Page 335 - (DK Eyewitness) Travel Guide - Portugal

PICTURE PERFECT
Boat Trip
Departing from Faro
or Olhão, boat trips on
the Ria Formosa offer
plenty of opportunities
to snap photos of local
wildlife. The vessels
follow the marshy
waterways beside the
picturesque islands.

par ticularly lively when
gypsies run a simulta neous
outdoor market. From Rua 9
de Abril to the Igreja Matriz
you can watch handi craft
workers carving wood,
weaving hats, making lace,
deco rating horse tackle and
painting pottery and tiles.
The 13th-century church
of São Clemente, on Largo da
Silva, was badly damaged in
three earthquakes but its
triple nave, defined by Gothic A wooden boardwalk
arches, has been conserved. in the Parque Natural
There are two beautiful side da Ria Formosa
chapels dating from the early
16th century. The Capela de
Nossa Senhora da Consolação (37 miles) of coastline. It was
is decorated from floor to created in 1987 to protect TOP BIRDS IN
vault with superb blue-and- the ecosystem of the area, 5 RIA FORMOSA
white azulejo panels, while the which was under threat from
Capela de São Brás has a building, sand extraction and Purple Gallinule
Manueline arch and a blue- pollution, all by-products of A rarity, the gallinule is
and-gold Baroque altarpiece. the massive rise in tourism. the symbol of the park.
Another religious building The lagoon area of marshes,
of note is the chapel of Nossa saltpans, islets and channels Cattle Egret
Senhora da Conceição, close is sheltered from the open sea These birds feed on
to Praça da República. Here, by a chain of barrier islands – insects and flies off the
the Baroque altarpiece (1745) actually sand dunes. Inlets backs of cattle.
is complemented by scenes between the islands allow
in the ubiquitous blue-and- the tide to ebb and flow Red-Crested
white azulejos. into the lagoon. Pochard
These waters are rich in A brightly coloured
shellfish, such as oysters, duck originally from
Central Europe.
17 cockles and clams: bred here,
they make up 80 per cent of
Parque Natural da the nation’s mollusc exports. Purple Heron
Ria Formosa The fish life and warm climate This slender bird has a
attract many wildfowl and darker plumage than
! E7 n Centro de Educaçâo the more common
Ambiental de Marim, waders; snakes and chame- grey heron.
leons also live here. Apart
Quelfes @ East of Olhâo on
N125 g From Faro, Olhão, from fish and shellfish Kentish Plover
Tavira # 8am–8pm daily farming and salt-pan ning, all You’ll find this tiny
other human activities that white and brown bird
Stretching from Praia de Faro might encroach on the park’s on the shoreline.
to Cacela Velha (p338), this ecosystem are strictly
nature reserve follows 60 km controlled or forbidden.
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