One of the things the western Algarve is proud of is its abundance of storks. Unlike much of Europe, most of the storks here are no longer migratory. Not only have they occupied every abandoned chimney and tall pole, but many communities and eco groups have constructed poles with platforms in order to make the storks welcome.
Last week, on the way up to Monchique, we came across a refuge that we had not noticed before. It is on the left side of the N266 about 2 km after the Silves turnoff. If you reach the village of Rasmalho, you have gone too far. There is likely to be a few cars pulled over so that folks can snap photos.
With the pandemic, we hadn’t gone up to Monchique for several years, and we aren’t sure if this stork refuge is something new or if we just blithely drove by in the past. The spot is marked on Google maps as a photo destination and the oldest review is eight months ago, so maybe it is relatively new?
Bob and Soo
Bob and Soo 