009 - Serra de Aire - Portugal

Real dinosaur footprints, still visibile, on the ground! Want to see them? 

Pack your camera and head to Serra de Aire!

Click on the map

008.1 We continue our trip from Coin Caves (Grutas da Moeda), still with our rented car, passing Fatima, and not 10 minutes later we arrive at the Aire Mountain, close to Bairro town.

008.2 Once we get at the reception, we buy a half day ticket (even if we could stay only one hour and a half, due to the fact that they were about to close) and then rush out, into the park.

008.3 This whole area is so huge, that in this picture we see less than half of the park. There are many trails to the right and to the left, but we will stick to the huge limestone area to the right of the image.

008.4 Here, thanks to a polarized filter on the camera, I can distinctly see dozens of Sauropods footprints (they are round, much like horse or cow footprints). I did not see the toes or anything in detail, just a few prints. We could not walk wherever we wanted but we had zoom lens.

008.5 I think this place is one of those best seen after a rain, because those footprints can easily transform into water ponds and be better seen this way.

008.6 The park has a bit more than just footprints -> it has a mural printing of the Planets evolution. 

008.7 It has also a garden of sorts, to replicate what used to be once.

008.8 We went out of the park, just minutes before closing in, we were literally the last people to pass, because after us, the lady started to block the turnstile and just as we were next to the car, we saw her rushing to her car. I guess we might have been late a few minutes there, but I did put my alarm on my Garmin watch... 

Sadly we could not visit more, but in fact, there is another place for those who love dinosaurs -> Lourinha (seen in a future article here on europictures.org) 

Should you come here and visit?

I loved it here and I feel good for seeing in person these footprints. My wife is not really into dinosaurs so she would have skipped it if it was up to her to decide. 

In fact that is why at the beginning of the article, I put 3 stars -> it is unique, not made by human, easy to reach and to see at all ages, even in wheelchair, but only one thing is wow -> the footprints in the limestone that I really hope are 100% real.

I don't want to start a discussion on this, I don't say that they are fake, but limestone and water makes caves and natural works of art, so... how come here I can see footprints after hundreds of millions of years? Anyway I am not an expert, but if I return, I wish to talk to the people who work there, and study and ask them how all is possible. 

The entrance fee was really cheap, we did not pay parking, there was a fridge with water and snacks (we actually took even a coffee). 

This place is really not far from Fatima but is is 140km away from Lisbon, twice as far as Lourinha (dino capital) so is up to you if you wish to visit. 

Thank you for visiting this article and hope you see another one.

MiDe.

http://www.miketaylor.org.uk/tmp/luso.pdf