Sounds romantic and thrilling, does it not?!? Well, yes, until you hear the details. It was actually a day of great travails, and at the end of it all, I had to question whether it was worth it or not! If I had known what the day would entail, I probably would have opted not to go.
I had booked a rather pricey tour with a guide for the kayak trip... basically, 35 euros (over $40 for a two-hour journey). This was to be at 11:30 a.m. However, there is a train strike happening in Portugal right now, so many trains have gotten canceled...including the one I needed to take to get to the beach where the kayaks are! So...rather than the 9 a.m. I had booked, I had to wait--along with other, equally frustrated passengers---until 10:20 a.m. I had a major hassle trying to get the tour rescheduled, but did manage to do so...with a different company, and for one hour later.
However! The train I DID get on was half an hour late, and by the time I got down to the beach from the train station--via an Uber, fighting our way through a lot of traffic congestion--I missed THAT tour as well!!! Unbelievable.
Fortunately, the owner of the booking agency was a super nice Portuguese guy by the name of Luis. We wound up having a pretty nice conversation as he attempted to problem solve with me. What I eventually did was just take my own kayak out, without a guide. This was really not an issue...there were hundreds of kayakers on the water, and since I had only to follow the shoreline to the different caves in the cliffs, it was a no-brainer.
What WAS unpleasant, though, was the fact that there were SO many large boats on the water also transporting tourists into the caves, that their wakes created a lot of waves and turbulence on the water. I was in constant fear of tipping over, and facing the prospect of all my important articles being dumped into the water! Worse, however, was the fear that one of the massive boats--especially the speeding ones-- would miss seeing me altogether and run me down! In short, it was WAY more stressful than it was fun! And finally, the paddling was hard on my shoulders and wrists... just not accustomed to using them that way... and I had to work hard at controlling my own kayak since I was on my own.
Furthermore, the caves were crowded with hordes of people, mostly other kayakers. Several of these inept people ran into me... also instilling my fear of capsizing! One had THREE passengers in it...really, no excuse! Obviously there were many folks on the water with NO clue how to kayak, and total lack of guidance. The only upsides were the caves and cliffs themselves, which, as you can see, were quite lovely...and the fact that there was plenty of assistance from staff people helping kayakers get into--and out of--the water.
Oh, and the photo of me? It was taken by some lovely kayakers I met while out paddling: a young, Argentinian couple. We took photos of each other, so that was nice!
I thankfully caught an Uber in time to get to the return train to Faro (It was a 3 hour round trip journey by train... plus an extra 20 min. or so from train station to beach). Once back in Faro, I had to hurry and ride the bike back to my Airbnb in time to eat and teach a lesson online. SO...all in all, a stressful, harried day, all for a mere 80 minutes on the water, mostly spent in anxious paddling!
As the saying goes, you win some, and lose some. Some days are just like that, what to do?! At least there are some nice photos to enjoy!
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The entry way to one of the lesser crowded caves. It was indeed pretty inside... the water was also quite clear and lovely, and if not so cold, would have made for some nice snorkeling, no doubt!
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Here, you get a sense of just HOW MANY people were there at that beach, waiting to get their kayaks and head into the water. Literally hundreds! the bright yellow kayak in the foreground was mine, waiting for me to climb in and get pushed out past the waves! Of course they crashed over the top of the kayak... all my stuff got soaked! (That was the other annoying thing: the "dry bag" was WAY too small, so only a very few things could fit inside of it...definitely NOT my daypack!!)
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Inside of the first cave... many people had created these little stone sculptures. They were cute!
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Yes, I look so competent, don't I?!?! Actually, I was, compared to many other people out there!!!
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Then, there were those young, hardy paddle boarders...
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...and TONS of kayaks going in and out of the caves along the cliffs! Apparently this whole caving thing is one of THE most popular tourist attractions in the whole Algarve region! Little did I know...
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This was an interesting beach-cave: the opening being such a perfect square!
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The various sediments making up the striations in the cliffs were really quite interesting...and pretty!
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| A photo of the happy kayakers...right before they rammed into me!! Good thing my cell phone was secured around my neck!! |
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| Lots of help was available getting the kayaks in and out of the water... a good thing, because they are heavy! |
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As you can see, one of the large boats full of tourists also made its way to the beach in the caves...
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Looking up through the hole at the sky in one of them... quite amazing!
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You can see just how many people crowded onto these beaches!
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The cute Argentinian couple who took the photo of me in my kayak...
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| The water was this incredible turquoise, and SO clear! How could this be the Atlantic? Mystifying to me! |
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