Up and off to the harbour. Took the two-island tour by small boat to go and check out the Atlantic Ocean. It was an excellent little tour as the guide was knowledgeable about the local wildlife and kept stopping to show us birds, fish, crabs etc in the local mud flats. There were Portuguese, Swedes and Brits with us and Alex spoke very good English. The area around Faro is just mudflats and we navigated through these continually disappearing islands (the tides are about 3.5m) out to the real islands – you don’t get to the sand until here. The first island we visited was Ilha Deserta and not sure if that is because it is deserted or looks like a desert. It has two permanent occupants – a fisherman and his dog. We walked around to the ocean beach and camped under a brolley on a cabana (how European😊), had a swim and relaxed until it was time to go. Walked back along the breakwater and saw so many large fish. Then we went to Farol which is completely different. It is like a little fishing village, but the houses have been turned into holiday rentals, so the island is a quaint mix of old houses, trendy bars and topped off with a lighthouse. We wandered around for a look and then found a lovely open-air bar on the main beach and tested the mojitos before heading back. Back in Faro, we checked out a bar that was on top of the ancient walls of the city. Got some good photos from here. The day was capped off by watching the soccer semi final between England and Croatia in an open area close to the marina with a sizeable crowd. It was a great atmosphere.
