Tuesday Sept 19/17

On  Tuesday we drove up to the highest summit of a mountain range called Monchique, some 50 to 60 km north of Lagos in the Algarve. Along the way we drove thru cork (oak) tree forests. Cork trees are protected by law in Portugal. You are not allowed to chop them down. Portugal is the world wide leader in the export of cork. They remove the bark and the cork is used for different things such as wine bottles. In the pictures you will notice the tree is red after the cork is removed and marked by the local producer. The first harvests occur after the tree is around 25 years old. The 1st 2 harvests yield the lowest quality and is repeated approximately every nine years. The trees can live to 300 years.

Thanks Ivan