The original plan had been to view the coast of Portugal and the Atlantic Ocean at Sagres and then at Lagos. Instead, in the spirit of discovery, we opted to go inland and experience one of Portugal's smaller, and less visited, communities, Alte. This was a small and very delightful community with narrow cobblestone roads and bleached white buildings with a hint of Arabic influence. Later we continued through the hills of almond and orange trees, and arrived at the historic town of Silves.

As we were on approach we had an excellent view of the imposing Castle overlooking the community and the region. The Silva Castle is perhaps the most outstanding works of military architecture from the period of Arab occupation of Southern Portugal.

Most historians agree that the site has been occupied since at least as far back as the Iron Age. Research has shown that the Arabs inhabited it for almost 5 centuries beginning in the early 8th century AD. Many of the names in this region also reflect the Arab influence, in fact Silves is in the Algarve region of Portugal and Algarve means "the West" in Arabic. Next to the Castle was a very picturesque Cathedral (inset).

It was a long, but interesting first morning on the Caledonian Star. After lunch we headed southeast in light seas for our last day in the Atlantic Ocean. A few common dolphins surfed our bow wave and it was a very pleasant afternoon.