An amazing one week surfcamp in Portugal donated to our charity auction!

Yesterday we experienced yet another example of the kindness of strangers, or rather some new friends that we made on the Portuguese leg of our fundraiser. Zeina and I pitched up in Baleal for a couple of days break to mark over 1,800 miles of cycling. We’d heard some very positive things about Baleal Surfcamp and decided that as the area was renowned for surfing, we’d try our hands at it (that’s another story!) and enrolled for some lessons. The surfcamp was set up by Bruno Bairros in 1993 and has been teaching beginners to ride the waves along the beautiful coastline here ever since. The setting is gorgeous, the staff and Instructors who work at the surfcamp are really helpful and passionate about what they do and there is a great mix of people from all over the world learning to surf. Not only that, but it is obvious that there is a genuine commitment to sustainable tourism being made by Bruno and his staff and the surfcamp is very environmentally aware. Every week the Instructors take all of the surfers to a local beach and clean up the refuse and plastic debris that has been washed up. The garbage is then properly disposed of and it was a pleasure seeing a tourism business really trying hard to look after the environment that they depend on for their guests to come and enjoy.

Bruno told us a little bit about the history of Baleal and the fact that it was the site of cutting and carving of whales on their migratory route to the northern seas. We also talked about the work that South Pacific Projects does with WDCS International in Fiji and our fundraising efforts and once he heard this, he very kindly offered us a fantastic contribution for our upcoming charity auction: a one week surfcamp, including two surf lessons a day with a professional Instructor, as well as accommodation and equipment hire. We were both very touched by his generousity and it was a lovely end to a great few days getting to know Baleal and meeting lots of pro-active and interesting people. Bruno and his brother Marcos are obviously committed to working in harmony with the environment and were very keen to support the conservation work being carried out by WDCS International. They told us about some of their future plans to reduce the surfcamp’s environmental footprint, whilst continuing to provide their guests with a unique surfing and lifestyle experience.

A big thank you to Bruno, Marcos and all the other great guys we met, including our professional Instructor from Australia, Sam (his favourite phrase: “Paddle, Paddle, Paddle!”). If anyone is ever visiting Portugal and wants to have a great time whilst supporting a genuine eco-tourism business, then check out Baleal surfcamp and get some waves!