Tag Archives: Flora

Centre of Portugal: Beautiful Hiking in Serra da Estrela

Center-of-Portugal-Serra-da-Estrela-Mountain-Walk-in-the-Central-Plateau-4-Photo ©Mademoiselle Le K

Central Plateau of Serra da Estrela

Center-of-Portugal-Serra-da-Estrela-Mountain-Walk-in-the-Central-Plateau-2-Photo ©Mademoiselle Le K

The road is pretty long,

two-hour drive from Casa da Cisterna to the natural park of Serra da Estrela, the largest protected area of Portugal: 101 000 hectares including a chain of mountains with a rare flora and fauna. And the highest top of Portugal that culminates at 1993 meters.

Today program: 19km (about 6 hours) of an easy mountain walk from the central plateau of the Estrela (classified as a biogenetic reserve) to Casa das Penhas Douras Hotel e Spa. 

Arriving at the car park, the set looks like a military base straight out of a movie about the Cold War (photo montage above). Very quickly we find ourselves on a trail and there I finally realize how much the view is absolutely stunning (photo below)! Let the adventure begin ; ))

Center-of-Portugal-Serra-da-Estrela-Mountain-Walk-in-the-Central-Plateau-1A-Photo ©Joao Center-of-Portugal-Serra-da-Estrela-Mountain-Walk-in-the-Central-Plateau-7-Photo ©Mademoiselle Le K

Lagoons!

Even in the mountains, I need to see water, lol! Depending on the altitude, the landscape changes. At the beginning very steep, the landscape offers an impressive panorama on the glacial valleys (dating from 20,000 years), lagoons and granite rock formations. And further down, the scenery turns into green pastures. But water is everywhere, sometimes you can walk on a kind of waterlogged foam.

Center-of-Portugal-Serra-da-Estrela-Mountain-Walk-in-the-Central-Plateau-14-Photo ©Mademoiselle Le K Center-of-Portugal-Serra-da-Estrela-Mountain-Walk-in-the-Central-Plateau-8-Photo ©Mademoiselle Le K Center-of-Portugal-Serra-da-Estrela-Mountain-Walk-in-the-Central-Plateau-10-Photo ©Mademoiselle Le K

Carnivorous plants?

Photo above: a butterfly is trapped. I wouldn’t have seen, if an emeritus hiker had not showed us the “creatures” … Actually I expected larger plants. I am really not a naturalistic (lol), I love the space, silence and beauty of the landscape in the “big picture” …

A spectacular setting, by far my most beautiful and inspiring hiking of this short trip in the Center of Portugal, although I liked the natural reserve of Faia Brava too. Enjoy!  

Center-of-Portugal-Serra-da-Estrela-Mountain-Walk-in-the-Central-Plateau-11-Photo ©Mademoiselle Le K Center-of-Portugal-Serra-da-Estrela-Mountain-Walk-in-the-Central-Plateau-12-Photo ©Mademoiselle Le K Center-of-Portugal-Serra-da-Estrela-Mountain-Walk-in-the-Central-Plateau-13-Photo ©Mademoiselle Le K Center-of-Portugal-Serra-da-Estrela-Mountain-Walk-in-the-Central-Plateau-15-Photo ©Mademoiselle Le K Center-of-Portugal-Serra-da-Estrela-Mountain-Walk-in-the-Central-Plateau-16-Photo ©Mademoiselle Le K Center-of-Portugal-Serra-da-Estrela-Mountain-Walk-in-the-Central-Plateau-17-Photo ©Mademoiselle Le K Center-of-Portugal-Serra-da-Estrela-Mountain-Walk-in-the-Central-Plateau-20-Photo ©Mademoiselle Le K Center-of-Portugal-Serra-da-Estrela-Mountain-Walk-in-the-Central-Plateau-22-Photo ©Mademoiselle Le K Center-of-Portugal-Serra-da-Estrela-Mountain-Walk-in-the-Central-Plateau-23-Photo ©Mademoiselle Le K

Photos : © Mademoiselle Le K – Tous droits réservés – Thanks Joao for the picture 3.

