Blinking Flamingos

DAVE ELLIOTT DESCRIBES HIMSELF AS A MIDDLE-AGED BLOKE LIVING ON THE EASTERN ALGARVE, WHO HAS NO IDEA OF WHAT HE IS DOING. HIS BLOG DETAILS HIS OWN EXPERIENCES HERE AND OFFERS PLENTY OTHERS CAN LEARN FROM AND LAUGH ABOUT. BLINKING FLAMINGOS? THEY’RE WHAT HE SEES FROM HIS ROOF TERRACE!

IRECEIVED AN EMAIL out of the blue, asking me to write this piece.

“Interesting…” I thought, and asked what sort of content would be required. “Tell them about yourself,” editor Susi said. “Tell them why you came to the Algarve. Tell them what you’ve done since you’ve been here. Tell them about your blog. And tell them in 1,200 words.”

Mmmm. 1,200 words? How the hell would I fit it all in? I asked. “Maybe 1,500 words?” Susi offered.

Better than a kick up the backside, I thought. And I accepted.

A bit of background

My name is Dave Elliott and I’m just about to enter my 60s. Five years ago, I decided to leave the UK and my wondrous (gawd, it was boring!) career in IT. I’d spent the previous six years working for Arla down in the West country, helping build a warehouse and various systems that could be used to produce copious amounts of butter.

I’d enjoyed the company of the people I worked with, but not the job itself, so when the opportunity arose, I jumped.

A friend told me that he was moving to Portugal. He told me that property was cheap, as was day-to-day living. He told me that Brexit was coming. He said it was a great opportunity.

I didn’t need telling twice, having been to the Algarve several times in previous years. I put my house in the UK up for sale and started househunting in Portugal.

The plan

My favourite place was Ilha da Armona, part of the Ria Formosa Natural Park, one of five barrier islands that had helped protect the Algarve coast from the tsunami caused by the great Lisbon Earthquake of 1755. I decided to look there first.

I found a great option, incorporating two apartments (offering seven bedrooms) and a separate annexe with a single bedroom.“Great,” I thought. “Somewhere to live and rooms to rent out at the same time!”

It was a ready-made income, although the property would need some touching up here and there. Well, everywhere if I’m being honest.

Then someone broke the news to me: “You can buy a house on Armona, but you won’t own the land. You can risk it if you want, but I wouldn’t.”

I investigated further, and yes, there could have been a problem. At the time, there was a possibility that certain properties on the island would be knocked down due to a dispute between the Câmara and a number of property owners on the island. It was back to the drawing board for me.

It was then that my friend mentioned Fuseta. Or is it Fuzeta? Depends on who you’re talking to, I suppose. I use Fuseta simply because that’s what it says on the deeds to my house. But it’s probably wrong.

Anyway… I’d never been to Fuseta, so I went and had a look. Interesting.

The place

Fuseta is a small fishing village. It’s on the coast. It’s snuggled between Olhão and Tavira in the East Algarve. It’s only 30 minutes from the airport. It has a beach. It has a ferry service out to Ilha da Fuseta (the other end of Ilha da Armona – a wonderful walk if you want to try it). It retains a local feel. It offers some fantastic restaurants. It has a fresh fish and vegetable market. It has a fishing fleet working nearby waters (those boys enjoy a beer!). It has a nice assortment of bars (I also enjoy a beer!). It has two railway stations. It has monthly fairs filling the beach-front car park and adjoining streets. Like I said: Interesting!

Fuseta, many a man’s idea of paradise. Spectacular natural surroundings, enchanting locals, easy travel, and some of the very best in craft beers – bespoke, even

I loved the place from the start, so I started looking at properties. I decided that I preferred the old part of Fuseta down by the water, rather than the new builds that seem to be growing in number towards the top of the village.

There were a few properties available, but only one appealed to me. It had three bedrooms and a roof terrace with a view of the Ria Formosa all the way east, past Barril to Tavira. I didn’t hesitate – I bought it.

That first evening of ownership, I did nothing but sit on the roof terrace with a cooler of cold beers at my feet, sipping a bottle of Sagres with the sun on my neck, relishing the view I now owned: the sea, the hills, the Salinas… and the flamingos! I could see bloody flamingos from my roof terrace!

I probably shouldn’t say ‘bloody’, I thought… how about ‘blinking flamingos’ (blinking being a much softer adjective)? Yes! I could see blinking flamingos from my roof terrace! It was bliss…

The people

As time passed, I began to realise what I really liked about Fuseta. The locals are wonderful. My Portuguese is not great (although I’m trying) and I can understand nothing that is said to me (I blame the local accent). But as people began to realise that I was here for the long haul, they started to make me feel welcome. The men would say ‘bom dia” or “boa tarde” as I passed, which slowly evolved into a simple “olá!”.

The old ladies were even more welcoming.On several occasions after I had flown in from the UK, having nipped back to see friends and family, I would hear a banging on my front door.

