Surfing

As a final trip on the line, we traveled to Sagres in Portugal to refresh and improve our surfing skills. The Algarve Surf School provided competent surf instructors who provided a thorough introduction to surfing techniques and provided individual feedback, which made the learning curve steep. They put special emphasis on teasing how to make a good pop up.

How to make a good pop up?

• Step 1. Lift your upper body up from the surfboard. Toes at the end of the board (depending on the length of the board and the height of the person). Look up and straight arms.
• Step 2. The hind legs are placed in front of the front knee in the middle of the board. The foot should point 90 degrees to the side and the buttocks should be low. Look up.
• Step 3. The front legs are placed midway between the hands. The foot should point 45 degrees out to the side. Look up. Butt low. When you find the balance, you lift your arms up from the board and go up slowly. The weight should be on the front legs.

Accommodation

We stayed at the Sagres Sun Stay hostel. Here we got to experience typical backpacker style with 12 people per dorm and kitchen where we made the food ourselves. The hostel asked for good customer service, delicious breakfast, opportunities for both yoga classes and bike rental, but what scored the highest among the students was still the pool.

To be a little environmentally conscious, we usually have at least one vegetarian dinner on the trip. This time it was pasta with fresh salad with feta cheese.

Other scheme

We spent a lot of time on surfing courses, but there was also time for a few other things. On Wednesday night we went on a city walk in Sagres. In true backpacker style, we talked to local people about what they would recommend us to see, and the list then became the following:

• Sagres Fortress
• Stranda Tonel
• Ice cream Alice
• Skate park
• The shopping streets
• Fishing pier

In addition, it was a "must-do" experience to watch the sunset from the lighthouse, which we decided to do on Thursday night.

On Friday, the students had their own study day. The goal was for them to plan and find out everything they needed to know and do to carry out the activity, be it ordering activity, transport, equipment etc. This is to make them more independent when traveling.

Some chose to continue working with their surfing skills, others went to Lagos to experience a big city nearby, while others went on one of the recommended beaches from the city walk to experience the beach life in Portugal.