Surf's Up - Portugal

Back in the Fall of 2014 we went on our first LBS trek. It was a Surfin Safari to Baleal Portugal.  The weather was warm and sunny.  The beaches were sandy and beautiful.  And we had a blast surfing during the day, eating large in the evening and socializing late into the night.  Below are some highlight pictures.

One of Baleal's many choice beaches for catching the waves

This is Turco he was our guide.

We had surf lessons in the morning and afternoon for two straight days.  We were fortunate enough to be in the group led by Turco.  Turco was amazing.  He would lead us on these long and hilarious stretching exercises that were probably quite helpful.  He had energy, he had passion and on the first day he was the most nicest and encouraging guy.  Turco even took cool photos for and with us.

Taking lessons from the legend

Day 2 Turco was a different story.  He was a task master telling us to paddle left then paddle right then go deep then come back into the shallow water.  It was brutal and exhausting and he would mock us if we weren't paddling hard enough.  While it was a bit discouraging, we can't argue with the results.  We caught some awesome waves and rode them a long ways into shore.  Definitely one of our best surfing adventures yet.

After the lessons we'd relax a bit back at the lodge.

Megan on the Indoboard

 Then we'd head out for awesome but lengthy dinners.  The Portuguese diet is heavy on steak, fries, fish and wine.

Teddy and Jeff giving the thumbs up for a great meal

Megan and Darren showing us their model side.

The team organizing drinks - there were 30 of us total

That weekend there was a professional surf competition in town.  It was a huge attraction; locals and tourists both showed out in force for the event.  Megan even got to meet one of the surfers.

Panorama of the surf competition.  Huge crowds and huge waves.

Megan met a surf pro!

Our buddy Tom.  He's a riot.