La mur et la plage. Ocean and the beach. We saw a lot of what the two could look like together, as they take many different forms in the Algarve Region. From Tavira, we enjoy coastal inlets leading to islands of beach on the Atlantic side. From the beach we biked to today, the inlets were bridged, and we took a train and went to the beach on the Atlantic side that way. Then we walked back.
A view of the coastal inlet, with a bridge going over it. In Tavira, they are fighting a similar bridge.
The beach we visited (name??) had fantastic waves. Then we had lunch and left. Our bike tour guide, Hugo, showed us the developing farmland North of the coast. We were there in 3-4km. A bulldozer plowed over a field while people harvested Careb beans–a sweet smelling bean with potential to be eaten or used in medicine. The Careb Tree is low hanging, and you need to crawl underneath the branches to harvest the fruit. Besides sharing the spaces with “pique” or thorny shrubs, it’s a nice, shady place to do work in the middle of the August afternoon sun.
After biking and helping harvest some Careb, I went back to the Centuro (center of town) to get some water. I found a good places that’s cheaper than the Pollo duce (local grocery store) and they keep it refrigerated. From what I can tell, no one, not even the locals, drink the water here. A family friend, Fred Wolf, who lived here for a year, warned me not to, and so far I’ve avoided getting sick from water. Sick from a hot hostel room and from the constant sunlight, however, is a different story.
Fort of Tavira is a sort of small coastal foundation with tall walls still erected in the layout of the original fort. There’s no history describing the fort once you arrive, however, which is sort of disappointing because it is a 2km bike ride out there. [FORT PIC]
Julia, my sister, and I have been talking about coastal salt marshes. They protect the inner coast from being inundated with water due to storm surges. They absorb the force of winds and waves as well. Beyond storm protection, the dense vegetation gathers and sequesters Carbon in the earth. This is important for air quality, high C02 levels lead to misery, in short, and are atmospheric levels are correlated and connected to human industrial activity like driving, burning fossil fuels for energy and general consumption behavior. The coast is very delicate, from dunes to backwater channels and salt marshes, and should be protected from human impact. Plus, these little crab guys live there!
Uca tangeri, aka a species of the Fiddler Crab that lives in the eastern Atlantic Ocean.
this is a sketch of the Main Street I did while waiting for our meal. At Mai’s suggestion I left it for the waitress like I said I would. She liked it and said it looked nice. 
this is a typical door here, you can see our but you cannot see in. 
this is known as the “Roman” bridge
Chadd G Hippensteel 