The Azores 2008

2008's main holiday was in The Azores - spread over 2 islands, Sao Miguel and Pico.

We chose The Azores because we really enjoyed Madeira and The Azores have the reputation of being good for whale watching but we had no real idea what to expect. Having checked the internet we found Archipelago Azores and sent Diane and team a list of what we thought we wanted. Delighted to say that they came up trumps and off we went.

This page covers the first week. Click here for the Pico page.

The photo on the right is the view from the window at the end of the corridor from our room - lovely to wake up to! Further down the page is a photo of a rainbow taken through the same window.

hotel window

We arrived very late on Saturday night and spent Sunday eating delicious breakfast then lounging about by the pool until it was time to go whale watching. Our first hotel was Quinta do Mar in Caloura, Agua de Pau and Chris, Nick and Gilda looked after us very well. Porto was a special friend and we spent many happy minutes together either having a cuddle or playing chase. Porto, apparently, is a dog that's nervous with people and that seemed to be true of Jonathon (or men in general - result of a traumatised puppyhood) but he and I seemed to hit it off from the start and by the end of the week he even had the courage to drop his toy while he was with me and know that I wouldn't steal it!

Porto
Patio
Hotel Room
Porto
hotel garden
pool at hotel
rainbow
We went out in a Zodiac with Terra Azul - not particularly comfortable but great for seeing the wildlife! The Bottlenose Dolphins were very playful and mum and calf Sperm Whale came to say hello.
dolphin
Bottlenose Dolphin
dolphin
Bottlenose Dolphin
dolphin
Bottlenose Dolphin
dolphin
Bottlenose Dolphin
Mum whale also obliged by diving nice and deep so we got a good glimpse of her tail as she went down.
whale
Sperm Whale
whale
Sperm Whale
whale
Sperm Whale
Enough excitement for one day so quick swim in the pool, dinner in the village and off to bed. We had already discovered at this point that the cuisine here isn't up to that in Madeira!
Day 2 and we thought we'd do a driving tour and see a bit of the island. We'd brought a book with us recommended by Diane and co by Sunflower Landscapes - I think it probably helps to understand their directions if you know the islands a bit first but we didn't get lost too often! The tours start at the capital, Ponta Delgada, so off we went.

ponta delgarda

This is as close as we got to Ponta Delgada on this day. You can guess where the fence is on the left - cows always want what's on the other side!
ponta delgarda
From there we went north, climbing up the western crater massif (Caldeira das Sete Cidades), driving through the pretty countryside studded with picos (small volcanic craters). There were plenty of cows roaming around and a few pigs but no sheep because they get foot rot here (too wet probably). One thing that amazed us was the number of hydrangeas - they grow like weeds!
hydra
hydra
hydra
hydra
There were lots of places to pull in and admire the view - the first one we used was Miradouro do Carvao, close to the Pico do Carvao (Carbon Peak) - the views were wonderful.
carvao
carvao
carvao
carvao
You've probably worked out by now that The Azores are volcanic islands hence the dramatic landscapes. There are a lot of lakes in volcanic craters on this side of the island (west) and the off we went up an un-made road to the Lagoas Empadas (Pie Lakes) and Miradouro Pico do Paul. Our Skoda(!!) coped very well with the slippery conditions. We called him Bix (sorry David) because of his registration number.
bix
road to pie lakes
road to Pie lakes
water on trees

It rains a lot here and the water on the tips of the fir trees (left) reminded us of Christine's fibre optic Christmas tree!

The photo on the right is one of the Pie Lakes.

Pie Lakes
There is also a lot of cloud and mist / fog which can come and go very quickly (or linger around for hours). This was really well illustrated during our visit to Paul's Peak lookout. The three pictures below were all taken about 3-4 minutes apart! First of all we could see part of the scenery, within a couple of minutes we could hardly see in front of our noses and then a couple of minutes after that we have a lovely view. It was becoming foggy again when we left!
paul lookout
Paul Lookout
Paul Lookout
Paul Lookout
These 2 photos are of the view on the other side of the same lookout - you can see the mist rolling back in on the right!
Paul lookout

Back on the main road and off down to the Kings View (Vista do Rei). Whilst mist has its own appeal, it doesn't very often do much positive with views!!

Kings view
The lake at the front is the Green Lake and the one at the back is the Blue Lake. The village on the left is Sete Cidades - you get to it across the bridge between the two lakes.
Kings view
Blue lake
We got some better views of Blue Lake from the road along the side on our way to Sete Cidades - another lookout - this time the Miradouro do Cerrado das Freiras.

blue lake

Lake Santiago
The photos above and right are Lake Santiago - it was beautiful until the heavens opened and we got drenched!
lake Santiago
We thought about staying in Sete Cidades for lunch but there was a coach party in and we'd been recommended a place in Mosteiros for lunch so we thought we'd better get a move on, knowing the restaurants shut at 3 p.m. generally speaking. However, Monday is a tricky day and not many places were open - including the one we'd had recommended so we ended up eating in a cafe. My tuna was edible, more than can be said for Jonathon's steak. Even the local cat struggled with that!
Mosteiros itself is a pretty village. The church seems fairly typical of those we saw in various towns - very pretty. The crowning feature of the town was the coastline. Mosteiros sits at the North Western tip of the island and the waves were wonderful to watch - we were there ages.
Mosteiros
Mosteiros
bird on waves
waves
bird on waves
waves
waves
waves
waves
waves
waves
waves

waves

JC

JC took quite a few photos but this one was just thinking! The only photo he'd get at that angle was the sky.

