A quick stroll near Olhão da Restauração

There are many who come to Olhão just for a few days and consequently don’t bother with a hire car. There really isn’t a need to have a car as the train and ferry services will get you most places. If wildflowers though are a passion and Olhão your base then this can be more of a challenge without a car unless of course you have a bike or catch a ride on a tuk. There is however another solution.

Just off the circular bus route there are two opportunities to see lots of flora and fauna, the first is mentioned in most Algarvian guidebooks and that’s ‘Quinta do Marim‘ the headquarters of the Ria Formosa National Park. As there is lots already out there on the park I won’t say any more about it in this post apart from it is on stop 32 on the circular bus route. The other stroll, close to stop 33, is less publicised, much shorter and less to see but it is free!

You may have spotted to the left of the petrol station on the junction of the road to the campsite and the EN125 out of Olhão there is a triangular piece of ground, usually with one or two cars parked there. In the far corner there is a gate and that’s where you are heading for it’s the start and end of the stroll.  Now there really isn’t much to see on this stroll apart from the flora and fauna, but as you can see from all my photographs below there was plenty of flora, and so perfect for my second submission for Jude’s wildflower challenge.

The Algarve has for many years been a favourite haunt for botanists, and you can certainly understand why when on a stroll 3 minutes from the centre of Olhão. The diversity of David Bellamy’s ‘living magnets’ is almost overwhelming as you stroll on a small piece of land squeezed between the campsite and farmland, and which could be jogged round in about 5minutes. In fact as I sit here now I do feel a little bit overwhelmed as I attempt to identify everything. You will have noticed some of my attempts are still in progress! Do you recognise anything I am unsure about it or perhaps I have mislabelled? If yes, then please do help this amateur botanist by leaving a comment below  🙂

If you are not wild about wildflowers then this stroll is probably not for you unless you have kids and/or a dog. Then it is great as there is a large open space for them to run around and also a football pitch. Despite the stroll’s brevity I was pleased we found it and there was definitely a sufficient stretch of our legs to submit it for Jo’s Monday Walks!