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Mature Flâneur
Alone on Berlengas Island
Portugal’s most popular desert island
Off the coast of central Portugal is a barren biscuit of an island called Berlenga Grande. Short tufts of grey grass grow on the pink granite top of it, like a prison haircut on a sunburned old man’s head. It’s a hard, solitary place, 10 km/6 miles out from the fishing town of Peniche. Yet for some strange reason, Berlenga Grande (the largest of the Berlengas Isles) has been popular for over 3,000 years. Phoenicians, Romans, Vikings, Corsairs, Catholic monks, Portuguese soldiers and now tourists all occupied the island at one time or another.
People just can’t get enough of Berlengas. And apparently that includes me. Heck, I didn’t know about the island until the day before I found myself riding a zodiac ferry towards Berlengas one sunny day in October.
Teresa (my beloved Portuguese spouse) told me about Berlengas just the previous day, when we arrived in the Peniche area. Teresa, still recovering from a bad ankle sprain, was not ready for the journey herself. But she urged me to go.
“When I was young, everybody in Portugal talked about Belengas as some wild, exotic island, a paradise, a secret garden. I’ve always wanted to see it. Plus, it’s great for hiking.”
