Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
ante Matoso; 9.30am-1pm & 2-5.30pm Mon-Fri, hours subject to change)
, which is 100m east of Praça
da República; the
post office
is just east of there.
Internet is available at many of the town's cafe-bars.
Getting There & Around
The
bus stop
( 282 762 944)
is by the
turismo
. You can buy tickets on the bus.
Buses come from Lagos via Salema (€3.40, one hour, around 12 daily) and Portimão
(€5.40, 1¾ hours, one on weekdays). On weekends there are fewer services. It's only 10
minutes to Cabo de São Vicente (twice daily on weekdays only; €1.95).
Bike rental is available at Sagres Natura (
click here
).
For a taxi, call one of three
taxistas
on 964 858 517, 282 624 501 or 282 624
450.
WILDLIFE OF THE ALGARVE
With five special protection areas (a birding initiative), eight special areas of conservation, two natural parks and
one natural reserve (not to forget its sea life), the Algarve is one of the most flora- and fauna-rich regions of the
country. The
purple gallinule
(aka the purple swamphen or sultan chicken) is one of Europe's rarest and most
nattily turned-out birds - a large violet-blue water creature with red bill and legs. In Portugal it only nests in a
patch of wetland spilling into the exclusive Quinta do Lago estate (
www.quintadolago.com
), at the western end of
the Parque Natural da Ria Formosa (
click here
)
, 12km west of Faro. Look for it near the lake at the estate's São
Lourenço Nature Trail.
Another bizarre Algarve resident is the
Mediterranean chameleon
(Chamaeleo chamaeleon),
a 25cm-long
reptile with independently moving eyes, a tongue longer than its body and skin that mimics its environment. It's
the only chameleon found in Europe, its habitat limited to Crete and the Iberian Peninsula. Your best chance of
seeing this shy creature is on spring mornings in the Quinta Marim area of the Parque Natural da Ria Formosa or
in Monte Gordo's conifer woods, now a protected habitat for the species.
Bird-lovers should consider a trip to the Serra de Caldeirão foothills (
Click here
). The dramatic Rocha da Pena,
a 479m-high limestone outcrop, is a classified site because of its rich flora and fauna.
Orchids
,
narcissi
and
nat-
ive cistus
cover the slopes, where
red foxes
and
Egyptian mongooses
are common. Among many bird species
seen here are the huge
eagle owl
,
Bonelli's eagle
and the
buzzard
.
There's a
centro ambiental
(environmental centre) in Pena village, and you can walk up to the top of Rocha it-
self.
TOP OF CHAPTER
