Armaceo de Pera

 

We had stayed in Evora for a week in the autumn of 2008 while we were waiting for a part for our water pump to arrive from Britain, Unfortunately it still didn’t work so we abandoned the effort and moved to   Armaçao de Pera , reckoning that there would be more expert help in the Algarvese.We found help fairly rapidly – Tommy from a local motorhome dealer/repair shop  (Algarve Camping) fitted a new (Fiamma) pump. Unfortunately that didn’t work either it was finally established that there had been a loose wire somewhere and never established if the original pump was ever broken. So when we got home we got the first one checked over and as  a result now have a fully functioning spare - sods law will dictate that we never have another water pump problem.

It was a delight to have a working pump again: we can flush the loo without having to manipulate a big bottle of water; we can wash ourselves in hot water (the washbasins and dishwashing facilities here only have cold water); and the can use the outside shower to provide hot water for at-home dishwashing. Luxury!

 


Armaceo is quite a small town and made up of the old town which still has narrow streets and little village houses and the new part consisting of tall blocks of flats. There are two campsites in town and our chosen one is only a short walk away from the old town. It is also a short trip to another birding site, one we have visited a couple of times previously.


There are several English-language newspapers published around here and we noticed an advert for a lost dog which included the sentence “Männi understands both German and English”. That dog sounds cleverer than me, but perhaps not as good at Geography.

 

We came to this campsite in Armaçao de Pera in 2007 ( the one near the beach, not Canelas) . It is a large, fairly laid-back place with rather tired facilities (warm showers, but only 7 minutes), indeterminate pitches (which means early arrivals can carve out an empire with their wind-breaks awnings and kitchen tents), and a tendency to flood down at the bottom. It is also very cheap - €10 a night. This site is unusual in that one can leave a pallet-load of stuff here at no additional cost and it is clear that people leave awnings, tents, satellite dishes, tables, chairs, bikes etc. here until their next visit. For people just coming here for 3 or 6 months it’s a great facility. 

Unfortunately the site does not have wifi but the  restaurant  does have wifi.

One year one of the campers  on the site has a small black pot-bellied pig as a pet. Not sure we would want to share a confined space with one, but nice when roasted with an apple in it’s mouth.

 We returned in 2008 and stayed here for over three weeks and hired a car for a couple of weeks which meant that we could visit some places not so accessible in a motorhome. While a bit of a luxury it was cheaper than buying a Smart car and towing it on our journeys.

 

 

This part of the Algarve coast is very pretty, unlike the coast north of Faro towards Spain which is more salt marsh and lagoon.