Yesterday, Emmie and I had agreed to walk down the beach from our house to the city center, so we followed through and made the 2km hike through the sand to start our Saturday morning. We broke up the trip with another stop for Brisa soda at Bar do Henrique and followed up that treat with more ice cream from Lambecas.
Our walk started well, as Emmie has been thrilled each time she’s seen a cat or dog (or any animal) on our trip.
Emmie is sporting her new headband, which we purchased from a vendor at the São João festival two nights prior.
More drinks (passion fruit and apple) from Bar do Henrique.
Emmie happily holds her ice cream cone and mine.
Emmie found a cat downtown to pose with.
Our next order of business was to stop by an ATM then procure everyone’s lunch. We had grown a bit tired of takeaway, so when Emmie suggested I get her a hot dog from the downtown stand, I decided we’d instead go to the grocery store and buy hot dogs for all.
Unfortunately, we were not the only people in Porto Santo who decided to go to the town’s primary grocery store on Saturday morning. It was packed to the point it was borderline intimidating to navigate the aisles, but we made it out and had a successful (and gourmet) hot dog lunch.
A view of the busy checkout lanes at Pingo Doce.
While Emmie and I were exploring and buying lunch, Amanda and Gee Gee were hanging laundry to dry.
Our main activity of the day was scheduled for 4:00 p.m., when our goto taxi driver was taking us to Porto das Salemas, a small cove along the northern coastline where natural pools form during each day’s low tides. The plan allowed roughly two hours along the shore in addition to required time for driving and hiking at the start and end of our visit.
The signs directed us down the walking path to the ocean.
We made the steep-at-times downhill hike from the taxi drop-off point to the water.
Kids had to hold adult hands (or be carried) given the steep, and sometimes slippery, rocks.
A handful of sunbathers were present, but the area was mostly uncrowded. We found a spot to drop our bag and towels and begin exploring the pools and taking photos. The clear water, mossy rocks, and great sunlight were ideal conditions for taking a lot of photos.
This picture captures the magnitude of the rocky cliffs surrounding the small oceanside cove known as Porto das Salemas.
The varying pool depth and sometimes slippery rocks put a limit on the area we could safely explore with the kids. We ended up wrapping up a little earlier than expected, getting back to the taxi drop-off point about 30 minutes ahead of schedule. I texted our taxi driver, who was busy but sent a colleague to pick us up.
Showing the less glamorous side of our travels, we waited for the taxi to arrive in the foreground of the island’s trash processing center.
We decided to make one final group trip to the city center for dinner at the informal Pizza Cafe, which Gee Gee declared as the best pizza we’d eaten on our trip. Gee Gee also had the opportunity to try our new favorite Lambecas ice cream shop. She and Emmie tried the chocolate and mint twist soft serve while I went for their other flavor combo for the evening, yogurt and orange.
Amanda poses with her “single person” ham and mushroom pizza. We ordered way too much pizza.
The waitress recommended this pie, topped with chorizo, olives, peppers, and more.
Emmie and Noah were delivered halves of a ridiculously-sized “two-person” cheese pizza.
Eilidh and Emmie were pretty thrilled to see a black cat hanging out in the city center.