Vila Nova Milfontes in the Alentejo: Davis Family Road Trip in Portugal #10

Day 13: Saturday Vila Nova Milfontes

Morning run down to the beach of Malhao. James was virtually bouncing out of his seat on the gravel. Back at camp at 8am to be greeted by my two sleepy boys. Today is “pajama day” for the Davis clan.

We are on the go slow. Lego, family round of cards, a plunger of peppermint tea and chillaxing. It’s also “washing day” so we set out to do a couple of loads of washing only to realize we don’t have pegs. With clothing scattered around our site suddenly one entire row goes missing. Daniel shouts “that lady swiped our clothing. She has my favourite Dino top!” The sweet portugese Granny next door collected as much of our washing as she could carry and hung it on her line. Daniel spent the next few hours with his eyes fixed on our washing just incase it wasn’t coming back.

Nina, Daniels new playmate from next door spent the day exchanging snacks. Bananas, biscuits, nectarines you name it! She has decided to come live at our campsite, virtually moved in the the day. She and Daniel spend many happy hours roaring like Dinosaurs and playing Police Dino Lego adventure. Nina is Portugese so Daniel asks if he can learn Spanish to talk to her… lol. We switch on the google translate app and he practices some new Portugese words to speak to her.

A few facts we have learnt about Portugal so far:

The coastline is 1800kms
They drive on the right
There are plenty of electronic tolls on the motorway
Standard meal portions at restaurants are huge so always ask for the “half portion”
Prego is a popular dish in Portugal
Opening hours for stores (especially in more rural areas) is 9am – 7pm with a 2hr lunch siesta in between
Coffee in Portugal is fantastic. It is also very much part of many locals culture to enjoy a coffee in the morning and one in the evening.
Orbitur Group of campsites are well known in Portugal. Spanish owned. They are more expensive but have a much higher standard than other campsites. (Average about 20 Euros per night)
The climate and greenery is very similar to South Africa.
The further South we go the warmer the climate

• Adult Enjoyment Level: 10/10 I cant remember the last time we had such a slow day.

• Kids Enjoyment level: 10/10

• Campsite Setup: We are still at Parque Orbitur Sitava Milfontes. William says the men’s showers are cold but the ladies are hot!

• Overall Experience: 10/10

• Surf: 0/10 checked the surf at the beach Malhão beach. It’s flat

• Highlight: Daniels funny sayings are just the best! Daniel practicing to say “obrigado” but he forgets and says “offdigas” and then tells us that “I don’t understand” in Portugese is “ola Afrikaans”