From Olhão : Private Half-Day Tour of the Guadiana River with a Local Guide

This walk takes us to the Southwest of Portugal, a territory where the main element is the Guadiana River. It shapes the landscape and the culture of the region. This River headwater is located in the south of the Madrid region and works as the border between Spain and Portugal in its last stretch.

The Flumen Anas (Roman period) or the Wadi Ana (Arab period), meaning the Ducks River, is a hot spot of biodiversity, that we are going to explore during this walk. The footpaths on the river banks and the river waters were heavily used for the smuggling of goods, during the Portuguese dictatorship period, by local families.

Vale do Guadiana Nature Park with about 69,666 ha, is on the middle course of what is the “Great South River” of Portugal – the Guadiana river – resting on an undulating plain where the embedded river and its tributaries valleys are hidden, the last ones quite frequently reduced to ponds during summertime. This protected area borders the Guadiana from Pulo do Lobo area to the Vascão stream mouth. The highest point in this park (370 m) is on the quartzite hill tops of Alcaria and São Barão.

In Portugal Guadiana is the most important watershed for inland fish conservation, represented by 11 native and resident fish species, most endemic to Iberian Peninsula. Noteworthy are the “saramugo” (Anaecypris hispanica), the Guadiana nase (Pseudochondrostoma willkommii), the Iberian small-head barbel (Luciobarbus microcephalus) and the freshwater blenny (Salaria fluviatilis), which only occur in this hydrographic basin in Portugal. This is also an important breeding or growth site for 4 migratory fish species, namely the sea lamprey (Petromyzon marinus), the Allis shad (Alosa alosa), the Twaite shad (A. fallax) and the European eel (Anguilla anguilla).

The vegetation is dominated by sweet acorn oak (Quercus rotundifolia) forests, with a modest presence of cork oaks (Quercus suber), extensive areas of cistus and rainfed crops, a proof that we are in the heart of Alentejo region. Avifauna includes birds of prey and an important set of passerines. In Mértola, there is the last urban colony and one of the most important at Portugal level, of a very rare and threatened species – the lesser kestrel (Falco naumanni).

On top of a rocky crest, marking the end of Guadiana’s navigability area, Mértola dominates the surroundings and keeps numerous testimonies from earlier times – Arabs, Romans, Medieval…

In a group, a maximum of 8 people can go in the van, the price will always be for a private group !

This activity is suitable for visitors staying in Olhão / Faro area. Visitors staying outside of this area, an alternative meeting point will be arranged.

Timing recommendation : All year round