We are considering taking a ferry from Olhao to the Ria Formosa nature park in early May in the hope of seeing some wildlife such as flamingos which are said to be one of many species there. If you have visited the park in the spring, I would like to hear about your experience. What flora and fauna did you see? How close were you able to get to the flamingos? I am hoping to get some good photos but my zoom lens is not very powerful.
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SF Bay Area
78 posts
We stayed in Fuseta in early October. It's a tiny town not too far from Olhao, right by the lagoons. There were a couple of small flocks of flamingoes that hung out at the lagoons near the salt pans. You were supposed to stay some distance from them, but you really couldn't get much closer than 150 feet or so. They are very shy, and when I squatted down and crept closer, they saw me and increased the distance. There were quite a few different shorebirds; we saw egrets, herons, whimbrels, plovers. This was just from our hotel, which was right on the water. We were going to go on a kayak tour, but their van broke down, which was disappointing. You should have a great time! Take binoculars!