PEOPLE Hank & Carina

THEN OLHÃO

... and we weren't even looking! Hank and Carina's story of how they came to love and live in Olhão

Welcome to our monthly column celebrating Olhão. After exploring Portugal top to bottom from Braga to Tavira enjoying so many coastal and inland locations in our RV, we decided Olhão was the place to buy our home to celebrate our “golden years”. discovery of Eastern Algarve was a pleasant surprise with the scale of development so much less than areas to the west. A chance winter rental introduced us to Olhão, a place we quickly found attractive for many reasons. “Walkability” is, above all, a main highlight and each month we will introduce you to places only steps away from our front door.

GET OUT!

Enjoy a one day vacation on the beach in As much as we enjoy our walking life in Olhão, sometimes we want a change of scenery and what better way to do that then to head to the experience reachable on foot, it is super easy to hop on the local ferry and quickly, after a pleasant stroll across the small island, be enjoying the sand and surf of the Atlantic Here is why we think our living on the Ria Formosa is better than making our home in other parts of the Algarve when it comes to enjoying the water. In many beautiful places in the central and more built up parts of the Algarve, there are amazing beaches where enjoying the Atlantic Ocean is a central feature. In Olhão and other parts of the Eastern Algarve, we enjoy quieter waters on our doorstep. We much prefer the quiet serenity time, we can hop on a 2 Euro ferry and enjoy Culatra Island is not just for visitors. The island is permanently inhabited by around 1000 people living in three large settlements

where the Culatra Village is the largest with 759 inhabitants. This village has a church, a port, small markets and several restaurants and cafes. The population is mainly linked aquaculture, and has inhabited this area for the last 150 years. While it is delightful to come enjoy this special climate change driven sea level rise. Residents are working now to help address the challenges heading their way. They have developed a Sustainable Energy and Climate Action Plan, focused on identifying the main current and future climate vulnerabilities and on the possible adaptation strategies for the change scenarios. The ones relevant to energy are: architecture in existing buildings, facades and roofs; consumption and promote the use of renewable energy, in general. hope that we can all continue to gain an appreciation for the importance of protecting places like Culatra.

MOLHE LESTE

Here is an example of one local business that respects that climate awareness, having been beginning in 2005. It is a place where you can power, installed back in 2018, a year before the Sustainability Project began, is providing zero emission electricity for preparing drinks and simple snacks. I recently enjoyed meeting Tiago Guerreiro, the owner of Molhe Leste. He was gracious solar panels installed on his roof structures deliver 3780 watts to the 10 kW battery, inverters and controllers. That setup delivers steady power for the 4000 watt pizza oven and other appliances used to serve customers. Tiago is a marine biologist dedicated during the past 17 years to preserving his part of the fragile ecosystem on a beach that can often see thousands of visitors during the high season. During my visit in May, Molhe Leste was technically closed and preparing for the coming season. Still, day trippers chose to enjoy the Atlantic Ocean sand and sun after their 10-15 minute stroll from the ferry landing to the beach. If you are reading this in the June issue of the magazine, know that Tiago and his crew to protect swimmers during the high season and if you meet Tiago, he might even suggest other close by places on the island where you can paddle and enjoy the spectacular his knowledge of Culatra combines with the paddle boards they supply so you will have an unforgettable emission-free experience exploring the island’s unique and ever

December 2021 issue (eastalgarvemag.com/december21). Fine Print – Questions or Comments? Write us at hankryan2003@yahoo.com We choose to focus on businesses here in Olhão where we from these businesses that supports Eastern Algarve Magazine is purely coincidental :-)