One of the many gems of the Alentejo is Mértola at the Guadiana river. After driving through endless pastures with oak trees we suddenly reached this beautiful town surrounded by walls and with a castle on top.
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| Arriving at Mértola |
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| crossing the river |
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| Igreja Matriz – originally a mosque from the 12th century |
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| Entrance to the former mosque |
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| parking at the river and close to the castle |
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| Torre do Relógio – the clock tower from 1593 |
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| Castelo dos Mouros |
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| View over Mértola and the Guadiana river |
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| Town Hall of Mértola |
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| near the river you can see the caravan parking we used |
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| we just fitted in 🙂 |
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| One of the many storks you can see in Portugal |
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We were now on the way to Pulo do Lobo waterfall where the Guadiana river has to pass through narrow rocks. But before we got there, we stopped at Mina de São Domingo, a former mining village similar to Riotinto in Huelva where we had been before, but much smaller and very accessible!
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| Walking through the former buildings of the mine |
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| colourful rocks at the former mine, now an acidic lake |
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| We couldn’t resist to pose in this scenery |
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| not only with the car 😉 |
We now followed the road along the river and through the mining area. Driving along dams and through black gravel we saw many abandoned mining constructions.
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| nothing you want to put your toes in |
After finally leaving this fascinating area, we reached the east side of Pulo do Lobo waterfall meaning “wolf’s leap”. It was said that only a brave man or a wild animal when chased could leap over the gorge that was created by the waterfall. The access road was 2 km of gravel road through pastures ending at a little parking above the canyon. We stayed there for the night far from anything just with the super moon rising in the evening.
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| a perfect spot for the night |
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| Super Moon 21.03.2019 |
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Flower of the day
(actually from a park in Faro) |