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Visit PortugalTCP/ARPT Centro de Portugal, TAPA2Z AdventuresHistorical Villages

Related posts: DESTINATIONS & HOW TO PREPARE YOUR TRAVEL  

Many thanks for this beautiful invitation to Visit Portugal, TCP/ARPT Centro de Portugal et TAP. Thanks to our guide, Manuel Franco too. As always these are my opinions.

Scuba Diving @ The Hillside Beach Club, in Fethyie, Turkey

Hillside Beach Club-Turkey-Fethiye-Scuba Diving-Refresher-3A-Blog-Mademoisellelek.com

I haven’t dived for ages!

What an indescribable pleasure! Invited by the Hillside Beach Club in Fehtiye, I enjoyed to do a scuba diving refresher and a “real” dive during my stay.      

When I enter the water after the theoretical part of the refresher, I feel some apprehension (unbelievable!) and hesitate. What if I couldn’t remember the right gesture … I’m certified Advanced Open Water Padi.           

Musti, the excellent diving instructor, gently challenges me: if I don’t feel to dive, I can stop it at any time. Everything is finally going great and no question to quit before the end of the refresher, with the famous “mask clearing” and tutti quanti

     

We schedule a dive in the early afternoon 

with Musti and Philippe, my buddy. We are the only divers aboard the boat of the Move Diving Center, where our bottles and equipment wait for us (last photo)!

The visibility is okay and the dive is not very deep, less than 15 meters. I found back the feeling of the intense blue. 50 minutes of pure bliss! Few dives to get more fluidity in the water …  

Important: when I dive, I never touch fauna or flora, as we learn it in the PADI course. The sea urchin that I have in my hand was placed by Musti who is also an engineer of the sea sciences and knows how to approach the fauna and flora of this part of the Mediterranean.      

Like many divers, I am very respectful of the ecosystem of seas and oceans, considered as our rubbish for too long. Please do not touch living organisms except if a competent person shows you how to do it! EXCELLENT DIVING TO ALL OF YOU!

Hillside Beach Club-Turkey-Fethiye-Scuba Diving-Fish-Blog-Mademoisellelek.comHillside Beach Club-Turkey-Fethiye-Scuba Diving-Refresher-6-Blog-Mademoisellelek.comHillside Beach Club-Turkey-Fethiye-Scuba Diving-Fish-5-Blog-Mademoisellelek.comHillside Beach Club-Turkey-Fethiye-Scuba Diving-Refresher-8-Blog-Mademoisellelek.comHillside Beach Club-Turkey-Fethiye-Scuba Diving-Refresher-2-Blog-Mademoisellelek.comHillside Beach Club-Turkey-Fethiye-Scuba Diving-Refresher-7-Blog-Mademoisellelek.comHillside Beach Club-Turkey-Fethiye-Scuba Diving-Refresher-5-Blog-Mademoisellelek.comHillside Beach Club-Turkey-Fethiye-Scuba Diving-Refresher-2A-Blog-Mademoisellelek.comHillside Beach Club-Turkey-Fethiye-Scuba Diving-Refresher-1-Blog-Mademoisellelek.comHillside Beach Club-Turkey-Fethiye-Scuba Diving-Refresher-11-Blog-Mademoisellelek.com

Photos: Thanks to Philippe Berkenbaum for allowing me to use his underwater photos and videos taken with a GoPro. More photos: Mademoiselle Le K – copyright 2014, tous droits réservés.

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Hillside Beach ClubScuba Diving @ Hillside Beach Club

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DESTINATIONS & LIFESTYLE 

I was invited by Hillside Beach Club. As always, these are my opinions! Big thanks to all the team and for the great diving experience to the Move Diving Center.