Lagos, Day 3

Cousin Jeff and I had this day already worked out.  We'd purchased our boat tour tickets the day before at one of the kiosks on the sidewalk alongside the marina - the area, though, before you cross the footbridge.  During the shoulder season, like when we were there, it is very easy to buy your tickets the day before.  We probably could have gotten them the same day.  You can book them online for the same price for a single boat tour, and do that weeks in advance or just as easily from your hotel in Lagos.  But for two or three different tours, you can get a little discount (10%) at the kiosks.  Just show up in person. That's what we discovered.  BlueFeet is the tour company we chose to use.  I had remembered reading about them on TripAdvisor and travel blogs.  They seem to be pretty classy.  And there's another one or two in that same category.  But trust me, the options are far beyond that.  I have nothing but good things to say about BlueFleet.  Very professional.  Cool boats.  Easy ticket system.  Easy-to-use website.

a mural that was right around the corner from us

the marina where we got on the boat tours

Any better way to start a day?  This is at a coffee shop right at the marina - steps from where we needed to be.

Our first tour was the BOAT TOUR TO THE CAVES OF PONTA DA PIEDADA.

the bridge where we spent time on our first day

We walked along all these cliffs the evening before, and we walked down to a few of the beaches, including this very one. Very nice seeing the coastline and the trail from this vantage point.

This person was spearfishing.

After our first tour ended, we went back to the marina to catch the BOAT TOUR TO BENAGIL CAVE.  We already had our ticket, and in-between the first tour and this one, we had about a 30-45 minute wait.  The advantage of buying our tickets through one tour company - ours was Blue Fleet - was that we got a discount on the second ticket.  But there was also another plus:  If you wanted to do two tours in a day, and have them back-to-back, with one company that's made even easier.  They know which boats are scheduled to return, and which ones are scheduled to go out next.  And they also keep careful track of who's going.  In other words. there's no anxiety.  You're not going to get left.

perfect fuel for another tour

We had about ten people on our tour, not counting the captain.  We overheard some chatter.  There were some tourists (not traveling together) who were all from Denver, Colorado.

See the drone?

See our reflections?  Looking at the aerial of the cape, our airbnb was in that section of white buildings (that's Lagos), but more on the back side.  We were pretty close to the marina.  Our first afternoon/early evening in Lagos, we walked from our airbnb, through the town, and got on the cape trail, where we hiked along the tops of the cliffs (on the side with the #19), far enough to see five or six beaches.  We even walked down to the beaches and explored them a bit, before reemerging back on the trail to continue our hike.  After we went as far as we desired, we turned back.  Quite a day!  Doing the hike, though, readied us for the first boat tour. You really need both perspectives to grasp what you've done and the beauty of it all.

That's a little take-out restaurant not far from our airbnb.  It featured homegrown, no frills, comfort Portuguese foods.  It was very good, and the people who worked there were so friendly.  On our last day in  Lagos, we simply stopped in to tell them goodbye.  I will work on finding a link to the restaurant so that you can visit when you're in Lagos.  If you want foods people enjoyed 50 years ago, or two centuries or more ago even, this is the place.  Hearty, delicious dishes.  Down just a bit from it, there was a cool coffee shop and bakery (images below).  I wish I had the name of it.  I will find it, though, then post here.  But truly, these two places, had I not wanted to experiment more, or if I had been a bit lazy or more of a budget, could have satisfied me over the three days, for every meal.

a sunset from our balcony, looking out towards the sea and the historic heart of Lagos