Digital Wanderer

We live as long as we fly

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Portugal — 10, Barreta and Culatra Islands

2019-03-29

The next day we finally set off on our planned trip, or rather, a boat ride. It cost 25 euros per person, and for this price we were supposed to be dropped off at "Desert Island", which turned out to be not so deserted, and on a second island, which was supposedly inhabited, but in fact was incredibly deserted. As often happens in human languages, backwards, everything reversed.

A twelve-seater boat, very comfortable A twelve-seater boat, very comfortable, it's practically like sitting on a couch. I think this is the first time I've sailed on one exactly like this. And in general, it was only the second time in my life I found myself on non-scheduled water transport. That's what it means to become an armchair tourist, right away I started buying tours (the next one will be at the very end of the trip, on a hop-on hop-off bus).

The captain immediately started entertaining us with jokes and banter, cursing out the bosses, showing off with full throttle and drifting among the seaweed, and generally catered to our every whim, short of offering us hashish.

A bearded man in profile, wearing a black and white cap, sunglasses, and a red jacket with a life vest. In the reflection of his glasses, a person taking a photo against a bright sky is visible.

A group of people in life vests riding a motorboat under an overcast sky. The driver in sunglasses sits at the helm gesturing, and one of the passengers is holding a camera.

However, as Andrey rightly pointed out, the boat ride itself is devoid of interesting events, and the high speed of the boat (about 25 kilometers per hour, up to forty) is only entertaining for the first few minutes. The wind, on the other hand, stays with you the whole way — it is still winter outside, after all, so I was glad more than once that I wrapped myself up like a Muslim woman in a hijab.

Three people in life vests — two adults and a child — are riding in a boat on a body of water under an overcast sky. The man on the left is smiling slightly, the woman in the center has her mouth wide open, and the child is relaxing between them.

A natural landscape with a body of water, a shore overgrown with vegetation, and a bright sky. Many birds, including flying seagulls, a large white bird, and dark waterfowl, inhabit this coastal area. Photos by Vika

The islands are densely populated by mini-crabs in unprecedented numbers The islands are densely populated by mini-crabs in unprecedented numbers.

Anita has a good story about this. She once went for a walk on the beach in Fuseta closer to the night, and caught the low tide. It turned out you could walk right up to a little shack on stilts, which is normally above water. Just as Anita started climbing up the wooden boardwalk in the dark, she heard rustling and knocking sounds all around her. She turns on her phone flashlight — and all around it's like the movie Alien, everything is swarming with crabs. I don't envy those with crabophobia. Fortunately, we don't have anyone like that — everyone has crabophilia, and for me it's reached such a stage that I'm ready to eat them.

Next are a few beautiful photos by Vika.

A white egret with wide-open wings flies low over a green marshy field. Higher in the sky, a flying seagull is visible, and on the horizon is a strip of withered grass and a lone pole.

A flock of seagulls and two dark cormorants, one of which is spreading its wings, sit on a sandbank between the water and distant dunes under an overcast sky.

A wooden boardwalk runs through sand dunes overgrown with dry bushes towards a beach with boats and buildings on the horizon under a bright sky.

A single bright pink succulent flower with a yellow center among thick green leaves with reddish tips, growing on dry ground.

A seagull flies over a rough sea against the backdrop of a white and green striped lighthouse located on a stone breakwater.

A wide sandy beach is washed by rolling ocean waves under a blue sky with scattered clouds. Footprints are visible on the sand, a person is walking along the shore in the distance, and several small boats can be seen on the horizon.

We found a spot slightly sheltered from the wind and sat there for about half an hour with Andrey and the kid. We ourselves were in warm spring jackets, while the kid tears off all his clothes at the slightest opportunity, like a psychonaut who had too much acid, and messes around in the sand stark naked. People of the older generation (for me that's my mom, and for the kid his grandma) are horrified by this, but those who are more modern know that nothing will happen to him. As you know, the common cold is a myth, it's all about bacterial and viral infections. On an empty island of sand in the winter there are far fewer bacteria than if you go visit each other, sit in apartments, and never go outside. Some people also rarely air out their places, because it's cold, right.

Even in the sand, the flora here is quite diverse.

A green herbaceous plant with long flat leaves grows on a sandy surface surrounded by sparse blades of grass and small shoots.

A sprawling squat plant with small grayish-green leaves in the center of a sandy patch with sparse tufts of grass.

Sandy ground with a few scattered clumps of succulent plants. Their thick pointed leaves are green at the base and turn reddish-purple towards the tips.

A sandy coast with shallow bays during low tide, overgrown with green bushes in the foreground. In the distance, a small lighthouse is visible on the left side and the silhouette of a walking person on the right under a bright sky with scattered clouds.

