Berlenga

Odometer: unchanged

Today we were awakened by the sound of raindrops on the car roof. During breakfast, we discussed what we wanted to do that day. A beach day was planned, but since the weather didn't seem like it would offer a nice day for the beach, we wanted to see other options. Ines researched that there were ferries to the island of Berlenga, which was about ten kilometers off the coast.

We packed provisions and jackets into the backpack and headed to the harbor. The first ferry office turned us down, citing that the weather was too bad, and thus they had canceled all trips for that week. Meanwhile, the sun was shining, and it was at least 25 degrees, but canceled was canceled. They referred us to the colleagues across the street. Here we got our crossing arranged. The catamaran would arrive shortly after two and depart at 14:45, giving us about three hours on the island before we would be brought back to the harbor at 18:30. They offered us the option to switch to small boats with glass bottoms right when we disembarked, to then head into the rocky caves along the coast. Remembering that Sebb had become very seasick the last time, we declined that offer.

It was now 12:30, and we had two hours until we would leave. So, we took a walk around the 'Fortaleza', the old harbor fortress that now housed the 'Museu Nacional Resistência e Liberdade'. Unfortunately, today was Monday, and the museum remained closed, so we weren’t even tempted to visit the exhibition in a rush. We enjoyed a small coffee in a street café to pass the time, and then headed back to the harbor.

In remarkably short time, we crossed over to the island by catamaran. Although the sea didn’t look very tumultuous, we landlubbers arrived with complaints. Ines only felt a little queasy, but Sebb was at his limit of seaworthiness and struggled with his sense of balance. Switching to the small boat would have tipped the scale, so we had made the right decision.

At the harbor, we were greeted by a large sign stating that we were now in a nature reserve and therefore should not leave the designated paths.

In the following hours, we hiked to the lighthouse, the cisterns, which had supplied the island’s population until the establishment of a proper water supply, and the viewpoints for bird and cave researchers.

It was noticeable that we saw more lizards on the paths here than ever before. There must be something about the island's location and the nature reserve that allowed the lizards to lie on the paths, sunbathe, and only flee when one approached within arm's length.

We skipped the visit to the 'Forte de São João Baptista'. The small, former fortress now housed a hostel.

After two hours, Sebb's stomach had settled enough that we stopped at the small bar above the harbor and ordered ourselves a coffee and an ice cream. We had to head back in another hour. To complete the experience, we also ordered each of us a radler, while the men from our boat crew sitting at the next table had reached their fourth beer.

When we boarded our boat again, Ines secured us excellent seats in the front row on the upper deck with her quick steps. This way, we had an exceptionally good view of our destination harbor and very few stomach issues upon returning.

Our kitchen remained cold again this evening; we had a snack dinner made of canned fish, olives, salami, cheese, and bread.