Exiting Portuguese lockdown

3rd May 2020: It’s hard to believe that we have been seven weeks now in lockdown.  We are still in the same campsite in Silves with more or less the same neighbours.  A few people left at various points along the way, returning to the UK, Sweden, Belgium and France. Restrictions are beginning to lift here in Portugal as of tomorrow, in that some people will be returning to work, and people are permitted to visit the beach and partake in sea sports. We are not in a rush to go anywhere, although definitely looking forward to a sea swim 😎

We will remain in this site for at least a few weeks, to see how the lifting of restrictions pans out – will Covid cases rise again? Will restrictions be reimposed? We don’t want to end up stranded somewhere unsuitable. So, life in the bubble will continue for another while yet! We have some great neighbours and people are so happy to help one another out, it has been lovely.

Our friend Gillian has been brilliant in helping us train Pip. He loves when she calls over to visit as she always brings some cardboard things to chew on (for which read: rip to bits) or crunchy packaging to pounce on and play with! Now that restrictions have been lifted, Gillian and Steve and their gorgeous dog Sasha are moving to the sister site at Falésia in order to have easy access to the beach. They are fans of paddleboarding and want to get out on the sea. They even have a life jacket for Sasha so that she can go paddleboarding also! They blog about their travels on Facebook:

https://www.facebook.com/steveandgillian/about

The storks are busier than ever, feeding their growing chicks. And as for Pip, he is coming on great. The vet estimates that he is three months old and is not likely to grow large. Two more sets of jabs, a rabies injection, microchipping and a pet passport are all that is needed now before we can hit the road. At times, it is not a picnic having a lively little dog in the van, but we work to make sure he gets plenty of walks and exercise – although not too much as his bones are still soft and the ground is quite hot for little paws!

5th May 2020: Our first outing, post-lockdown. I’m sure it’s the same for most people: it was with trepidation that we ventured out of our bubble existence. We hired a car from Santos next door to our site, in order to be driving with Portuguese reg. plates and not cause locals to be concerned that we had just arrived into Portugal from another country. Then off we went, over the hills and towards the coast – our first trip out as a family of four plus dog 🐶 

The first few beaches we drove to were still cordoned off despite restrictions having been lifted and so we ended up back at Falésia: