There’s no way we are going to fit under that!

We had no charts or pilot books to guide us up the river, just some third-hand photocopies of someone’s sketches and the advice to “stay to the outside of the bends and in the middle on the straight bits”. In reality, the river was wide and deep, and sometimes we had 20 metres of water below the keel just a boat-length from the bank. The main topic of conversation was about which flag we should fly – Spanish or Portuguese – as the river is the border between the two countries. To fly one above the other might offend…

Our guide up the river.

Motoring up the river was beautiful, with hills on either side, dotted with orange and olive trees, the odd tumbledown cottage and little private jetties. Sitting at the bow (i.e. not on top of our oh-so-quiet engine) I had forgotten how much birdsong there is away from the sea. This was one passage that was over too quickly!

Beth and Bryn on crocodile watch.

The first night we anchored between Sanlúcar (Spain) and Alcoutim (Portugal) about 26 km up the river. I can’t say it was the most restful night I’ve ever had – the anchor chain rumbled back and forth over the rocky river bed like distant thunder. While we didn’t actually go anywhere we weren’t supposed to, I couldn’t sleep through the thought that we might, plus the thunder, the sheep with bells, and the Spanish and Portuguese dogs winding each other up across the river. The next day we moved onto the pontoon in Alcoutim (7.50€ per night, including water, electric – and free wireless broadband!).

Sanlúcar (Spain).

Alcoutim (Portugal) on the far bank, viewed from the castle above Sanlúcar (Spain).

The next few days we spent dodging the rain, exploring Sanlúcar and Alcoutim and their castles, and falling foul of the time difference between the two a number of times. How much difference can a 100 metre stretch of river make? Well, Spain is currently an hour ahead of Portugal, has a siesta from 2 ‘til 5 pm when the shops are shut, and everything closes from Saturday lunchtime until Monday morning. Portugal doesn’t have a siesta but does have a long lunch. The post office in Spain shuts an hour before I get there (regardless of what time I think it is), and shopping is complicated by the fact that the veg is better in Spain, while the bread is better in Portugal.

Dolphins occasionally come up the river as far as Alcoutim, and apparently there had been a pod spotted a couple of days previously. Unfortunately this dolphin had died in the river. While it was sad to see, it was fascinating to get close and Bryn spent some time sketching it.

Bryn and the dolphin on the pontoon at Alcoutim.

Dead common dolphin at Alcoutim.

Geoff and Lynn (DRY WHITE) came across from Portimão and spent some time with us. We had snails – apparently a delicacy around here at this time of year. They also sampled a CAPE gourmet delight – corned beef spag bol (fresh mince beef is hard to find when you are in a modern time warp and can’t work out when the shops will be open).

Bethany and Geoff digging into the snails.

Creepy crawlies and other wee beasties

Having been terrorized by a tiny jumping spider in the cockpit, we did a bit of internet research and found out that there are some interesting snakes and spiders – and even scorpions – in Spain and Portugal. We went looking and found a water snake (a viperine water snake, Natrix maura) and a tarantula (European tarantula, Lycosa tarantula)! There are also lizards (Iberian wall lizard, Podarcis hispanicus), and some pretty enormous ants. Unfortunately the picture of the water snake didn’t come out, and by the time I took the photo, all I got of the lizard was its tail!

Spot the tarantula (3 cms across, stripy tights).

If this is the porch of an Andalucian funnel web spider (Macrothele calpeiana) I’m glad it wasn’t hanging around – apparently this ‘lil’ beauty’ can have a body up to 3.5 cm long and the legs can reach a span of 8 cm (there are some times when access to the internet is not reassuring…)

There were wild flowers everywhere!

Up river to Pomerão

We explored further upriver as far as Pomerão, a busy port from 1885 to 1966, now an almost-ghost town left when mining activities ceased. Gold, silver and copper have been mined in this area since Roman times, apparently, and 25 million tons of copper ore were excavated from the area. Now 35 people live in the village, which has one (State-owned) bar, a daily bread van visit, and twice weekly veg and meat vans. No mobile ‘phone signals, no internet… We explored, hunted spiders and lizards, read, and took siestas. As getting to Pomerão is a bit tricky, not many yachts attempt it – we were the only visitors there – which added to its charm.

CAPE rafted up to a fishing boat on the pontoon at Pomerão.

A lesser-spotted boom bookworm.

Alcoutim again

As work was calling, we made our way back down river to Alcoutim for me to make ‘phone calls, check e-mail and download work documents. Beth and Bryn made friends with some English kids – Lily and Mair – and went trampolining and swimming with them. Having touched base with the real world, we went back to Pomerão on a mission to find some terrapins.

Terrapin territory

The Rio Vascao forms the border between the Algarve and the Alentejo – and is renowned for its terrapins. We were low on petrol for the outboard, so rowed down river the 2.5 miles or so to the entrance to the river, saving what petrol we had for the journey back upstream. I did my bit with the rowing, which is, (so I am informed) very good for the bust. However, my advice is not to attempt to row far in an underwired bra...

Luckily, a local fisherman offered us a tow down stream.

The terrapins (stripe-necked terrapin Mauremys leprosa as far as we can tell) were much bigger than we expected (about 30 cms in length) and were much more like mud-coloured tortoises than the red/yellow and black terrapins we were expecting. They were also good climbers (sunbathing on tree branches overhanging the river), and very shy, ‘plopping’ into the water as soon as we approached in the dinghy (OK, maybe the fact that we had Beth and Bryn with us and struggle to go anywhere quietly might have had something to do with it!).

Spot the terrapin.

We swam in crystal-clear water, dug up freshwater clams (and put them back, much to Bethany’s disgust as she fancied them for tea), clambered over the remains of a Roman dam, and looked for snakes and spiders. Despite the noise we made, we also managed to see bee-eaters .

Child power up the Rio Vascao.

The Roman dam.

Freshwater clams (I knew I brought my hat along for a reason).

Indiana who???

The next day we climbed up to the modern-day dam across the Rio Chanca at Pomerão. The border between Spain and Portugal runs across the middle of the dam and down the centre of the lake behind.

On the dam; David is in Spain – I’m in Portugal.

View down the Rio Guadiana from above Pomerão.

Going aground!

When leaving Pomerão, the landmark showing the start of the dodgy dogleg channel across the river (namely the derelict house just past the big eucalyptus tree on the west bank) is a bit harder to spot than when coming upstream and we ran aground. Luckily we were on a rising tide and soon managed to back off. A local fisherman sat and watched the show, then called us over to follow him and showed us where the channel was. We were then able to head for the mossy ‘green’ rock on the east bank, and head downriver back to Ayamonte. At least we know the echosounder is working – it did say 0.0 metres below the keel!!!