Whale Watching

Today’s original plan had us going on our whale watching tour & then out to some caves in the middle of the island. But, with renting a car tomorrow, we’ve decided it makes more sense to push the caves to tomorrow so now - just the whale watching! We headed down to the harbour right after breakfast and after some waiting, we were heading out onto the water with our guide.

The Azores is a hotspot for a lot of whale and dolphin species. Some stay all year, some migrate through, some are on human-watching tours (I made that last one up) and the protection of the animals is something taken quite seriously. One of the key things they do is have a spotter up on the top of Monte Brasil, which we climbed yesterday. The spotter keeps an eye on the water and radios to the boats when something is seen. That keeps the boats from getting too close and scaring the animals.

Luckily, today was a much better day to be out on the water than yesterday. The sky was much clearer and it was warmer. We didn’t get a chance to see any whales but we saw a sunfish, a leatherhead turtle, common dolphins and flatnose dolphins. The flatnose dolphins get white as they age and apparently, like to fight each other as they also get a lot of scars. The common dolphins were quite playful, jumping out of the water quite a bit. The flatnose dolphins were a smaller pod, I think maybe four but there were many more of the common dolphins, maybe closer to 12 or 15? It was really quite enjoyable to watch them jumping around and they actually came quite close to the boat, which surprised me.

Once we were back on land, we got a bite of lunch at the other cafe at the harbour, this one a bit larger. And we found out that not only is it Sunday (we already knew that part) but it was also Mother’s Day and Labour Day. So nothing was going to be open, restaurant-wise. This place opened up because it had a big group coming. Hmmm. That’s okay, we figured out a plan of stopping at the grocery store (the only thing that would be open today) on the way back to the hotel to pick up some meat & cheese & bread to have a little hotel room picnic, which ended up working out nicely. Before heading back to the hotel, we took a little self-guided walking tour around town. We probably should have done that on our first afternoon because we had seen pretty much everything by that point, but it was a nice opportunity to see my favourite blue church again.

Then, it was some nice downtime once we made it back to the hotel, enjoying our little picnic and settling in for the night. Tomorrow is our last full day - we’re renting a car and driving around the island. I’m looking forward to it!

Monte Brasil

So…. I don’t know why I got it in my head that today’s hike was supposed to be relatively light & easy… I guess because it’s technical a city park? Well, it’s a good thing we visited the museum and gardens yesterday but I’m not convinced I’d have had the energy for it today. Because it turns out, it was pretty long (11km) and a 400+ metre ascent.

We started out early from our hotel, skipping the beginning part of the hike since it starts from the middle of town and we would end in town so we’d just pick that up on on the way back. Our hotel has a little path to the little bay that it backs onto, which gave us a nice little shortcut to get into the fort where the hike really does begin.

Monte Brasil is a volcano that is mostly covered in trees but does have an active military presence and a tonne of paths, trails and picnic areas with easy access by car. We, of course, opted for the hard way of hiking it. Once past the fort, we took a little side path that led us along side the volcano, overlooking the town and harbour. The day seemed more smokey than cloudy but I have no idea where the smoke would have been coming from so I assume it was just clouds. We got lovely views of the harbour before partially doubling back to take a side path up a steep grassy incline. That led to another incline with some stairs before another incline on a cement road before we finally reached the peak of Monte Brasil at Pico do Facho. It has an old telegraph site on it, which was interesting to see. Then, it was time to start descending on a series of switchbacks that had fitness equipment scattered along it. We didn’t see anyone using the equipment but we did see a jogger heading up. Her lungs must be in fantastic shape. We took another little cut off path that was much rockier (thank you, hiking pole, for your assistance here!) that led us down to a ruined fort at the edge of a cliff before we started climbing again. While Monte Brasil looks like two big hills (are they hills? are they mountains? They feel like mountains to me…) I think it’s just one with a volcano crater that makes it look like two. Anyway, the point is, we dipped and then started climbing to another peak again. We went to another summit where the whale watchers watch from and a third that was used as a WWII lookout. Heading back down, we walked along the edge of the crater for a bit, which is now used for target practice. Then, we climbed AGAIN but this time on much softer terrain up into the main park area where suddenly, there were tonnes of people. We had seen a few walkers at the beginning of our hike but we were soon the only people around, aside from a couple of joggers, a biker and one other hiker that we saw for a very short time. Anyway. We got up to another peak that gave us lovely views before starting to head back down to town, passing a petting zoo (with a cage parrot that very much wanted to be free…) and lots of picnic areas. It was a really popular area to be, and I can’t say I blame people - it was so lovely.

