Monday 23 September

We headed South towards the Serra da Arrabida  mountain ridge, our destination for the day is Sesimbra. 50 years ago this place was a quiet fishing village complete with south facing beach and azure sea, edged with the dramatic sea cliffs of the Serra.

Beach front

Seagulls follow the trawler

Unfortunately the unspoilt beauty of this scenic place has been changed dramatically by tourism and development on a massive scale, the landscape is now scarred with unfinished concrete skeletons of projects that have been halted by the current economic woes of Portugal.

The good

The bad

and the ugly

However the town is still a very active fishing port which continues to support a close knit local community.  

Isaia’s, very, very good local seafood

Isaia's crew:

The women folk

The Boss

The cook

The fish preparer

Today’s highlight was the unexpected visit of a school of dolphins that swam into the harbour then promptly headed back out to sea.

Dolphins leaving the harbour