Day 1.- We encourage you to come a few days early to enjoy Portugal before our expedition. Some of you may want to join our partner Portugal Green Walks for one of their extensive list of walks (www.portugalgreenwalks.com). If you contact Portugal Green Walks, please mention our name. Nevertheless, the first two days will be relaxing and allow you to recover from jet lag. You will be joining us at 3:00 in the breakfast room at the Hotel Moov Porto Centro to meet your guide and receive detailed information about the expedition. At 4:00 pm, you will be offered a 3-hour walking tour of the historic center of Porto, preserved as a UNESCO World Heritage Site, followed by dinner in a typical Porto restaurant.

Today we have our first real experience paddling the magnificent Douro River as we paddle on the reflections of the 600 feet walls and the grapevine terraces. We’ll visit a house in ruins that is made entirely out of stone, and we’ll have a swim or two and a picnic lunch at our takeout just below the Rock Art Museum. “The Upper Paleolithic rock art of the Côa Valley is an exceptional illustration of the sudden development of our creative genius during the dawn of human cultural development. The rock art of the Côa Valley in an exceptional way demonstrates the social, economic and spiritual life of our prehistoric ancestors.” Our lodging will be in a vineyard that once belonged to the Templar Knights. After checking into our accommodations on this wine and olive oil-producing vineyard.  we'll offer an optional and recommended visit to the Rock Art Museum www.arte-coa.pt The museum is on a very high point overlooking the confluence of the Coa and Douro Rivers and was considered a magical place for the people who chose this spot for their over 5000 stone engravings.  Dinner will be in the vineyard dining room.

Today is a special day because we have dinner in a restaurant hosted by our good friend Jose Manuel in Mos. Jose Manuel raises much of the food he serves for dinner. He also makes his port wine, and the wine-making process will be described. But first, when we arrive in Mos, we will have a picnic lunch after paddling some of the most beautiful parts of the Douro.  After lunch, we have the option of paddling about the same distance of 2.5 hr. we paddled in the morning and finish at a sandy beach in Ferradosa. There is also an option for those who wish to go directly to where we will spend the night. For those who choose to go directly to lodgings, you can swim in the pool and use the sauna..

The paddle today will not be forgotten. The Valeira Cataract was the greatest obstacle to navigation on the Douro till the first great hydraulic project was carried out between 1780 and 1791. This project was to demolish the falls, and they succeeded in making it possible to navigate up the Douro to the border with Spain. This made possible an important development of the wine industry, and in fact, this was the reason for the project. This incredible project didn’t eliminate the dangers of the river. It only made it possible to pass but still with significant risk. A point worth mentioning is that the wine casks were only half full so that when a boat hit the rocks, the wine casks would float and be saved. The man who made the first detailed map of the river, Baron Forrester, drowned in this place 70 years after it was demolished.

All five locks on the Douro River are the same size, but the water levels we are lowered or raised to differ from lock to lock. The locks allow ships up to 272 ft. in length, 37 ft beam (wide), and a draft of 12.5 ft. Today we will pass the Valeira Lock (2.8 miles from Ferradosa 1.5hr), which will lower us 108 ft. Passing through a lock in a kayak for the first time is an exciting experience, and you’ll enjoy it, I’m sure.

As usual, we get on the water early, and we’ll have a picnic lunch at a beautiful site a short distance below the lock. After lunch, we’ll continue to Pinhao to our takeout. In Pinhao, time permitting, we’ll visit the famous train station to see tile work dedicated to the working vineyards in the Douro Valley. From Pinhao, we’ll portage on to Peso da Regua where we’ll spend the night.

Today, we will launch from Peso da Regua, and our lunch stop will be just before the river narrows. After lunch, we will also stop at Porto Rei beach for a break and a swim in the river. This is a great place for those who wish to practice rolling or any other maneuver. After our break, we'll paddle downriver to where we paddle under a Roman Bridge to a natural spring with a beautiful small waterfall. From there we'll move on to our lodgings where we will spend the night and have dinner. This beautiful baroque-style manor house was first built in the early 19th century with major structural and decorative renovations in the early 20th century and a lovely swimming pool.

Today we have a shorter paddle. We will put in at the beach where we took out yesterday and paddle down a long, fairly wide part of the river. You will have noticed a change in the vegetation along the river banks. Since lunch yesterday, we have moved from the port and red wine area to the white wine area, and we see quite a lot of Quercus suber, commonly called cork trees. The weather also changes from here on down river with higher humidity and much more rainfall, but most likely, in these months, we won't have rain. 

About halfway into our paddle, we will take a break and a cafe in a riverside cafe.

Our lunch will be a picnic at our lodging for the night. Tonight you will again stay in very traditional lodgings that will amaze you. Dinner will be a short drive away. 

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