Fifteen Years in fifteen photos
Can you fit fifteen years in fifteen photos? Well, that’s the challenge we’ve set ourselves to mark the fifteenth anniversary since we started doing our trips across the unknown Portugal. This year is all about the number 15, so over the next 15 weeks, every Monday at 15:15 GMT, we’ll be posting a new photo on our facebook and Instagram accounts, which will then be added here. The purpose is to show you things that were special to us, like the places we went to, the traditions of the country, practical situations we had to deal with, but most importantly, the people of Portugal who made every single trip so special and unique. If you really like any of these pictures in particular, all you have to do is to subscribe to our newsletter and we’ll send you a better version together with a brief description and some unknown details about it. How easy is that? Once again, we want to thank all the wonderful people who have been with us since the beginning. Without them, there would be no trips and no photos for us to share with you today.
Photo #1 - Doing a recce for the first trip in 2011
In the beginning, the level of knowledge and experience on how to organise a trip was virtually none, let alone how to prepare a trip for the world’s best-selling Land Rover magazine. As soon as the dates for the first trip were agreed, I had a reality check and realised I had a lot of recces to do to prepare for the trip.
This photo is special to me because on that day I had driven for hours in one of Portugal’s highest mountains until I finally found the kind of environment I wanted for this part of the trip. Tired but with a sense of fulfilment I stopped the Defender on this rocky track at an altitude of 1500 mts and took a moment to admire the landscape! Even after all these years, I have the same feeling of liberty and inner peace everytime I have the chance to go back to that place.
Fun fact: At the time I didn’t know how to use a compass or read a topo map, so the learning curve was almost as steep as this track, but in the end I got there.
Key learning: There’s no better way to prepare for a trip like this, other than doing your own recces and research. No social media, no online platforms, no AI or using other people’s routes. It all comes down to the work I do on the ground.
That’s how I know every single place and every millimetre of the routes I do on our Dream Overland trips.
Photo #2 - People with stories to tell
Right from the start, we knew that our trips would be primarily about the people and not about the difficulty of the tracks or even the vehicles, like most of the other companies do.
We knew that the generation of people who came from the times of poverty in the villages scattered across the Portuguese countryside would soon disappear, and with them their experiences and traditions. That’s why we went looking for people who had stories to tell, with wrinkles on their faces and calluses on their hands. And we searched so much that we found extraordinary people who opened the doors of their homes and their lives to us.
The gentleman on this photo was a former border control policeman and he told us about the times of contraband in that part of the country. Besides being a policeman, he had a special skill: he made traditional wood door locks, that didn’t require a key but still had a “secret”. All done by hand with just a couple of simple tools. The last time we visited the village, we were told he now lives in a home but we keep the best memory of that encounter with him: The door lock he made especially for us is displayed in our private collection at home.
Journeys are made of memories, conversations, and the emotions that these people transmitted to us, not the gear inside the vehicles.
Photo #3 - Wildlife
Nature plays a big part in our trips, as we take guests to discover Portugal’s rich flora and wildlife in a responsible way, and one particular species ranks #1 on our list: the iberian wolf (canis lupus signatus). Despite all the menaces posed my men, there are still approx. 300 individuals of this most fantastic and ilusive animal in nrthern Portugal. For centuries, wolves have dominated over vast areas of the country, and they are still wrapped in legends and a few false myths, so we’ve decided to include it on this series, hoping this will help raise awareness about its conservation. On one of the trips we followed a nature photographer who knows the species like few, with the hope of finding one of these creatures. After a short but rough drive, we found a place up in the mountains with signs of presence: fresh footprints, excrement with bones and animal hair and the remains of a previous prey. For the experienced guide, it was clear we were in wolf territory! A couple of hours later, as the sun went down, darkness and silence took control of time and we went back to the campsite with the impression of a distant howling sound in our minds coming from the hills. This was one of those memories that will stay with us forever.
Photo #4 - Centuries-old traditions
Photo #5 - Special Places
Drive safely and leave no signs of passage.
Photo #6 - Staying in close contact with nature
Photo #7 - Big problems small solutions
On long-distance trips through remote locations, anything can happen, and often problems have to be solved with what’s on hand, on site, and at that moment. In the fifteen years we’ve traveled through the most hidden places in Portugal, we’ve had a few (not many) situations where, to continue our journey, we’ve had to use ingenuity and creativity. Fortunately, thanks to the collaboration of our guests and the network of contacts we’ve accumulated everywhere in the country, we’ve always managed to reach the end of our trips without anyone being left behind. This photograph, although very recent, summarizes well what our experience has been over these fifteen years. What seemed like a big problem, with potentially serious consequences, was solved with the simplest thing we had in the toolbox. If you look closely, you’ll see that between the drive shaft and the flange, there are two small nails blocking the splines!!! These two nails were enough to get us to our destination, and the following morning, a more professional repair was made, allowing the vehicle to reach England safely, where it now serenely awaits for the new parts.
Our motto is very simple: Customers are here to do a trip from start to finish and we’re here to make sure that will happen!
