The activity for the fifth day of our trip and our first full day in Lagos was a catamaran tour of the coast. The tour departed from the nearby marina, but we had to figure out breakfast. Difficulties getting everyone out of bed and moving made the timing of breakfast fairly stressful. By the time we got to the breakfast place we had scoped out the day before, there was a wait that we didn’t think we could swing. The second place was o.k., but a little pricey for bacon and eggs. (I think some American could probably make a decent living with a low-rent, Waffle House style breakfast place in Portugal.)

At the marina, waiting to cast off.
Ultimately, we finished breakfast, walked over the footbridge, and made it to the marina with a fair amount of time to spare. This isn’t really that unusual for us which is probably part of why our kids don’t always feel a lot of urgency when we stress out about leaving the house.
By joining the catamaran tour, we were probably part of the problem when it comes to tourism in this part of the world. The trip was fun and gave us a good view of the amazing cliffs along the coast. But it was jam-packed with other catamarans, kayaks, and generally just a lot of people doing what we were doing. This has an environmental impact and, I’m sure, crowds out the locals who probably like the economic impact but would just as soon not have to deal with the mobs.

Amazing cliffs along the coast.
We sat on the top deck of the catamaran, joined by a big Spanish family, a Japanese family, and a group of three women from the Dominican Republic and Colombia. Eventually, we stopped at a cove for swimming, drinking, and eating. The music was festive, and the water was cold. Very cold! When Cole jumped in, he had trouble breathing. Harper’s skin burned from the salt. I took a swim around the circumference of the catamaran and it ended up being more of a workout than I expected. I imagine it had to do with the temperature of the water, but it took me a while to get my heart rate down. And this is this stuff we do for fun!

Cold. So, very, very cold.
Amy volunteered Cole for the hot sauce on the chicken. It was very hot – initially, it looked like more than he could handle, but he rallied. In the process, he had quite a bit to drink (we’ll just blame the hot sauce and not him being a 20 year old college student) and was getting pretty chatty. Which was kind of fun, but as a parent, you worry about things getting out of hand. (Never mind what I was like at his age.)

If this isn’t nice, I don’t know what is.
When we got back, we picked up some post cards on our way to the Airbnb. Everything is so interconnected at this point, that we could easily text pictures of our trip to whoever we wanted and they would get it more or less immediately. But, there is still something kind of fun getting a card from a distant land, so we have gotten in the habit of sending out cards to a few people we know will enjoy them. Once we had filled them out, I walked them down to a mailbox in the city center and, while I was close, got a new bag of Grefusa “Palomitas de Maiz.”

Live music in the city center.
For dinner, we went to a place called Calhou. Amy and the kids all got pizza. I had some tuna which tasted good but the bones were pretty tough to navigate. And, we split a bottle of green wine. By the time we got home, Harper was pretty gassed and maybe needed a little break from the family. She retired while Amy, Cole, and I watched a movie. Don’t get me wrong, I like all of the things we do and places we see, but part of the joy of these vacations is just hanging out and doing the mundane stuff – watching TV and whatnot – with my family.

Dinner with the kids.
The full series:
- Day One: Travel to Lisbon
- Day Two: Lisbon Street Art and Sunset Sail
- Day Three: National Tile Museum, Tropical Botanical Garden, and Food & Fado Tour
- Day Four: Travel to Lagos
- Day Five: Catamaran from Lagos (You are here.)
- Day Six: Seven Hanging Gardens Trail & Caso Do Prego
- Day Seven: Sunrise Kayak and Lagos Food Tour
- Day Eight: Back to Lisbon and Return Home
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