Day 136: Portimao, Portugal - 4x4 Excursions In The Algarve

Yesterday we spent a delightful day in the hinterlands of Portimao, right in the middle of the Algarve region located in the southwest corner of Portugal. Our tour featured storks, moonshine, honey, cork trees, local coffee, and pastries .. all finished with an amazing view of the southern and western coastlines of Portugal from 2500 feet up. 

Most visitors to this country tend to start in Lisbon and then go north towards Porto, so being in the far south was a different and fun experience. The Algarve, much like the North Carolina Outer Banks, is known for wild horses, but we didn't get to see any of them. 

I’ll do a brief history of Portugal as part of our Lisbon visit tomorrow, so here’s the scoop on this part of the world. Humans have been here since the Neolithic (New Stone Age) Period, and there’s evidence that the Celts settled here 400 years ago. Modern-day Portimao is centered around the Arade River, which provided natural shelter to the Phoenician, Roman, and Greek fleets in olden times. The Carthaginians liked the area so much that they founded a settlement in 600 BC named Portus Hannibalis on the site that later became the current-day town.

During the next two millennia - along came the Visigoths and then the Moors,
who held the area until 1249, when it was captured and integrated into the brand new Kingdom of Portugal. The town made fishing, sea trade, and later shipbuilding major parts of the local economy and prospered until the 1755 earthquake shook things up. That earthquake, which absolutely flattened Lisbon, was somewhere between 8.7 and 9.0. It caused a tsunami with a height of about 60 feet that flooded major parts of the coastline and even reached Northern and Western Africa. The town then returned to its fishing roots and then later tourism because of 5 miles of immaculate high-quality beaches. 

Tourism is now the largest part of the economy, and many Portuguese head here in the summer, as well as large contingents of Germans, Brits and Scandinavians. Because of the beaches and hundreds of bars, it has a reputation as a party town, where most people sleep until at least 10am every morning.

We jumped into a 4x4 with a local guide and went off-road. The first stop was
some fields, which had turned into a stork town. Anywhere there was a tree, pole, or road sign, the storks (with no natural predators) built a nest. Then, we made a quick stop in the village of Monchique for some delicious coffee and hand-made pastries. (No pictures, as we ate them so quickly.)

Next, we toured a distillery that made moonshine and honey. They were absolutely delicious. The two styles of moonshine were “paint thinner” and “honey flavored.” That’s a loose translation. We saw the old style of distillery that still takes the distilled alcohol and cools it with a metal pipe that runs through a basket of cold water. Nowadays the finished product is stored in metal vats instead of wooden casks because of health reasons. The old-timers say it impacts the taste. I'm not sure the "paint thinner' had a taste, but ..

Next, we visited a cork tree farm. Cork is a high-value product and is used in many areas other than wine corks. It's a profitable but long-term business. First, you plant an acorn (a cork tree is a form of oak) and let it grow for 30 years. Then, you strip off the bark (cork) and throw it away. Second, you allow 9 years for a second bark to grow, strip that, and throw it away. Finally, after another 9 years (so 48 in total), you strip off the bark and it is usable cork. 

Portugal is the world's largest cork producer and supplies 60% of the market. Cork is such a big industry that Portugal’s richest family and a frequent name on the Forbes Rich List, The Amorim family, made its multi-billion dollar fortune in cork. 

Finally, we had a long ride up to the top of Mt. Foia to catch the views of the valleys and coastline. It was one of those sights that looked better to the eyes than the camera, as there was a bit of haze in the distance. You could even see our ship some 30 miles away. 

Overall - loved Portimao - definitely on the return visit list. Which seems to be growing. What turned out as a World Cruise to visit so many countries has actually added to our bucket list rather than reduced it!