Eventually, we got back out and started to head into town, watching a tour bus squeeze through a very narrow arch (it made it) and tucking down along the water where we could before coming to a small cafe on the harbour for some delicious sandwiches, more kima (have I mentioned kima? We discovered it on our last hiking day - it’s a passionfruit soda that’s delicious.) The cafe also had ice cream, which was obviously something I was interested in since the day was now quite sunny & warm but as I played around on my phone while EDP was ordering, I found a lovely little bakery that I thought would be a nice place to stop in at for some treats that we’d both enjoy on our way back to the hotel, instead. I’m so selfless, sometimes. We went back up into the main part of town, passing the most beautiful blue church that I think might be my favourite church - it’s just so cheerful on the outside! There’s also a bright pink one that we’ve passed a few times, as well. I’m so torn about tucking inside because the inside is either going to be a massive disappointment compared to the outside OR it might be equally bright and cheerful? Anyway. I love this church. We got some treats (including the small cake that the island is famous for - I had one at breakfast and it was a bit sweet but I’m assuming a proper bakery will do a much better job than a hotel buffet) and some wine and had some nice balcony time back at the hotel before dinner.

Which was amazing. EDP found this tiny little restaurant for us so we set back off into the centre of town for this charming little restaurant that had a very limited menu since it was focused on fresh fish, cause each day. They had two whole fishes and two fillets - so we each ordered one of the fresh fillets. Mine was parrot fish and I can’t remember what EDP’s was but they were delicious. It was the kind of meal that is very simple but shows the skill of the chef. SO GOOD. As good as my tuna from our first night in Ponta Delgada. We topped our evening off with dessert, where I got my long-awaited ice cream (fresh passionfruit.) SO GOOD.

Tomorrow is our whale watching tour - we likely won’t see whales given the time of year and today wasn’t a great day for being on the water so it might end up being just a really nice boat ride but my fingers are crossed.

Angra do Heroísmo

Happily, the rain is gone! WIth how much rain was expected, there was a chance we’d have travel troubles today but it was relatively smooth sailing.

Our flight to take us over to Terceira was scheduled for 12:40 so we had a lazy morning, packing up while finishing up the bottle of champagne from last night and the dessert we had picked up at lunch but never got around to eating. Our transport back to the airport was right on time - 3 hours before the flight - which got us to the airport way too early. The counter wasn’t even open to check our bags in. So we waited for that and then got some warm beverages and headed back out front of the airport before heading through security. The airport, despite being one of the largest in Portugal, is quite small with not a whole heck of a lot to keep one occupied. It did end up getting a bit chilly outside so off we went through security and settled in by our gate for the wait for the flight. This time, we got to walk to the airplane when it was time to board. It was a small plane, though no where near as small as what we had in Belize, it was still pretty small. The flight was quick and easy, landing at the Terceira airport (also one of the largest in Portugal) and we quickly were through and found our transport driver, a lovely young woman who told us all sorts of interesting things about the island as she drove us into Angra do Heroísmo. For me, the most surprising was that there was running of the bulls on the island - and quite a bit. We were arriving just at the start of the season but when things really get going, it’s every weekend in all the little towns across the island. Who knew?!

While we weren’t arriving at our hotel incredibly early, we were still too early to check in so we dropped our bags and headed into town to see about some lunch and start poking around. We had hoped with our flight landing around 1, getting our room a bit early would be a possibility and could just have a lazy day all around but with that not happening, we walked into town. The hotel is on the edge of things, tucked at the end of a little bay so we’re not in the centre of everything.

A short walk got us into town and I just love this place. The buildings are all so colourful and remind me of somewhere but I can’t put my finger on it. It’s so vibrant! We found a little spot to have a sandwich and while there, we realised we were fairly close to things and had the time so we might as well visit the museum & garden we had planned for tomorrow. It was an easy walk to find the museum and we spent a nice hour or so learning more about the history of the city and the Azores, in general. Then, it was next door into the gardens - Jardim Duque da Terceira. These gardens were quite planned and manicured - and more extensive than I expected. We climbed up and then down, enjoying the warm weather and the lovely surroundings. Finally, we headed back to the hotel, got checked in and settled in, ending our day at a nearby restaurant where we had relatively decent pizza.

Tomorrow is our only hike for this island, hiking up the volcano that we can see from our hotel room - there is a tree blocking a good chunk of the volcano but we’ll get a better view tomorrow when we’re up close.

Ponta Delgada. In the rain.

