NEWSLETTER 58: February 2021

Thank you for your interest in the Afaranwide travel blog.

Closed walkway to beach in Lagos

WE’RE into the fourth week of lockdown in the town of Lagos in the Algarve region of Portugal, our temporary home. It’s hard to believe, given the havoc that’s been wreaked globally, that a year ago the name Covid-19 had not even been coined. The World Health Organization announced the official name of the disease, previously referred to as “the novel coronavirus”, on February 11, 2020. As with other lockdowns around the world, we’re allowed to leave home to buy food, to exercise, and for other specified reasons such as seeking medical help. Inevitably there have been some breaches, but most people seem to be acting responsibly.

Deserted street, shuttered bars

The streets in the old town are largely empty, and there is little traffic on the roads – the local council has taken the opportunity to do some resurfacing work. Many more people are wearing masks, even when outdoors, than before. The national lockdown was ordered after a spike in cases. This week saw headlines such as “The New Covid Hotspot – Portugal”, and the news on vaccines is also bad. The percentage of the country’s population that has had a first dose is, at 1.6 per cent, among the lowest in the European Union. We’re told we should get ours in April. There’s probably something in every town and city that sums up the impact of lockdown. Here, it’s the fact that all the cafes are closed. Portugal is a nation of coffee drinkers. While the shutdown is hardly a tragedy in the circumstances, the absence of people grabbing an espresso or a “mini” beer at a table in the street outside a busy café is both striking and sad. – CS

Travellers in hazmat suits at airport shuttle

IT’S tricky running a travel blog at a time when no one is travelling. Lists of the best things to do in Paris or New York are of little use, though some bloggers continue to produce these. We, like many, addressed this problem initially by writing about virtual travel, such as online tours of the Colosseum and the like. We all soon realised, however, that virtual travel is no replacement for the real thing.

We’ve written about what it’s like to travel during the pandemic, and how some hotels are coping, or failing to cope. But we all know that, just because we can’t travel, our love for exploring new places remains undimmed. So now we’re focussing on writing about some of our more unusual travel experiences. These places may not be high up on people’s bucket lists, but we found them fascinating. We hope you do too – here are a few examples we’ve published in the past month:

Moutai factory in China

I’M FROM what used to be a brewing town, so I jumped at the chance to visit the town of Moutai in Guizhou Province where China’s 53-per-cent-proof national spirit of the same name is made. The word Moutai has a sort of aversion effect on me now after a few too many formal banquets and toasts with the drink. But it’s the biggest drinks company in the world, so what do I know? Cheers! – SB

Mist-shrouded hillside near Garberville

GARBERVILLE, America's cannabis capital – as seen in the Netflix documentary series Murder Mountain – makes for an unusual overnight stay on a California road trip. The town, in redwoods territory in the north-east of the state, is in the US’s biggest marijuana-growing area – the Emerald Triangle. The region is known for a number of murders and unexplained disappearances.

Mao Zedong Memorial Pavilion, and souvenir fridge magnet

JOIN US on one of our strangest days out ever – queuing up in Tiananmen Square, Beijing, for a brief glimpse of Mao Zedong's embalmed body. Incidentally, a couple of years ago China called for the mausoleum and the square to be included in a new Unesco world heritage site. Given that Mao is reckoned to have been responsible for tens of millions of deaths, and Tiananmen Square was the setting for the 1989 massacre, the suggestion landed with the dullest of thuds.

Direction sign in Hong Kong

WRITING a travel blog means we get lots of PR stuff about hotels, airlines, cruises, you name it. Now there’s a new industry blossoming – guessing the future of the travel industry. I’m not criticising this, because discussion is good. I see the future as chaotic, with some countries opening up, others in lockdown with new coronavirus mutations, some people vaccinated, others with no hope of a vaccination for a few years. The industry hasn’t ground to a halt; hotels are still being built, and countries are planning strategies to lure tourists back. I love the optimism behind the online conferences and Zoom meetings, but at heart I really don’t want to sit in a packed plane or queue at a hotel lobby check-in right now. At the moment they seem like things of the past, not the future. – SB

Selection of Portuguese wines

THERE has been a lot of talk about people drinking more during lockdown. Hopefully this doesn’t apply to us, though one unexpected delight of spending time in Portugal has been discovering the country’s wonderful wines. Hong Kong, where we lived previously, is a major centre for the wine trade, but we weren’t particularly aware of bottles from Portugal there. In the UK, there are sometimes a few tucked away in the Spanish section. Like many people, we were really only aware of Vinho Verde, Mateus Rosé (which had a terrible reputation back in the 1970s but appears to have been rehabilitated), and Port, an outstanding yet sadly unfashionable fortified wine.

Wine in a Portuguese supermarket

But there’s far more to Portuguese wine than that. There are appealing table wines at all price levels from interesting and distinctive regions across the country. Many have an authenticity, a taste and smell of the cellar, that’s often missing from, say, an Australian shiraz. The ancient method of producing wine in clay pots, or amphorae – as practiced by the Romans 2,000 years ago – is being revived. The Portuguese are very loyal to the country’s producers. Most supermarkets and wine shops have huge ranges of domestic bottles, including many types of Port, and only a few from the likes of France or Spain. The reds are particularly good. Even Sue, your classic “I’ll just have a dry white, please” type, is now enjoying a glass of red with dinner. The industry is quite complicated, with numerous names of regions, sub-regions and producers to remember. Once I get my head around it all I’ll write a post about it – until then, my research continues… – CS

Coastline walk near town

LAGOS is a compact town, and we’re fortunate that there are some wonderful local coastal walks we can enjoy while taking our permitted daily exercise. The beaches are closed to prevent people gathering, but walking along the scenic clifftops is allowed. I’ve noticed a change in walking etiquette, however. Pre-Covid, other walkers would invariably nod, smile or say hello when you passed them. Now, with few exceptions, they tend to rush past with their heads down, avoiding eye contact, and I do the same. Understandably, no one wants to risk becoming involved in a conversation with strangers. I wonder how many other ways that people interact with each other will change for good as a result of Covid. – CS

FEBRUARY 12 is Chinese New Year as we say farewell and good riddance to the Year of the Rat and welcome the Year of the Ox. I’ve loved the Chinese celebrations while we’ve lived in China and Hong Kong, so went looking for Chinese decorations a few weeks ago BL (Before Lockdown) in Lagos. No luck, but it did lead to me explaining to a shop assistant the date, animal and characteristics of the upcoming new year. Strange to say, she was Chinese although born in Portugal. Kung Hoy Fat Choy, everyone. – SB

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