TOURS AND TRAILS | EASTERN 109
tuna tour From the watery realm of the herons – those slender birds that have become symbols in Castro Marim – to the cosmopolitan oasis of Monte Gordo. From the monuments of Tavira with its 32 churches, to the warm clear waters of Manta Rota. Nowadays, there are few signs of that old trade in the place where men set off to catch tuna: nets and boats cover the calm waters, as if in resignation or maybe by choice. However, there are the sons of brave tuna fishermen. A rare breed, with white hair and large petrified fingers, they now sew the fishing nets by hand. We can also see them, poles in hand, searching for shellfish in the sands of the Cacela peninsula at dawn. At the same time, the grandchildren of the tuna fishermen spread out along the coast, filling the buildings in Monte Gordo and friendly eating-houses in Cabanas and Altura. Later, with the eternal blue of the south in sight, we shall try the produce of the sea, cooked over charcoal. Looking out into the blue, we can discern the glorious feats and the battles of those men from the past, on the tuna tour.
Castro Marim (HR)
