#SummerBomb - Lagos day two and Albufeira

Bom Dia, Lagos!

(Gmmorning, Lagos!)

An early start to day two in Lagos and it was a trip down to the Marina at about half six in the morning - mind you, it was an all girls affair as it was impossible to get the boys out of bed that early! We were just in time to watch the sunrise across the marina. SubhanAllah. That however, was not the sole purpose of the early wake up. Apparently the morning market by the Lagos marina was a sight to behold with the local fishermen bringing up the morning catch from their boats to be sold and farmers selling their fruits, vegetables and fresh bread. We managed to get some fruits, bread and drinks to take with us for the daytrip out on the waters. Healthy snacks is the way to go! 

By the time we made it back to the apartment, the boys were still soundly asleep so Lisa and Syasya took the opportunity to get some shut eye whilst I headed down by the pool for some reading and writing. It was quite windy that morning and the skies were very cloudy so I feared that the weather was going to be a bit of a concern with what we had planned. Alhamdulillah though, by the time everyone had showered and had breakfast, the clouds parted and the sun had come out to play.

Our trip to the Grottos and sea caves of The Algarves started off with boarding a classic sailing ship with tall masts and pretty white sails. I cant remember whether it was the first time I had been on a sailing boat but the experience was priceless nonetheless. We had the wind in our hairs (or shawl for me, lol), the sun beaming down upon us and a fantastic view of the sweeping Lagos coastline. I'm starting to warm up to the idea of having a boat now. (Maybe one day...) We then had to transfer into a smaller motorized dinghy for a close up tour of the intriguing rock formations and the secret caves which was fun as the guy who was manning the boat pointed out 'The titanic', Lagos' 'Elephant family' and even 'King Kong'!! 

^^Do you see the King?^^

By the afternoon, everyone really wanted to dip into the turquoise blue ocean for a swim so we headed to another beach - The Praia Dona Ana which was comparable in beauty to the previous beach we went to. The brown sands were soft on our skins and the view, stunning. We picked a spot in the sun, set up our blanket and ate our sandwiches and fruits while catching some vitamin D. Syasya was the first one in but the water was a bit too chilly for my liking so I ended up just people watching and snoozing on the beach. Managed to send some postcards back home too, just to wind the family up :D

 

Sleepy faces! Lol

We also managed to get a near aerial view of the bay from the Ponte da Piedade. We had to be careful scaling the top of the cliffs taking care not to walk too close to the edge as some parts of it had already become victim to wear and erosion of the weather and human activities. It was nervy at times especially because it was very windy at the top and being the slim figure that I am, (hah, jokes!) and that I practically wore parachute pants that day, there were times where I felt I was about to be blown off! And I know I've said it a couple of times already but I'd like to reiterate that the view was... stunning, subhanAllah! We had an unhindered view of the distant horizon, being able to see Cabo Sao Vincente over to the west and if we looked really closely..and I mean reeeeeaaaalllyyy closely, with squinted eyes, you can jusssttt about make out faint borders of American land. Lol!

^^Syasya wasnt feeling very well and stayed back in the car at this point. Poor her^^

And with that, we pretty much covered all that we wanted to do in Lagos so that left us with a free evening. After a bit of deliberation, we decided to head to Albufeira which was about a 45-minute drive for dinner. We arrived in the nick of time to watch the sun setting behind the white buildings of the town which gave off a feel of being in Greece for some reason. Hmm maybe a next destination deja vu? 

Albufeira was a bit too touristy for me. The town was littered with pubs, bars and restaurants which were actually full of English people to my surprise. Our stay was short and what we saw might probably have been just a small part of the town, but it wasnt much to my liking. (this is just my opinion) Even dinner that night wasnt great, buttt.. at least we had each other's good company which was all that mattered! :) Back at the apartment, we finally came to terms with how 'tanned' (pshht asians dont tan!) we had become just from the day out on the beach and some of the fairer skinned ones like Rahman and Lisa were even nursing their sunburned wounds!

Wish you had been here to enjoy this with me,

Its been swell, Lagos.

Peja xx