I know I have mentioned this before but I MUST say it again - the spring flowers this year in the Algarve are really quite spectacular. The wednesday walk yesterday saw the hillsides awash with the large white flowers of the gum cistus in abundance like I have never seen before - everything is just so bright and alive. This is a real treat for our walkers and cyclists especially as the sun is shining bright and the sky is blue.

The Algarve in spring is seriously under-rated when it comes to the variety of flowers - a walk on Thursday with a quite delightful group revealed 10 different orchids, including the man orchid, green-winged orchid and saw-fly orchid - quite rare fritilleries and a large patch of magnificent scilla peruviana.
Yesterday with the same group the wildlife came to the fore - we saw a pair of golden orioles, black winged stilts, sandlings plus other waders but what did excite us was the sighting in the waters of the Alvor estuary of a mysterious 'creatures'- later research by myself identified them as sea hares .

There has been a considerable improvement in the overall weather through out Portugal and Madeira, the rains have subsided although have not yet gone completely and the temperatures are slowly rising which means the spring flowers are out in abundance - hooray! In the Algarve the hillsides are a picture as the large white blooms of the gum cistus sway in the breeze and the purples of the french lavender and rosemary peep through. The new show of flowers does really make you feel good and you realise that once again nature has gone full circle and spring is here at its best but it also makes you realise that it is 12 months since you last saw these flowers - where oh where does the time go?

Since writing about the Iberian lynx I have had several people contact me with sighting and photos of animals that they have seen - not the lynx but the Egyptian mongoose, genets and wild boar have been seen. Do please let me know if you spot something unusual, if you can include a photo that would be great.

In the Algarve this winter it has rained, rained and rained some more! Everywhere is so wet, dry river beds are now raging torrents and naturally the weather is the favourite topic of conversation for everyone including the Portuguese. For the walks we have had to change routes and sometimes the walks themselves but this has not dimmed the spirit and enthusiasm of those who have come walking these past weeks - in fact quite the opposite. The numbers of walkers have risen and last Wednesday we had a phenomenal 58 people who came to walk arguably one of the best walks in the Algarve which includes part of the Algibre river valley - it was truly spectacular and we managed to see quite a few spring flowers including the naked man orchid and the peonies in bud.

I have had many people enquiring about the situation in Madeira which was indeed a tragedy but also one of those 'one off'(force majeur)events. The photos in many ways give a distorted picture of what is happening on the island where for the majority of islanders life continues as normal (maybe some travel is a bit longer due to road damage). The floods and mudslides occured in part of Funchal and Ribeira Brava to the west, the north and west of the island may be damp but suffered no real damage.

The agents we use in Madeira have urged us not to cancel holidays as the majority of walks can go ahead, where there is a doubt there are other options as obviously clients safety is our prime concern. Madeira is dependant on tourists and the best way you can support the islanders is to visit them and I can guarantee you will receive a warm welcome.

There was great excitiement this week when a young couple from Philadelphia told me they had seen a lynx on their walk but sadly it was dead. Because of the rather wet conditions they didnt take a photo but they were adamant that is was and it seemed to fit all the criteria. I was so intrigued that I was going to make a special visit to the scene to record and log the details but upon reviewing again the description the following day there was a big loophole in their story - one said the 'cat' had a short bobby tail, the other said it was very long. When showing them a photo of possible animals it became clear that what they had actually seen was a genet - a wild cat with a long ringed tail however with the animal being dead the tail had become partially hidden but it definitely was not bobbed.

My brother while out jogging early in the morning in the west Algarve did see a lynx and this prompted a visit from 3 members of the Nature Conservancy group from Lisbon. My brother had returned home but I took them to the spot where they collected droppings which later confirmed that these were indeed from the Iberian Lynx. They also showed me how to look for, possible identify and collect droppings while out walking so these days where ever I go I have in my rucksack small plastic bags. Sadly I have yet to see one of these wonderful creatures.

A freak accident has left me with one sprained knee and the other badly bruised which is extremely frustrating. I led the walk last Saturday limping and having to use a walking stick much to the amusement of everybody (well at least the pace was slow)but it was such a glorious afternoon with the sun shining and a blue sky - quite a rare event in the Algarve this winter.
A week later and progress on the injured knee is frustratingly slow, walking yesterday left me in considerable pain and showed my that for the time being unless absolutely necessary I have to rest - not one of my strong points I'm afraid......