Tag: nature
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Scaling the heights, finding transformation
Thursday October 30, 2025 Thursday morning dawned bright and beautiful. It was a great beginning for our bus trip to Ancasmarca, an archeological site on a mountain of 5,198 metres. The name is of Quechua origin, meaning blue village, or village of eagles. The part we were visiting was referred to as the blue balcony.…
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Up the Rio Ucayali
Wednesday October 22, 2025 It was a hot and sunny morning as we left the hotel for the port of Pucallpa to board a river boat for a trip to the Shippibo village of Limongema. It was a bit of a shock and surprise to find the river had shrunk in size. In March, the…
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Barranco do Velho
Friday January 24 2025 The best laid plans…Woke up early on Friday with visions of a group hike in Barranco do Velho, about 18 km from Estoi, in my head. Here, at the Quinta, the overnight rain had eased off and the cloud cover was beginning to break. A good sign! After much discussion amongst…
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The clouds break
Thursday January 23 2025 There was a break in the cloud cover on Thursday morning and the rain stopped…temporarily. So, i took a quick stroll around town and visited some favourite spots. The most important was O Victor, a local lunchtime restaurant highly popular with local folks. The food is simply presented, plentiful portions and…
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PORTUGAL: Algarve winter
Welcome back to Estoi: Sunday January 19, 2025 It’s more than half-past January and I have been in Estoi a total of 24 hours. It’s wonderful to be here again and renew acquaintances and begin revisiting old haunts and make plans to visit new sites. Quinta Pé da Cruz is once again my home for…
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Paddle your own kayak
Kayaking is an activity I really do enjoy. It must be said, however, that my kayaking experience, until Wednesday February 7, was limited to fresh water inland rivers in southwestern Ontario and western Québec. My Quinta neighbours, Guido and Karine invited me to join their hiking group in a kayaking adventure organized by Kim. Our…
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From the mountains to the sea…
Catching up might be difficult since it’s been a week since I’ve posted. However, we Have had a week of sunshine, blue skies, warm temperatures and lovely breezes. Here are a few highlights: Walking the Ludo Trail in the Ria Formosa – Monday 22 Jan Castelo de Paderne Hike On Tuesday Jan 23, Randy, Karim,…
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Climb Every Mountain…and try to keep your feet dry!
Friday January 12, 2024 dawned grey and cloudy with a bit of a nippy breeze. Our destination was the top of Cerro de São Miguel, 411 metres above sea level. The hikers were Randy, Harald, myself and Jackson, of course. Harald and Randy have been hiking buddies in the Algarve for a number of years.…
Five Feet, Nine Inches Above Ground 