From Mosteiros we wandered back home through stands of plane trees, past tobacco drying sheds and plenty of maize fields. There was also the odd crop of fierce looking peppers.

peppers
The daisies along the road sides were a lot prettier!
diasies
A couple more lookouts and some pretty villages, the first is Ajuda and the second Santo Antonio.
Ajuda
San Antonio
Finally back to the hotel to go through all the photos, filter and delete and have a picnic on the hotel patio, under the umbrella to shelter from the rain!

Day 3 - our original plan was to visit the East side of the island but we changed our mind when we got in the car and "did" part of the middle instead.

We climbed and climbed to the top of the island at Barrosa Peak (Pico da Barrosa) - my goodness it was chilly up there and blowing a gale but the views were lovely, not least of Lagoa do Fogo (Fire Lake).

Fire lake
Fire lake
Barrosa
Barrosa
Barrosa
Barrosa
From there we wound our way to Caldeira Velha to admire a very warm waterfall (we resisted going into it) and enjoyed our wander through the fern jungle - it felt very tropical.
fern
cald fern
fern
caldeira
caldeira vehla
Caldeira really means thermal/hot spring but seems to mean bubbling mud - it smelled strongly of sulphur and bubbled away quite steadily. We visited other caldeiras as well but this one was the smelliest and most active we saw on this day.
caldeira vehla
caldeira vehla
caldeira vehla
Still further north and we arrived in Ribeira Grande where we had dinner at the local swimming pool as it was one of the few restaurants open.
Ribeira Grande
It was quite a pretty town and we had a good walk around to admire the various buildings etc.
Ribeira Grande

The two coloured houses on the right were quite popular. There were some on the way to our hotel in Battenburg colours.

The church below is decorated with sea shells - very ornate so we've included a couple of close ups.

Ribeira Grande
Ribeira Grande
Ribeira Grande
Ribeira Grande
Ribeira Grande
Riberia Grande
Ribeira Grande
Ribeira Grande

Ribeira Grande

From there we went off to the Caldeiras da Ribeira Grande. The mud puddle wasn't particularly active but there was a larger pool in front of it which was suitably smelly. The historic bathhouse was quite cute from 1811.
RGCald Bathhouse

As always, there were loads of flowers around and just across from the bathhouse was a lovely bank of hydrangeas.

Ginger lillies (bottom left) are a problem on the island but they still look pretty for the visitors!

The name for the pink flowers, literally transalated, means The Young Ones Go Back To School. The leaves grow in February then die back and the flowers grow in September, at the end of the school summer holidays, hence the name.

hydrangea hedge
ginger lily
flowers
flower
convulvulos
bird of paradise

There were a few Bird of Paradise flowers around but not many. The purple convolvulus (think that's what it was) was everywhere - twining itself around the other plants etc.

Finally we drove home, calling in at one last lookout on the way.

North Coast
North Coast views
Day 4 and we decided to go East after all! What a treat - the sun was shining and the scenery as beautiful. As always, there were lots of lookouts, the first being Miradouro Salto da Farinha which led down to Miradouro da Pedra dos Estorinhos.
Saltoview
Pedra view
A few observations - the "main" roads can vary. Some of them had lovely, tarmac, smooth surfaces with white lines down the middle. Every now and then (just to make sure Jonathon was awake) the surface disappeared and became either gravel (see below left) or mud - very red mud as there's lots of iron in it. Today, the road simply disappeared into an 8 foot hole which made life interesting as Jonathon had to do a 3 point turn in a very small space! Thankfully, an old man trundled up to us in his motorised wheelchair (having seen us drive past twice and look lost) and gave us directions out of the village towards the diversion to the main road. The other men around were too busy laughing at us to help!
main road
One thing we've seen a lot of are milk churns - memories of childhood!
milk churns

Onwards we went until we reached Ribeira dos Caldeiroes where there was a lovely garden and cafe and, the highlight, a beautiful waterfall.

The little dot in the final waterfall photo is Jonathon so you can see how high it is.