Today, it rained and I got intoxicated. Those are not related. Or maybe they are. I’m not sure. As I’ve mentioned, I’m intoxicated.

With our canoeing cancelled and our car returned, we made the logical choice of sticking around Ponta Delgada until our gin experience today. We tried to visit the Mercado da Graça again, with slightly more success this time but since the market building is under construction and since it’s not a weekend or a popular day for cruise ships, there really was not very much to see. We were wanting to find a coffee shop we had heard about but it was too early for that so we headed back up to Igreja do Colégio. It was also too early for that. Well, eventually it wasn’t too early for that so we ducked inside this strange little church that had the most intense wood carvings I’ve ever seen in a church. There was also some of the lovely blue tiles that the Azores are known for and I think it’s been my first good sighting so that was exciting!

Then, we headed up to the botanical gardens that we missed on Monday. They were much smaller than I expected and had a very tropical and unmanicured feel to them, which is new for us in a botanical garden. There were several really incredibly fig trees with the most elaborate roots that were exposed. From there, it was on to the coffee shop for some lunch - EDP got his traditional vacation pizza and I had an ENORMOUS sandwich with a fried egg on top that was delicious and huge. We took some hot chocolate and dessert to go and headed back to the hotel until it was time to head off to our gin experience. By then, the wind was really picking up but the rain was holding off.

We had a bit of quiet time before heading out again - the hotel managed to get the wine out of my sweater so I didn’t look like a weird abstract painting (yay!) and when we headed out, the rain was just starting. It was really starting to come down when we arrived at our gin experience and we were in this adorable little outbuilding where we could hear the rain outside and made for quite the cozy afternoon.

Ali, our gin expert, guided us through the history of gin, explaining how bathtub gin came to be, how regulation led way for London Dry gin and then the revival of gin in the last few years when a lone woman whisky distiller spent some time playing around and created Hendricks gin, which took the world (London) by storm when they had a promotion involving free drinks in exchange for a cucumber that went viral. Over the course of his history lesson, we got to try the gin he produces along with a London Dry gin and then a bathtub gin for EDP and a lovely rhubarb gin for me. We also got to make friends with the local cat, who was a fan of our cheese puffs and insisted on having his share. We wrapped up with a restaurant recommendation from Ali and made our way over to an amazing seafood restaurant where EDP had an enormous skillet of limpets followed by some sort of seafood stew and I had an enormous amount of cod in a clay tray. It was a really large and delicious meal, accompanied by crazy crashing waves just outside the restaurant. It was still pouring when we got our cab back to the hotel. We’re not entirely sure of the name of the restaurant, its something I’ll have to dig in to but man, was it good. Even if I couldn’t eat 3/4 of what was on the menu.

Anyway. Between the 3 gins and the wine at dinner (what?!), I was already pretty toasty warm despite the rain. But upon our return to the hotel, I discovered a cake & bottle of champagne waiting for us. Because it’s my birthday. Part of why I was so desperate to get away is because I spent my last two birthdays in hard lockdown because of COVID. And while we weren’t facing another lockdown this time around, I needed to feel like the world was normal again. So here we are. With champagne and a peanut butter mousse cake that is delicious. I’m stuffed and have had enough liquor today to make a milestone birthday not seem quite so daunting. The rain is still coming down and we expect it’ll still be rough tomorrow, which isn’t great since we’re flying and there were flights delayed today but we’ll see.

Anyway. Is the rain the world’s way of letting me know it’s grieving my youth with me? I think we can all agree that is very likely.

Sete Cidades

Today was our last day of hiking on São Miguel, heading up to Sete Cidades, a small village on the west side of the island. Sete Cidades is in a volcano crater, along with two lakes - one blue and one green. While you can hike around both lakes, we opted for a shorter hike around just Lagoa Verde since even that shorter hike was expected to be 10km, not to mention that what I read said it could be difficult to complete the hike around both lakes due to paths being gone. So we headed off to park the car in the village and start the walk.

Up until now, we’ve had quite nice weather. It’s been sunny and warm but there’s a storm coming in and it seems like it may be starting to settle in already. Our drive was generally fine until we got up into the mountains more, when we encountered some mist. We had hoped it was fog that would burn off but it seems like it’s probably cloud cover. Which, sadly, made it difficult to see just how blue Lagoa Azul is but Lagoa Verde was still quite a vivid green in places. It was cold & windy down at the lake level so I was glad I had long sleeves. EDP nearly lost his hat once or twice but soon enough, we were over the bridge and starting to make our way up into the mountain, where the wind died down and the air warmed up.

