A Break For The Border And Into Portugal

Kelpie is parked on a hill not far inside Portugal in the Almada D’Ouro Motorhome Park perched between a baragem (reservoir) near Odeleite on one side and the Guadiana river on the other (37.33169, -7.46838).

Our original plan on leaving Seville was to visit the unique town of El Rocío on our way towards the Portuguese border. However one of Alan’s cousins left the UK in his motorhome a month before us and we have been trying to catch up with them ever since. Roy has lived in England since a young boy when his father moved from Northern Ireland to join the police in Greater Manchester and they do not get to see each other very often. So when we heard he was on a campsite in the Algarve where he was planning to stay for a few weeks, we made a break for the border. El Rocío will have to wait until our next visit.

The drive from Seville towards Huelva was quite bland via the motorway and our only objective was to refuel before entering Portugal as diesel is cheaper in Spain. Soon we spot the Guadiana International Bridge which crosses the Guadiana river at Ayamonte and connects southern Spain with Portugal.

Once across the bridge you are in Portugal and at the very start of their toll road system on the motorway. We didn’t want to use the toll roads so took the first turn off immediately after and headed north into the mountains towards our planned overnight stop.

After the hustle and bustle of Seville, this was an ideal place to chill out in a remote location in the beautiful Portuguese countryside and we were greeted with a glorious sunset over the reservoir.

After chilling and recharging our batteries for a couple of days it was then time to head towards the Algarve coast to meet up with Alan’s cousin who had booked in for a few weeks at the iconic Mikki’s Place campsite.