The second island, which we were taken to an hour later, is more inhabited and a more decent size.

That way! Only that way! That way! Only that way!

Anita mostly speaks Latvian in everyday life, but the readers of this blog (if there are any left after so many months of silence) don't all understand the native tongue, so I won't play the aesthete here and do inserts in the original language.

View of the coastline with sandy ground, succulents, and colorful houses on the sides. In the background — a rough sea with waves and a person walking by the water under a blue sky.

A tall white lighthouse with a red top rises against a clear blue sky. In the foreground on the right — a pile of large stones, and on the left, a winding path, succulents, and white coastal buildings are visible.

We agreed that Culatra is very, very cute, just some pure kawaii. There are practically no people — it's winter, off-season. The restaurants are closed, I'm not even sure if there are any stores. It just makes you want to come here for a couple of months, walk thoughtfully along the ocean shore, and watch the surf and the waves crashing against the rocks.

Churning sea waves with abundant white foam crash against dark coastal rocks.

Rough sea waves with white foam crash against a stone breakwater under an overcast sky. A small red and white lighthouse is installed on the edge of the structure, and silhouettes of people are visible in the distance.

They even set up a little chair, ain't that the life, huh? They even set up a little chair, ain't that the life, huh?

In bad weather or after sunset, you could sit in the house and write a book. Right with a pen on paper, and absolutely no gadgets — media asceticism for deep thoughts, obviously!

And when you get tired of that, meditate. I actually downloaded a manual not too long ago, practically "How to get enlightened in 10 years". Right on the first pages you can find out that the Buddha himself said you could do it in seven. Another question is how much effort and talent that takes.

For anyone interested, the book is called The Mind Illuminated: A Complete Meditation Guide Integrating Buddhist Wisdom and Brain Science for Greater Mindfulness.

You can download it, as usual, on Library Genesis. There is no Russian translation.

A rare occasion — the whole crew gathered together A rare occasion — the whole crew gathered together

Succulents of all stripes act as decorative plants Succulents of all stripes act as decorative plants

A large aloe with patterned dark red leaves and an orange flower stalk grows on rocky ground, surrounded by light stones and small white flowers.

A woman in a turquoise jacket holds onto a dry, tilted agave flower stalk. Around her are thickets of agaves, a tall pine tree, and white houses under a clear blue sky.

A bush of blooming rosemary with narrow green needle-leaves and small delicate lilac flowers.

A light green agave with large fleshy leaves surrounded by blooming white osteospermums and other decorative plants in a garden.

A lush rounded bougainvillea bush, thickly covered with bright red flowers, grows behind a white plastered wall next to a building. In the foreground, pointed green palm leaves and dry sandy ground with fallen petals are visible.

A bush with pink gerbera-like flowers grows on the sand in front of a low wooden trellis fence. In the background, green succulents, decorative plants, and a white house wall are visible.

A winter landscape at sunset with an asphalt road in the foreground and a snow-covered field of dry reeds behind it. The low sun on the horizon illuminates the sky with a warm golden light, creating a bright glare in the center of the frame.

The sand-and-water dust in the distance caught my interest. In Morocco I saw dust, but the water kind. Maybe here, too, it just looks like half of it is sand-colored.

The contraption contrasts sharply with the surrounding neat whiteness The contraption contrasts sharply with the surrounding neat whiteness

A person with pink hair and a backpack walks along a stone path past bright flower beds towards white houses. Against a cloudless sky, green southern plants and palm branches are visible.

Mediterranean-style white houses with red shutters and decorative grilles, surrounded by lush vegetation and sandy soil. In the background, a white lighthouse with a red top rises under a bright sky.

A cluster of old car tires, partially submerged in bluish water and covered in green algae, bound together with ropes.

A top-down view of a rust- and algae-covered metal grating ladder extending into the water. In the foreground, feet wearing shoes are visible on a step.

On the way back the cap needed all of us (the passengers) so that our weight would allow him to steer the boat under the bridge into the parking spot. I've sailed under bridges and trees in a kayak many times in my life. Sometimes you could only fit if you lay completely flat on the bottom of the boat. I couldn't have imagined at all that after paying 25 euros as an armchair tourist, I would be forced to do the exact same thing in Portugal. Not complaining, it's just funny.

In the foreground — a cobblestone promenade leading to a marina filled with many small boats. In the background, a seaside town with white buildings, palm trees, and bell towers can be seen under a clear blue sky.

We really liked it on the islands, we didn't pay for the ticket for nothing. We probably could have sailed there on public transport, but our schedule adapts to the capabilities of all the members of our crew. So better somehow than not at all — the motto of my whole life, you could say. And in the last three years it's gained completely unprecedented relevance.

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