On 3/13 we departed Lagos and headed west along the coast. With an ultimate destination of Vila Nova de Milfontes, we weren't in a hurry and prioritized taking our time and exploring.

Our first stop was the abandoned Forte de Almádena (Fort of the River Mouth). Down a VERY narrow and bumpy road, this rarely visited spot was a site to behold. The ruined structure is perched on the edge of a cliff with commanding views of Salema and beyond. The need for a fort at Almádena was identified during the Philippine Dynasty (1581-1640) in order to protect the area’s tuna fishery from attacks of privateers and pirates. Under the reign of Philip III of Portugal, the fort was built in 1632 on a cliff 260 feet above the sea. It sits on ruins of an older fortification, believed to be Roman or a Muslim ribat. The fort follows a polygonal plan and included two ramparts, a moat with a drawbridge, two batteries, and barracks. There was also a chapel, which doubled as a watchtower. Initially, the fort was manned by fishermen. It was subsequently damaged by the 1755 earthquake, officially abandoned in 1849.

After climbing and discovering, we then traveled down the winding roads to the gem of a fishing town known as Salema. I had first learned about Salema from Rick Steves, who wrote the following in his travel book: "By the time any place is famous for being a "last undiscovered tourist frontier," it no longer is one. The Algarve, the region that stretches across Portugal's entire south coast, disappoints many who come looking for fun on undeveloped beaches. But the savvy traveler can still find places where colorful boats share the beach with a colony of sun-worshipers. The Algarve of your dreams survives — just barely. Find it in Salema. The town is blessed with a long, broad, gorgeous beach — luxurious with powder-fine sand, framed off by steep vivid-yellow cliffs, and relatively untrampled by rowdy tourists. For my money, it may be the most purely enjoyable beach in all of Europe."

Rick wasn't wrong. While the mark of tourism is truly visible, the village's intertwined history with the sea is still very much evident. We found surfers walking past beached fishing boats and piles of barnacle-encrusted pottery jars that had recently been employed as octopus traps. We ate a tremendously local meal at A Bóia, a moderately upscale restaurant on the edge of the beach. Octopus salad, Bacalhau à Brás (salted cod w/ onions and thinly chopped (matchstick-sized) fried potatoes, all bound with eggs), and half a dozen fresh sardines. It was my first try at sardines and I absolutely loved them. As the waiter told me, don't worry about the bones. :)

After our meal we headed to the edge of the beach in search of dinosaur prints. The tide was up, but between the crashing waves we spotted a gigantic set on a shelf. From their size and shape, it’s believed the footprints belonged to a type of Ornithopod, a herbivorous biped. This name comes from the Greek word meaning ‘bird-foot’ and looking at the footprints themselves, we were able to make out the shape of a three-toed foot that doesn’t have claws. It’s reported that the shelf was originally the muddy-sand bottom of a lagoon. As a result, the footprints were well preserved in the sediment. The Ornithopod in question is thought to be an iguanodon, a large dinosaur that could grow up to 40 feet in length and weigh over three and a half tons. 

Basking in our post-meal bliss, and after witnessing activity from 125 million years ago, we loaded back in the car and headed west for Sagres, the southwestern tip of Portugal. Sagres was the spot closest to the edge of the flat earth in the days before Columbus. Prince Henry the Navigator — determined to broaden Europe's horizons — sent sailors from this point. He ran a navigator's school at Cape Sagres. It was from here that Henry carefully debriefed the many shipwrecked and frustrated explorers as they washed ashore. Henry the Navigator ordered the creation of a gigantic military structure at this point. The 15th century Fortress of Sagres, also known as Castle of Sagres or Fort of Sagres, is still a foreboding structure. We paid a small entrance fee and walked the perimeter of the point, watching fishermen casting from the towering crags, looking back a surfers catching waves in the small beaches.

After Sagres we headed north. The landscape became increasingly arid and open, arriving in Vila Nova de Milfontes at dusk.