Trying to Visit the Fatima Dinosaur Tracks

I don't post a lot any more. When I do, it's because I have learned something that I would have LOVED to have known before I started, but was unable to find despite relentless internet searching. This qualifies.

I just returned from a month in Portugal, based in Lisbon. When planning my trip, I learned about the Dinosaur Footprint National Monument, Monumento Natural de Pegadas de Dinossaurios, that is near Fatima. It's the largest dinosaur trackway in the world. You can even see some tracks in the satellite images of Google Maps. Enter 39.569719, -8.588887 and zoom in if you want to see them. I would link you to the Monument's website, but the official website is broken, which is part of the painful learning problem.

The guidebook I was using, The Rough Guide to Portugal, said the monument was accessible from Fatima via an e-bike self guided tour. Basically, you met a guy in Fatima, he gives you e-bikes and a phone with a track to follow, and off you go. The phone allowed him to track where you were and where you went, so you couldn't get lost or in trouble. Sounded awesome.

But here's things I have since learned:

• The Monument is closed every Monday.
• The Monument is open Tuesday to Sunday from 1000 to 1230, then again from 1400 to 1800.
• From March 21 to September 22, the closing time is extended from 1800 to 2000.
• The last entry is 1 hr before closing. This is true in the morning as well. No one is allowed in after 1130.

Here's a photo of the entry sign with the above information on it.

The sign at the entry

I knew none of that before we tried to go there. Guess what day of the week we tried to go?

Monday.

But I'm getting ahead of myself.

The tour operator is a company called Get Out Experience, but you don't book through them. You book through an app/website called GetYourGuide. The fact that there is a 3rd party involved is a bit of a problem. The tour is NOT cheap. It cost us each €65. Get Out's guy (I don't remember his name, but I will now refer to him as "GOG", short for Get Out Guy) is nice and kind and helpful. But...

We did this as a day trip from Lisbon NOT KNOWING the information above. We caught a 0900 bus from Lisbon's Sete Rios that went direct to Fatima, and we arrived at 1030. It's a 15 min walk to the meeting point from the bus station, so we arrived at 1050. The GetYourGuide app said the tour guy would be there from 0900 to 1300. But he was not there. This is where the problems started.

The only ways you can communicate with GOG is:

1. By phone. We did have a phone, but no phone number. We bought a sim card for data, not expecting a need to phone anyone.
2. By WhatsApp. I don't have WhatsApp. WhatsApp is a VERY popular messaging tool in Europe.
3. By e-mail through the GetYourGuide app.

I sent GOG an e-mail through GetYourGuide (3, actually). 25 minutes later, I got a response. GOG had been at the meeting point from 0900 to 1030. GOG had sent me texts, but sent them to my Canadian cell phone number, because that was the number I put in the GetYourGuide app. That app required a number, and I didn't have another number to use. GOG agreed to bring the bikes to the meeting point for 1200. And he was spot on time (we wasted an hour in a parking lot eating lunch).

The first thing he told us was that the monument was closed on Mondays, the day we were there. But he said we could walk around and see the tracks even if it was closed. So we opted to go anyway.

The second thing he told us is that GetYourGuide's information was wrong. GOG was NOT supposed be be there from 0900 to 1300. The tour was supposed to start at 0900, and you were supposed to be back around 1300. Hmmmnnnnn...

It took ~20 min to set the bikes up for us and teach us how to use them. The bikes are quite good. They're a German made, 11-speed, Bosch powered fat tire e-bike. They're heavy but they have a lot of power to get up hills. They have a walk mode, where the bike powers itself along at a walking speed, but you need to hold down a button to make that happen, which is challenging. The bikes come with spare tubes, a tool kit, a first aid kit, a CO2 cartage & adapter to inflate the tire, a bike lock, helmets – the works.

Me and the guide and the bikes

The bike I rode.

Then, at 1220, off we went. The ride is a real mountain bike ride. Here is the screen shots from my Bike Tracks app of the rides out and back. The ride is a loop, with only a small bit of overlap on the routes in the middle.

