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| AN OLD WELL |
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| SPRING WATER |
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| CLIMBING TO ROCHA DA PENA |
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| VIEW FROM THE TOP |
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| MORE CLIMBING IN ALBUFEIRA |
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| SOMEONE HAS WORN A HOLE IN THIS CLIFF |
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| REWARD FOR THE DAY |
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| SCULPTURE IN ALEMEDA JOAO DE DEUS GARDEN, FARO |
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| FARO RESIDENT |
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| KING AFONSO III (ON RIGHT) |
For our last day with the car, we drove to the valley of the Ribiera (River) de Benemola, to the north east of Albufeira. We walked along one side of the river to its source, the Fonte da Benemola, where we ate our usual picnic at stone tables. We then crossed over the river where it was shallow and walked back on the opposite bank. Alongside the route we saw evidence of the farming communities that used to live in the valley - ruined dwellings, water pumps and sluices (levadas) to channel water to the fields.
On returning to the car, we next drove west a few miles to see a long rocky ridge called Rocha da Pena. We could see the ridge from some way off so it wasn't hard to find. Parking near its base, we set off walking towards it. To make the walk more interesting, we left the main path after a short while and soon found ourselves scrambling up the rough grey limestone rocks. After about half an hour we arrived at a point where we could enjoy the view before walking back down by an easier route. There was a bar near to where we parked the car so we enjoyed a drink in the day's remaining sun before moving on.
Our return to the hotel took us through Sao Bartolemeu de Messines where we picked up a pizza for supper at the Intermarche supermarket
Next morning we handed back the keys to the car. We planned to take a bus to Faro early the following day so we initially checked where Albufeira's bus terminal was before heading down to the beach to walk the cliffs again, much as we had done on our first day, but this time in the other direction.
Clambering over the cliffs was just as much fun as it had been the first time. We came across lots of sink-holes, caves and rock arches, all shaped by sea action. The weather was sunny again and it was a great last day in Albufeira.
The following morning we caught the 8.40am bus to Faro. It travelled a very circuitous route and stopped many times before arriving in Faro at 10.10am. We had assumed Faro would be an interesting and historic place with lots to see, but were rather disappointed. For a start, it was much smaller than we had expected the principal city in the Algarve to be. There was a pretty garden with peacocks wandering about in it, a pedestrianised shopping area, the old city walls and the harbour. However, it did not take us more than a few hours to see all this. Perhaps we would have learned more about the place had the museum been open.
There weren't even any picturesque walks nearby so, once we had run out of things to do, we caught the 'Proximo' bus to the airport. This meant that we would have roughly 4 hours to wait before our 8.45pm flight, but we managed to amuse ourselves.
In spite of Faro being disappointing, our week in Portugal had been a great success and the weather had been brilliant. We were not looking forward to the much cooler weather in the UK.
