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Portugal Active are offering a 10 percent discount for visitors to Wildside Holidays from their walking and cycling holiday itineraries! The offer is open for April, May and June of 2009...Alentejo, with It’s beaches, hills and endless plains. famous for It’s cork, olive oil, wine but with a great deal of space left over for simple nature and an Alentejo adventure!
As one of the lesser-known places in the south of Europe, the Alentejo coast surprises for its superb scenery and wide range of Mediterranean habitats. Walking and Cycling through is the best way to get in touch with nature and Portugal Active are based on the coast in the picturesque town of Vila Nova de Milfontes perched on the banks of the Mira Estuary.
 Also the Southwest coast of Portugal provides the perfect place for a great family adventure: unspoilt rural landscapes, hospitable locals and people, one of the cleanest rivers in Europe, deserted beaches. Full days packed with 1001 adventures in the fresh air and sunshine. The walks and cycling circuits take visitors through the varied landscapes of the Natural Park from the Cercal hills through the undulating cork oak and pasture to the dun scapes of the coast. The area's unique geology, flora and fauna has lead to the classification of protected areas within the Natural Park where only pedestrians are allowed to pass. Here 750 different plant species and 200 bird species are known to exist. Portugal is a must for ornithologists with its cliff-nesting storks, raptors and for its position in the migratory corridor.
The Southwest landscape is one of the most unspoilt in Europe, with small amount of human marks on the landscape: an under populated territory, with no industry and methods of agriculture that have seen little change in hundreds of years. From the information that we gather from earlier centuries we can understand that the low population density of the area left a vast area of waste land, only with occasional occupation in the valleys formed by the rivers and streams, and small hamlets of people that lived in the mountains, dedicating their lives to shepherding and exploitation of cork. The whole coastline was characterized by the absence of human mark in the landscape, excepting the land around the main villages.
The fishing populations were scarce and fishing was a complementary activity to agriculture. The fishermen were farmers who considered the proximity to the sea a chance for higher income. In the sixties we saw the first big emigration occurrence. At the same time the construction of the Mira irrigation canals began. Pine trees were sown against the sea winds. Conditions for a large change in the agriculture landscape were created. Nevertheless the population decreased.
In 1995 the Natural Protected Area became a National Park. Thus arose an Institution that aimed to give value to the natural resources, landscapes and cultures in order to promote the economical development and the well being of the population in harmony with nature, assuring the active participation and contribution from public and private bodies within the population.
Have a look at our website www.portugalactive.com for more information about our holiday adventures! |
