Lagos

Sunrise!

After a failed attempt to squat for one night in Lisboa, yet again we had the genius idea of the overnight bus to Lagos. The city is in the southern region on Portugal known as Algarve. Arriving to your destination at 4 in the morning is the best nights accommodation, BUT, we had the pleasure of lovely beach only a few hundred meters from our dropoff point. We hoofed it there, just in time to catch the beautiful sunrise. As picturesque as it was, the hot, blinding sun was not so conducive for sleep. Fortunately the beaches of Lagos are surrounded by high cliff walls that provided us with a shady place to catch some z’s. Funny enough we settled in next to the other backpackers that were there and got a couple decent hours worth.

Lalala!

We loved the beach, especially our new spot. So much so, that we made it home for the next 36 hours! Our day was spent body surfing the violent waves (when the lifeguard wasn’t looking) and one super undercover trip to the camp grounds showers to freshen up; which we later found out was a military personal/family only camp grounds.

Sleeping on the beach has become one of our favorite traveling pastimes.The sand is soft, its free and the crashing of the waves is a wonderful soundtrack for sleeping.

yum!

…As long as you don’t have to worry about protecting your valuables. Unfortunately, in Lagos this is not possible. The reputation for Lagos is a party town. So, passing out on the beach is usually done by the people too drunk to make it home, thus creating nice targets for local thieves to take advantage of. Mindful of this we set up our tent in a secluded little area protected by tall cliff, thinking that we would have a nice night of undisturbed sleep. Wishful thinking and reality hardly parallel each other and in this case they had set a different course. I had passed out quickly, only to wake up with Chelsea no next to my side where she always is, but outside of the tent chasing our towels down the beach, as the wind swept them away. I really didn’t think much of it, but when she returned to the tent she told me that the wind had not woken her. Instead it was the footsteps of man, who apparently had army crawled through the small tunnel connecting our nice secluded spot, to the main back around the corner. At first I was in denial about him wanting to steal our stuff, but when we spotted him sneaking a look from his hiding spot around the corner, waiting for us to fall back asleep I began to worry. Once he realized we saw him he acted like he was leaving. Fortunately for us we could see through a hole in the rocks the path that left the area, allowing us to see that he hadn’t walked by yet. So when we saw him peer through that hole on his hands and knees like the sneaking thief that he was, checking on us again, I shined our flashlight and yelled at him. We took this as a sign and decided it was better to move to a more open location, where people could see us.

Our home for a few days!

When we walked back around the rocks, it was like a different world…party on the beach!! But we slept much better knowing we were safe! We woke up to lots of people on the beach…and nobody minding that we had a tent pitched!

Cute little town!