Monday 17 March 2014

After servicing the van, paying our bill and saying goodbye to new-found friends we were away reasonably early for once. As it was likely we may be “wild-camping” for a couple of days we decided to refill the gas bottles and also the fuel tank at a conveniently placed garage in Portimao.

Then we headed north, along the lesser “N” roads and into more forested and hilly country to Monchique, a pretty town, where an Intermarche gave us the opportunity to top up the provisions.
And the satnav failed! It was a bit weird driving without a constant update although navigation, of course, wasn't a problem. So whilst we were stopped at Monchique a little bit of fiddling then doing a reset got us back in business.

To help counter the low rainfall and poor water resources, over the years Portugal has constructed a whole series of dams, barragems as they are known. To encourage more use of them for leisure activities most have free parking areas where motorhomes are welcome to stop over. Some also have water and waste disposal, in fact they have become unofficial “aires”. There were several on our meandering route north so we decided to have a look. The first provided an excellent lunch stop at Barragem Santa-Clara, where a few motorhomes were taking advantage of a beautiful quiet spot.

Barragem Santa-Clara

But, with thoughts of getting some miles under the wheels and heading north, we elected to try for a barragem nearer to Lisbon which was a city we wished to visit. Crossing the regional border between Algarve and Alentajo, it quickly became apparent by the road surfaces that this was a poorer area of Portugal, reminiscent of Morocco! Eventually we were spilled out onto the Ic1, the old major north/south trunk road and made quicker time, until we met the signs – the barragems are all well signposted – that took us to Barragem de Pego do Altar. As far as surface area goes, this is a huge lake but it is mostly along narrower valleys and is impossible to see in its entirety, at least without an aeroplane! The first parking area was quite full but a second, across the dam, had plenty of room so we found a nice spot overlooking the water.

En route through the hills

Pego do Altar

Pego do Altar

Today has been one of the warmest of the whole trip, to the extent that we had the air-conditioning on for a while, and the evening very balmy. It is hard to remember that it is still only mid-March.