Rib dos Cald garden
Rib dos Cald garden
waterfall
waterfall
waterfall
waterfall
waterfall
Further along, refreshed from drinks and an ice lolly (Jonathon developed a dangerous liking for white chocolate Magnums for some reason) and we found ourselves at the wonderfully named Miradouro da Despe-te Que Suas.
Despe-te QS view
Despe-te QS view
Despe-te Que Suas view
It was getting towards lunch time and I'm delighted to say we found somewhere good to eat today! A small cafe in Nordeste called Forno. Nordeste was a really pretty town too so we had a good mooch around.
Nordeste
Nordeste
Nordeste
Nordeste
Nordeste
Nordeste

Nordeste is also a fishing village / town and there is a lighthouse that you can see more easily from the Miradouro da Vista dos Barcos.

lighthouse
Having wound our way through the steeply wooded hills of the Serra da Tronqueira we arrived at Miradouro Ponta do Sossego (Point of Rest). This was no ordinary lookout but a well tended garden. We spent a while wandering around here both for the views and for the flowers.
dahlia
dahlia
dahlia
flowers
dahlia
flower
hydrangea
dahlia

sunflower

There was also quite a bit of wildlife around here, not least cats and kittens ...
cat
kitten
... and bugs, butterflies and birds (not all from here but it's easier to put them altogether)...
butterfly
butterfly
butterfly
goldcrest
bird

bug

... and now the views
sossego view
sossego view
sossego view
sossego view
sossego view Just round the corner and we got to Miradouro Ponta da Madrugada (Point of Dawn), the most Easterly tip of Sao Miguel island. From here, some of the basalt cliffs you can see are 3-4 million years old, some of the oldest rock on the island.
Madrugada view
Madrugada view
madrugada view

Moving further south, the scenery changed from the wild woody areas back to pasture and black and white cows (some in fields, some roaming free) and more hydrangea hedgerows. We passed on the opportunity to visit a cheese factory and went on to the Miradouro do Pico Longo for some more views, this time of Povoacao, a town. Povoacao was where the first settlers on the island came ashore in 1444.
Pico Longo view
Pico Longo view

Not far from there was yet another lookout - Miradouro do por do Sol so yet more lovely views!
Por do Sol view
Our final stop for the day was the Caldeiras das Furnas. Furnas was on our list of places to visit before the end of this week (when we move on) as there seemed to be loads to see / do there but for today, this had to be enough. These Caldeiras put those we saw earlier in the week to shame!
Cald furnas
Cald furnas
Cald Furnas

Day 5 - whale watching with Terra Azul again and, again, we were lucky. We saw some common dolphin this time and what Carla (Marine biologist) thought was a Sei Whale but the waves were so high it was difficult to tell whether it was a Sei or a Fin Whale and hopeless to photograph (and therefore identify). Either way, it was lovely to see it but we had to go home after the boat trip to recover, dry out, get changed etc.

We spent the afternoon wandering about in Ponta Delgada but didn't take our cameras (don't need them for window shopping) so the only photos from today are of a couple of Common Dolphins and a Cory's Shearwater (bird) from this morning's trip. The shearwaters nest in the cliffs near our hotel and have the most eerie cry when they're coming in to roost. We wondered what it was at first - sort of mmm, mmm, mmm, eye! Very, very loud especially when there's so many of them.
Shearwater
Cory's Shearwater
Common dolphin
Common Dolphin
common dolphin
Common Dolphin

One thing to mention is that Borda D'Agua Restaurante is a really good fish restaurant (does meat as well). It's in Lagoa and describes itself as a cathedral of fish! The taxi driver who brought us from the airport recommended it and we agree - definitely the best meal we've had so far (other than Chris's breakfasts).

We spent our final day on Sao Miguel in Parque Terra Nostra in Furnas, only popping out for a lovely lunch at O Miromar where we enjoyed the local speciality, Cozido - a kind of dry stew that's cooked for 6 hours in the ground using the heat from the volcano - delicious.

Parque Terra Nostra was huge - you could easily spend hours here (one couple we met had spent a day and a half wandering round). We spent the morning strolling round the main part of the garden then the afternoon in the flower garden followed by a dip in the very yellow pool.
reflection
hedge garden
terra nosta
terra nostra
terra nostra
terra nostra
There was plenty of bird life around ...
duck
duck
swan
blue bird
... and lots of insects and butterflies, especially in the flower garden
bee
insect
butterfly
butterfly
insect on flower
flower beds The flower gardens were lovely albeit quite small compared to the rest of the park. There were rectangular beds in the middle and lovely borders in front of a well kept hedge. flower border
flower border
flower bed close
As to the flowers themselves, as always we couldn't resist taking a close up or two!
white flower
dahlia
dahlia
dahlia Back into the park for a last wander around terra nostra
There was an interesting animal area. The animals seemed to be made of stone with ivy (or similar creepers) making them green
ivy animals
reflection
statue
At the end of one avenue was this statue. Dedicated to the Viscondo and Viscondessa da Praia 1896. If my Portuguese is up to it, I think it was erected by their son, Marques da Praia de Monforte. We liked the Griffins around the base.
griffin
SS in hot pool
This pool really was as yellow (if not more so) than it appears in the photo. It was like swimming in a bath and full of sulphur, iron etc so supposed to do you good. The water inlets brought hot water into the pool to keep it warm and the nearer you got to them, the hotter the water got. It was very difficult to float but not too deep. We were lucky as there weren't many people in but we were told that it gets very busy at weekends.

Saturday and our first week was already over so we packed our bags and trudged to the airport to go to Island number 2.

Click here for Pico page.

The very last night of our holiday was also spent on Sao Miguel - in Ponta Delgada at Hotel Camoes. A welcome bit of luxury / comfort after being bounced around in a zodiac all week in Pico. Their restaurant was good too! Finally back on SATA and home.

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