Having looked at the flesh pots of Porto, Lisboa and Lagos we have now been priveledged to veiw some of nature's wonders and one of man's better efforts. The algarve we have seen is totally different to that which is normaly believed. You can't see the nudists on the beaches from the sea, but the coast is quite spectacular, with its hidden coves and areas only accessible by dinghy or boat. The caves just west of Albufeira are visited by tripper boats as well as ourselves. Although they are not as spectacular as Fingals Cave on Staffa, never the less they have a roman rather than gothic quality in their grandeur. The arches and caverns are rounded and formed of sandstones.

They are well worth a visit if you are in the area looking for the nudist colonies, or the sun! As is the new marina at Albufeira!! Totally fantastic can be the only way to describe the cubist 2004 architecture that surrounds the marina. The flats are picked out in pastel yellows, blues and pinks, which gives it a legoland look. This is very unlike the rest of the Algarve, which has architecture of white stucco walls and red pantile roofs, whatever the shape of building. We did not buy a two bedroom flat overlooking the marina with a shared swimming pool, priced at £200,000.

We next stopped at Olhao where we said goodbye to Tim and Kate, who had crewed with us from Lagos on alternate days. They kindly bought us dinner in a genuine Portugese restaurant that boasted "Nous ditons toutes les langues du monde". The waiter spoke good English too. We were sad to say goodbye to Butch (their dog) since his character reminded us of Ben's. Olhao is just east of Faro and is reached via an inland sea of creeks and sandy islands and banks. At low tide the view is of marshes, such as those at Benfleet or Leigh On Sea or the Blackwater. At high tide it is an inland sea over 2miles wide protected by a sandy spit and sandy island over 15miles long. We saw our first stork here.

We had never seen one wild before, which made us wonder why children in Britain are still told that they were brought by the stork when they first arrived in this world. A stork hasn't been seen in Britain for years!

We had followed a two masted lateen rigged tripper boat, similar to that used by the early Portugese explorers of Africa, into Olhao since the channel into the marina was unbouyed! All our fellow yachtsmen in the marina appeared very happy when we arrived. No surprise this, since we had found the yachtsmen's Nivrana, a free marina! A pity there was no electricity or water but you can't have everything for nothing.

We swam off the island, Susan played in the sand and we watched the storks, and men taking sand from the deserted beaches in their little boats to make concrete, from which almost all buildyings in the area are constructed.

A days sail next to the Rio de Guadiana was uneventful, except for the mist and our experimentation with sail plan in a breeze that saw 19 knots followed by 2 knots. We will pass over the small incidents where we follwed a fishing boat into the river over the sandbar with 0.9m under the keel one mile out. We will also pass over the incident the following day when, with a 3 knot tide running through the marina on the Portugese side, we kissed a German motorboat very gently on the side when trying to turn around. The pilot says "it is less traumatic to manouver in the marina at slack water". The pilot is right, we should have done so. The crew were very calm however, on both occasions and fortunatelty so where the nice Germans on the latter occasion.

Murray Nelson had insisted that "a trip up the Rio de Guadiana, which is the border between Portugal and Spain, is not to be missed!" The only trouble is that the clearance beneath the beautiful cable stayed bridge, which connects the two countries (one of mankinds better efforts) is only 20m at high tide. Will remeasured the mast height at 19.35m and Margaret was told not to look up as we passed beneath the bridge. Susan did, and winced. Will did, and shut his eyes quickly. No doubt Altantia looked wonderful with genoa and mizzen set as she sailed gently below the bridge with the rising tide.

Once above the bridge everything about the sea is forgotten. You enter a wonderland of safe sailing for miles and miles up a tidal river about 100m wide for almost 30miles. The lower reaches have marshes on either side where we saw little egrets, great white egrets, great grey herons, storks and a host of wadders and terns. We also identified a pair of marsh harriers and a pair of hen harriers.

The middle reaches had small hills on either side with a considerable number of abandoned farm houses on both banks. One had an abandoned mini outside, which really took Susan's fancy.

We started to see more inland wildlife with cattle egrets, azure winged magpies, field fares and hoopoes, together with the odd beeeater and a booted eagle, which was no more than 20 yards away.

The upper reaches of the tidal area, some 30 miles from the mouth, were truley magical.

Not a house to be seen on the red and brown, almost gorge like banks, nor a boat to be seen expect one water ski boat with an attractive skier behind. We saw red legged partridges, very plump and ready for the shooting season. More azure winged magpies, beeeaters and hoopoes and about 15 kingfishers.

Willow warblers abound with their nests in the weeping willows, which adorn most of the banks. Most exciting and unexpected of all were wild yellow bellied terrapins sunning themselves on the muddy banks.

The last stretch of perhaps 5miles, we explored by dinghy since there were reported sandbanks in the river. The weather, needless to say, has been almost perfect with warm evenings and hot days. Susan is now brown over the parts of the body that should be seen, and Will's legs are slightly blotchy brown, red and pink. Margaret behaves like a good dermatologist and covers herself with suntan cream, but never the less is becoming biscuit coloured.

We managed to get back under the bridge and we set off tomorrow for Seville, where Celtic had their galant defeat last year. I hope the Spanish will be pleased to see some more Scots.

We enclose some more of Susan's snaps and hope you like them.

Love to all Will, Margaret and Susan