity to large urban areas.

The "Infante de sagres" A22 motorway stretches almost deserted into the distance despite it being mid morning on a working week day.

Whilst the village of Santa Luzia can be enjoyed without a car I always like to have wheels available and car hire is relatively cheap in Portugal.

I have found Holiday Autos provide excellent deals.

Use the link on the left hand side of this page for a really keen quote.