22 FEB – I had a really poor sleep last night. Although the campsite is really big and well divided into pitches – it’s a really noisy site. Really nosy and last night there was so much noise going on. People talking, shouting, playing music and dogs barking – so this morning I decided to move. I don’t know what it is about people today. They don’t seem to have much consideration for other people. The worst of it was most of the noise was coming from older people. Also, even though the shower-block is really big, the water is also cold. I went last night and again this morning, and there’s no reason for this. I’m not paying 10eu a night for cold showers, so off I jolly-well go.
TOP TIP: When you are touring and get to a new campsite, only pay for one night. If it’s a good site you can go to reception the next morning and pay for more nights, but if it’s not too good, you can either persevere, or pack up and go.
I was packed and on the road by 10am, escaping from Armacao de Pera and heading west to Sagres. It was only about 45 miles and didn’t take too long. There was a large Lidle outside the town so I stopped there to get bread, milk and a few other bits and pieces. Including biscuits…
The campsite was easy to find, with the last km along a sandy road. There is a large reception and they were really friendly and helpful. They also have a small shop and take your order for the following day’s bread delivery. There’s also a small lounge next to the reception with comfy chairs, tables, power-points – and wi-fi.
The campsite is just outside the town in a small forest – which is doing a great job of sheltering from the strong wind that has now arrived. The campsite is large and the facilities are superb, with an immaculately clean toilet/shower-block – so I’m staying here for a few days.
The campervans and tents are in separate areas, and there is only one other tent, though in the evening a VW campervan parked nearby and during the evening and this morning all I could hear is the ‘whoop-thump’ of that sliding door. I hate VW campervans. I really can’t understand why they have to park so near me when there is so much space available, especially in the campervan area.
23 FEB – I visited the Sagres Fort today. Just behind the impregnable walls is a church which was built in 1570. Alas, it was closed today but it still made me look in awe to see a building that is defying age so splendidly. There is a museum onsite, which is also very good, showing you how Portugal led the way in discovering the world.
Behind the walls is a large peninsula. Most of the buildings which were here are now long gone, leaving the wind and the air to erode the limestone, and it’s now a place where many of Europe’s migrating birds make a temporary home. When walking to the point which overlooks the ocean, to the right in the distance is Cape St Vincent, and below is a 150 foot drop into a boiling sea, which is where the Atlantic meets the Mediterranean.
I wanted to come to Sagres because it’s a very important place – as it enabled the discovery of the world. Let me explain…
Sagres is the most southerly point of Portugal and of western Europe. There is a small peninsula at this southernmost point and there has been a fort here since the 1400’s. In the mid 1400’s Prince Henry the Navigator established a school for navigation here which opened the way for the worldwide exploration in the great age of discovery. Adapting existing Arab methods and using mathematics, timetables and a newly invented device called the astrolabe – which measures the height of the sun over the horizon – navigation was invented. This, together with the invention of the Carrick type ship enabled a whole generation of Portuguese navigators who visited this school to discover the world. And the hardest part or comprehend is that within 80 years of the school opening – much of the main continents of the world had been discovered and global trade routes established.
The fortifications were strengthened and modernised in the 1500’s and again in the later 1700’s, and it was ahead of its time in the way that two arms of the fortifications allow overlapping artillery coverage – making the fort almost impregnable.
I’m seeing more of the local area tomorrow and then in a few days time – and depending on the weather as there is a whole heap of rain coming this way – I’ll be riding north and my final date with destiny – home.