Photo #8 - Size (does) matter
Photo #9 - Portugal's gastronomy
Food is to Portuguese culture what chocolate is to Switzerland or whiskey is to Scotland. Traveling through Portugal over these fifteen years, we have discovered, or rather, confirmed that our country has one of the most diverse and rich gastronomies in all of Europe, or perhaps even the world. From the most remote villages in the northeast, where meat is still cured according to centuries-old recipes, to the southern coast where the smell of fresh fish wafts into the kitchen, or to convent sweets, Portugal is an authentic mosaic of flavors and culinary traditions, with influences and ingredients brought from the four corners of the world. As we often say here, coming to Portugal and not trying our gastronomy is like going to Rome and not seeing the Pope. In this photograph, taken in a village in the northeastern province of Trás-os-montes, we saw how the Easter loaf is produced, made with nothing more than natural ingredients, the warmth of the fire, and a love for tradition.
Photo #10 - Portugal is 30000 years old?
Portugal may have been officially founded in 1143, when the Treaty of Zamora was signed, but the history of these lands goes back thousands of years, when they were occupied by the first human communities. One of the most impressive places where one can learn about the history of our country, revealing the habits and ecosystems of that distant time, is located in the Côa River valley. Along the last fifteen kilometers of its course before flowing into the Douro River, the Côa Valley has more than 80 sites with archaeological remains dating back 30,000 years, making it the largest collection of open-air rock engravings in the world and a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Visiting the museum and touching one of these rocks is like traveling back in time to the dawn of our species.
Photo #11 - Special people make for special trips
No two trips are alike, just as no two people are alike. Over these 15 years, we have had a huge diversity of people with unique life experiences, tastes, personalities and personal interests that are only theirs. Therefore, the watchword of our trips has always been personalization, certainly with some flaws, but always doing everything in our power to meet the expectations of each person. In the many dozens of trips we have done so far, some guests have left their mark on us in a special way. This is why we chose this picture to mark what is the single most important aspect of our activity and this series of moments from our trips: People. Those who travel with us and those we meet along the way. After having traveled all over the world, this incredible person gave us the privilege of having him on several of our trips through Portugal, where we learned a lot from him and shared so many memorable moments together! Recently, to our great sadness, we learned of his departure for eternity, where he will certainly be driving his Land Rover on the trail that has no end. This is our heartfelt tribute to a special person who we will never forget! Until one day, dear friend, when we meet again.
Photo #12 - Portugal rimes with diversity
Portugal may be a small country geographically speaking, but we are undoubtedly the champions of cultural and historical diversity, such is the mixture of influences and traditions in our country. From the Celtic heritage in the northeast to the legacy left by the Moors in the south, or even more so the Romans throughout the whole territory, Portugal is a true “melting pot” that turns each day into a new adventure. As one of our most loyal guests said to us once, “we just have to cross to the other side of a mountain and it immediately feels like we’re in a different country.” This week’s photo was originally a building from the Roman period, later adapted to new functions as the region was conquered by new peoples and religions. Today it stands as a symbol of Portugal’s cultural, historic and religious diversity. Its whitewashed walls help to keep it cool under the scorching summer heat, in a place where temperatures can easily go up to 45ºC, so you can already imagine what part of Portugal we are referring to.. Can you guess it?
Photo #13 - Overland travel in two wheels
Who said for travelling overland you have to drive a big 4×4 vehicle and carry the latest fashion in gear? This week we bring you one of the most fantastic experiences we’ve had over these 15 years of travelling across the lesser known parts of Portugal. A group of friends asked us to prepare a long-distance cycling trip around the north of the country, following the same principles as the off-road tours we do with our vehicles: explore the countryside, go to remote places, dive into the local culture and feel at one with nature. Easier said than done, but we said yes and went for the challenge. In six days of travelling by mountain bikes at much lower speeds, we discovered a different country and felt like every minute lasted for longer, not to mention the sounds of nature we could hear. This was such an amazing experience that we decided to add cycling tours to our portfolio, so if you are a cycling enthusiast and want to discover the real Portugal off the beaten track, you know where to come.
Photo #14 - Our travel companion
This time we bring you one of countless moments we’ve had with our 2005 Land Rover Defender 90 Td5, with which we have done more than 150.000 kms in Portugal alone. Our trips would have not been possible without it, so this is our little tribute to this iconic vehicle that has allowed us to discover and explore the four corners of our beloved country and share it with our many guests over the years. It hasn’t always been plain sailing and as an ageing machine, the signs of the passage of time are starting to show, but nothing a good TLC can’t solve. This has been our most amazing travel companion in the good and also in the bad moments, always taking us back home safely. The original Defender will go down as one of the most charismatic 4×4 vehicles ever built, and we couldn’t imagine ourselves at the wheel of any other model.
Photo #15 - The man who started it all
For the last picture of this series, we took on the challenge recently presented by one of our most loyal guests, to finally show the face of the person who has been the force behind Dream Overland since day one until this very moment. Fifteen years ago, he did the first trip with the editor of Land Rover Owner magazine without any previous experience, in 2014 he created Dream Overland and in 2016 he took the plunge by leaving the corporate world to go full-time as a registered tour company, to do what no other person had done before in Portugal: to run long-distance adventure and overland trips in the country to show visitors the real Portugal and share the best we had to offer. So, we present you Jose Almeida, the mastermind of Dream Overland, the researcher, the guide, the storyteller, the translator, the mechanic, but most of all the most passionate person about Portugal and sharing the country’s wonders with his guests and friends.
Important note: No AI or photoshop were used in this photo taken by our friend Jerome Andre to make him look younger. The beard and the hair may be a bit grayer today, but he still fits inside this same shirt, after all these years!