The track out

The track back

There are some steep hills, and some rough sections. You start on paved paths and bikeways in town, but quickly jump onto dirt and rock farm tracks. On the steeper bits, there are eroded water trenches and channels, and lots of rubble. There were places on the outbound we had to walk our bikes.Note that it took us ~90 min to get there, and 75 min to get back. We were kind of in a hurry to get back, and the route back, while longer, spends more time on pavement and bike paths.

As noted, the ride was often challenging, as we are not mountain bikers. This is NOT a ride for the uninitiated. You better know something about e-bikes, which we have. And you better know at least a bit about how to mountain bike, especially weight placement on steep ascents and descents, and gear management. I sure would not want to do this ride in wet conditions, including a few days after a significant rainfall.

We got to the monument at 1345, and it was indeed closed. There were security guards and staff around, but you could not go through the fences. Despite what GOG told us, you cannot see the tracks. You can see this.

A big metal dinosaur on a hill

We tried to walk around the outside of the monument's fence and see in. We found some paths and tracks that allowed us to do that. But there are also a lot of thorn bushes, and you can't see anything anyway. We did find a spot where people obviously cross the fence, and it was so bent we could have too. But we don't do that – plus there were security guards around.

So we rode back, leaving the monument at 1420. We got back to Fatima around 1540, so 3 hrs, 20 min for our route. To see the monument, I would allow 5 hrs. But...

Look carefully at the information above. In order to see the monument on a day it is open, you have to:

1. Arrive at the monument BEFORE 1130, or
2. Arrive at the monument AFTER 1400.

In order to do #1, you would have to leave Fatima by 1000. To do that, you would need to meet GOG at 0940, and arrive in Fatima at the bus station at 0930, meaning a 0800 departure from Lisbon. That's... possible. Rede Expressos has direct busses at 0730 and 0800. This is pretty much what GOG is set up to do. Meet GOG at 9 or so, get kicked out of the monument at 1230, you're back in Fatima by 1400. Lots of ways to get back to Lisbon from Fatima after 1400. The 1500 bus would have you back by 1630, for instance. We had booked seats on the 1700 bus, getting back at 1830.

We came close to #2. Starting the ride at 1220 put us at the monument at 1345. But think about the return. Say, an hour at the monument, so you're done by 1500. The ride back gets you to the meeting point at 1630, and we just could have made the 1700 bus. BUT GOG doesn't normally run his day that way. GOG is accommodating, though. IF you pre-arrange with GOG that you want to meet him at noon and return the bikes at 1630, I think GOG would be OK with that.

But the key messages I want to leave you with if you want to visit the Monumento Natural de Pegadas de Dinossaurios by e-bike tour, and do so from Lisbon as a day trip, are as follows:

• Plan your day around the opening times of the monument, shown in the photo above.
• CLEARLY communicate to GOG WELL IN ADVANCE your plan for meeting him and returning the bikes, and make sure he's OK with it;
• CAREFULLY plan your bus reservations there and back to match the following timings:
• 90 min to Fatima from Lisbon
• 15 min from the bus station to the meeting point
• 20 min to get the bikes set up
• 90 min ride to the monument
• 60 min at the monument
• 90 min ride back to Fatima
• 10 min to debrief with GOG
• 15 min walk to the bus station.

And don't forget to tack on any extra time to see the reason MOST people go to Fatima: the Sanctuary, Basilica, square and other stuff. There's nothing else in Fatima of note unless you like tacky wax museums.

In hindsight, we COULD have made our day work had we:

1. Not gone on a Monday;
2. Made arrangements with GOG to meet him at 1215, and return the bikes at 1630;
3. Gone straight from our bus to the Sanctuary & Basilica (which are a 5 min walk from the meeting point);
4. Had a picnic lunch while learning about the bikes.

Had we done those things, our 0900 bus out and 1700 bus back would have been fine.

Hope that's helpful. Please comment if it has helped you.