Discover the real Algarve!

On entering the glaziers next to Portimão Town Hall you’d never know that one of the people who best knows the most beautiful spots in Southern Portugal works here – although the jeeps at the front door and the kayaks on their roofs, could give you a clue.

Times are hard these days for the family business. Vitor Pereira doesn’t hide his nostalgia for the old days, but is realising the time has come for him to dedicate himself to what he really likes doing – “being in the middle of the wilderness”!

Because along with the family glass business, he inherited his father’s love of Nature. As a child he remembers camping out on nights where the bats flew. Strange though it may sound, he was expelled from the Boy Scouts – he wasn’t a child who enjoyed the church meeting side of things, and was always dying to go camping, rain or shine. So, back on his own “I went on as before. It’s a way of life”.

Vitor Pereira, 45, began working as a tourist guide at the peak of the Algarve’s jeep Safari boom, back in the ‘80s. “But I always thought it was a very superficial way of seeing Nature. It was much too basic and insipid” – so he embarked on other adventures of his own. He travelled across Africa, which at the time seemed “contaminated by the values of the white man, and by the after effects of the fall of colonialism”. Africa didn’t live up to his expectations and he turned back and came home. A frequent destination after that was the Serra do Gerêz, one of the seven natural wonders of Portugal, sometimes when it was deep with snow, in an attempt “to spot wolves”. He never managed to…

What he did manage though was a geographic knowledge that he can now share with other Nature enthusiasts (or perhaps we should say fanatics). “This is where the future in tourism lies, in all aspects – because of the excitement it generates. People who discover these hidden places are going to want to discover more – and they’ll learn to care about their preservation”, he guarantees.

“I think what’s important is knowing how to handle our heritage” in a sustainable way. For example: “I never go to the same place twice. I don’t because I know that the wildlife there would start to feel uncomfortable if we invaded their space. I realise that with my presence the badgers, for instance, won’t come out of their hides. I know that the deer can smell the smoke from our campfire, or hear the noise of our voices and will run to other places”.

One of Vitor Pereira’s plans is “Walking Safaris” – an ideal way of exploring deep into wild country. “It’s a way of allowing us to see the most incredible places, and feel far from civilization”. It’s also an ideal way of observing birds, for example at the Alqueva dam – especially in winter, when the area is filled with migratory species.

Pereira is convinced this country is an oasis for the Nature tourist – particularly foreigners. “Quite honestly, the images I post” on the Internet website and on facebook “are settings no-one would ever associate with Portugal”.

Today, its common knowledge that “the south has been torn apart. We’ve destroyed traditional culture and “urbanism” has ravaged the landscape. Beaches are what they are, although luckily there are still some that can only be reached by kayak.

Then you get a glimmer of the real Algarve. But after that you have the towns that have completely lost the notion of any quality of life”, he criticises.

“This kind of natural heritage – the wilderness of the interior – is not promoted”. Official entities “are very shot-sighted in this regard and simply don’t rate its potential.

But in a way, I’m glad about that, as I dread to think what they would do with these places. Imagine the friend of a friend of someone in Government seeing a “big business opportunity” and bulldozing the whole lot…” he grimaces at the thought.

So where are these places? The list is endless and enticing. One of the guide’s favourites is the Ribeira do Vascão, which marks the border of the northeastern Algarve with the lower Alentejo. “It’s the place I call the Portuguese outback! It’s totally captivating.”

On cold nights in May, there’s a frog, “a southern tree frog that has the most extraordinary croaking song. Sometimes, the nights are like concerts, with foxes howling to each other at their time of coupling – and there’s a time of year when the dawn brings an absolute symphony of animal sounds”, he tells.

In this Portuguese outback, birdlife is impressive – the Eurasian Eagle Owl, the largest one of its species, the Red Kite, the Iberian Imperial Eagle and the Black Winged Kite. They’re “incredible” to see.

“Another wonderful bonus is the absence of light pollution. The sky here is just as you see it in the Sahara desert. I have been there, so I can make the comparison. You get incredible, limpid, crystal-clear nights” that would delight astronomy buffs.

Another place that’s particularly special is the “Ribeira da Foupana”, which comes from the Caldeirão hills and is one of the tributaries of the Guadiana. It’s considered to be one of the few wild streams left in the country.

“It’s a place where you can still fish lamprey – and in April, the goatfish (red surmullet) swim upstream very much like salmon. Despite the drought of the landscape, you find unexpected verdant orchards “that hark back to the time of the Arabs”, he adds.

Ria Formosa, with its 40 kilometres of natural beauty, is another slice of paradise. Pereira calls it the “Caribbean” because of its shallow waters and sandbanks “where no-one goes, not even in the height of summer”.

A trip he’d recommend is from Cacela Velha to the spit (the point of Faro Island). “Lifestyles in this little corner are very similar to those of the old days – survival from what one takes from the sea”, he tells. “It’s a perfect place for picking cockles, or oysters to cook over a fire”.

And for those concerned with their health, Pereira advises a trip to the ferrous Holy fountains of Monchique. “They’re in places that, years ago, enjoyed intense life and activity, but which today have been almost forgotten. There’s one where they used to hold country dances and sell bread. There used to be scores of donkeys tethered there. Today, all you see are the metal rings where the ropes were tied”.

“It’s in these remote places, among the older people, that you can still find certain traditions. That’s why it’s so important to talk to people! The best thing about these walks is going into a tavern and listening to the old people talk of days gone by.”

Throughout the Algarve, particularly around Silves and near Sagres, you find pre-historic menhirs.

“They’re vestiges of communities that lived by agriculture and cattle farming. Some of them have tribal symbols etched into them, and some are sited near burial mounds.”

Another “beautiful part of Portugal is the coast that starts in Sagres, and goes up to Tróia” – the largest stretch of sand in Europe. “You pass sandstone cliffs of incredible beauty. They almost look like they’ve been sculpted” – and on the way one can admire the storks at Cabo-Sardão, which is apparently the only place in the world where storks nest in rocks by the sea.

In the company he’s setting up, Pereira already has a number of packages in mind. The cheapest will cost €50 per person and take half a day. It could be on land or sea – and to respect the integrity of Nature, groups will never go over 8-10 people. The guide costs a €70 basic fee, and then other costs cover food and transport.