It would be ‘Granny’, the lady from the adjacent house, demanding that I come around and eat a bowl of whatever she had made that evening. We couldn’t communicate verbally, but she was just SO happy to sit and watch me enjoying her food – a little disconcerting on my part, obviously.

As for Suzette, the lady opposite, she beckoned me over one day. She then proceeded to give me a 30-minute tour of her house and a viewing of her family photo albums, talking non-stop the whole time. A Iittle surreal, I have to admit.

And then there are the ‘estrangeiros’ like me – people who have decided that Fuseta is the place for them. It’s an eclectic mix:

Norwegians, Danes, Swedes, the Dutch, Americans, and of course, a smattering of Brits – but not so many that we dilute the ethnicity of this stunning place. I haven’t come across anyone I don’t like here. Amazing really.

The promise

As well as the people, I love the bars: snack-bar Beira Mar 18, Cubanito, O Farol, O Pescador – there are so many. But in particular, I love Nanobrew, run by Kjetil and Tone. It’s a microbrewery.

Maybe I should have mentioned this before? Yes, Fuseta has its own microbrewery with up to 18 beers on tap at any one time. You might even see one called ‘Dave’s All Dayer’ if you’re lucky. Yes, named after yours truly. I had challenged Kjetil to brew me something around the 4% mark so that I could enjoy it rather than feel the after effects of his stronger offerings. He duly obliged. It only took him four years. I’m very patient.

What I really love though, is that Fuseta is simply a great place to relax and watch the world go by, whether having a drink at a bar, a pastry at a pastelaria (Trindade on the square is a must), or simply lazing on the beach. “But what about transport?” I hear you ask. “You must need to go places.”

I did have a van for a while, which helped greatly when renovating the house, but then I managed to kill the engine. I really should have put some oil in.

That sounds like a disaster, I know, but I quickly realised that I really didn’t need a vehicle. Fuseta has a multitude of small supermarkets. It also has a couple of train stations (weird, I know), making travel to Olhão, Tavira and Faro pretty straight forward. In these three towns I can get just about everything I want, and they also act as hubs if I want to go further afield.

In the past few months, with a friend (she lives in Sydney – I know, it’s a long story) I have caught the train to Lisbon and the bus to Seville, both from Faro. Then there’s the airport that allows me to get back to the UK. The best I’ve done is beach to UK door in six hours. Not bad at all, methinks!

There again, the close proximity of the airport isn’t all good. I seem to be getting a lot of unexpected guests. For some reason, friends seem to be much more interested in seeing me these days. But that’s life when you live in a place like Fuseta.

The path

My only formal mode of transport now is my bicycle – and I love it. Fuseta is on the Ecovia Litoral, the cycle route that follows the Algarvian coast from Vila real de Santo António in the east to Sagres in the west.

I like to cycle to Olhão and back, to Tavira and back, to Cerro de São Miguel. I also love walking, enjoying the peace and quiet of the Algarve that most tourists seem to ignore. I like to catch a train to somewhere like Vila Real de Santo António and then just head homewards, maybe getting as far as Cacela where I can have a beer whilst waiting for the next train to take me home.

Yes, a perfect day for me is to cycle or walk along the coast, through the Ria Formosa, through the Salinas, enjoying the plethora of wildlife as I go, followed by a quick dip in the sea.

And most of all, I love seeing those Blinking Flamingos…

IT COULDN ’T be simpler, I thought as I tapped in my details. Faro to Porto: fly up at 06:00, arrive 07:10, breakfast 08:00 and be back before midnight. A long day, sure, but we’re no strangers to hard work. A few days later, my alarm chimed at 03:45 and I didn’t share the same excitement as I had when I was booking this damn day. Coffee, water, shower and I pulled into the Faro airport. My business partner, also a Nick, and I headed for the long security line but made it through and the sun lit up the sky as we jetted off to the second biggest city in Portugal.

We were there to film the company behind a Golden Visa Fund. With parliament letting them operate for as long as possible, while the country closed down the normal property application routes, you can still get a Golden Visa if you invest in their fund. Great news, and a great video possibility.

As much as I moan about Porto’s weather (far cooler and wetter than the Algarve) it was a delight to land on a warm summer’s morning and head in on the train to Trindade station and walk over to Zenith for breakfast. Then we scooted off to the other side of the river for our morning appointment at the Fund’s new refurbishment project: Riviera Porto. The journey across the Douro felt wonderful and free as we dodged the traffic on hired electric scooters and crossed the iconic Luis I bridge. Trains rumbled overhead as we coasted down into Vila Nova de Gaia, passing old Port warehouses and into the street.

Surviving drone attacks by seagulls is not the best part part of my day, but we pushed through, got the shots and headed out to an up-and-coming area of Porto, Canidelo, close to the beach where the boardwalk, the paredão, goes on for miles.