8.18.2015

Carrapateira, Portugal

Carrapateira in the Algarve region of Southwest Portugal is beautiful and windswept. It's a destination for surfers but I've never seen any area of Southern European coastline with such little development. Just water and sand and rocks and scrubby grasses.

Morning fog at Amado Beach
I guess European vacationers prefer the calmer (but less surfable) waters of the Mediterranean.  The Atlantic coast of this area was windy and the water could be rough with large waves.

Dunes at Bordeira Beach...

Most of the land around this sleepy village is part of Costa Vicentina National Park, which includes many trails including the long-distance Rota Vicentina of Southwest Portugal.


As this was one of my last stops in Europe, I was just taking it easy...biking and surfing and not volunteering on any farms.  However, there was a WWOOF garden behind a restaurant with an impressive vegetable garden and the guesthouse where I stayed was also a WWOOF farm.


Scenery on a bike ride...


In the bewilderingly sleepy village of Carrapateira


Shared kitchen in the guesthouse


Looking towards Bordeira Beach and the Atlantic

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