For the first chunk, we were just on the road but soon enough, we on a trail, high up over the lake that followed along the side of the lake. We saw some crazy wild rhubarb growing and some of the hydrangeas the Azores is known for were starting to bloom. I again had my screenshots from the walking guidebook and we were doing so well until we hit a road we weren’t supposed to hit. And then began our saga of trying to figure out where the heck we were supposed to be. According to the guidebook, there should have been a fork in the path and we should have stayed right. It would have kept us along the edge of the lake but below the road that we were now facing. We went back and forth several times. We found what looked like might be a path. EDP braved heading down it but said it was just getting more overgrown and couldn’t possibly be the right path. After a few more minutes of stewing, we finally decided whatever path was there in 2019 was gone and we’d have to just wing it.

The road took us up to the infamous abandoned hotel. Back in the 80s, before international tourism was really a thing for the Azores, a luxury hotel was built up at the top of the mountain at the edge of Lagoa Verde. It was quite large and far more hotel than the location needed and so it went bankrupt within 18 months of opening. And now it’s just this creepy abandoned building. We approached it from one of the two roads that get near it, with that road being between us and the lake. Now…. Remember that mist I was mentioning? Well, we had climbed high enough that we were in that mist. By an abandoned hotel. And now it was cold & windy again plus misty so with the big trees that were in front of the hotel’s original entrance, it was raining. Just in front of the entrance. If you went a bit to the left to one of the parking lots, it was fine. If you went a bit to the right to the other parking lot, it was fine. But right in front of the abandoned hotel, it was cold & windy & wet. Which turns out is how it usually is up there (something like 200 days a year…) so you can see why the hotel went bankrupt. For us, it made the decision to not explore further an easy one. We picked up a path that we thought would take us back to the route we needed to be on and started our descent back into the crater.

Once we were out of the mist, we had beautiful views of the two lakes. The vivid blue of Lagoa Azul still evaded us but you could see some of the colour difference between the two lakes. We wound our way back down, finding where we are pretty sure the route we were supposed to be on joined back to the wider trail - overgrown at this end, too. And, while we were on the road, there was a section that had been blocked off due to the very edge of the road going down the mountainside in a little landslide so I think even if we had fought our way on the overgrown path, we would have eventually been blocked and had to backtrack. And that would have been SUPER frustrating so despite not being able to do the hike as expected, we did get the bonus of the abandoned hotel!

Once back in town, we stopped for a quick lunch on our first patio of the trip on the coldest & windiest day of the trip for some sandwiches. We had thought we’d sit for a while and read our books but it was just too windy. The only other plan for the day was a natural hot springs in the ocean but if you go too close to high tide, it’s not very warm. But high tide was at noon with low tide around 6 so we figured if we could plan to be there around 4, it would be warm but not too warm and still give us plenty of time to return to Ponta Delgada to return the car. Alas, the wind made sitting on the patio a less than enjoyable experience so eventually we decided to just head on over.

The descent down to the hot springs was terrifying. The road was steep and narrow and right at the edge of the mountain and terrifying. A portion of it had been buried in a rockslide a few years ago but most of the repairs were done so we were able to drive right down to the parking lot where there is a man-made thermal pool that no one goes in, preferring the natural pool just a few further steps away. We arrived around the same time as a tour group, whose bus had to let them off at the top of the road down since the bus wouldn’t have been able to make the turns. And the cold & the wind were back the minute we got out of the car. We didn’t really know what to expect so we grabbed our swimsuits and towels and figured we’d see. We saw a lot of waves crashing crazily and the water level in the natural hot springs way too high for it to be even remotely safe to go in. It was quite beautiful with the black rocks and the crashing waves but not our day to test out the waters. We wandered around a bit along the shore before eventually heading back to the car with our unused swimsuits for the drive back to Ponta Delgada.

While EDP was filling up the car, I took the opportunity to look at myself in a mirror, which was a bad idea. As I was advised by people I consider my friends, I looked like a tomato and or maybe like I had been in a tornado. I guess since they didn’t save the Snapchat photo, that means they truly are my friends? They weren’t wrong. In fact, a tomato after a tornado wouldn’t have been an unfair description. I’m telling you - it was WINDY. But after we dropped the car off, a shower fixed me right up!

And it was a good thing I cleaned myself up because we had the loveliest dinner at a restaurant that is run entirely by just one man. He does everything - all the prep, all the cooking, all the serving. It’s just him. We were the first to arrive for the evening so it was quite quiet early on and we enjoyed some lovely cheese & toast before mains of a pastry-wrapped fish for me and filet mignon for EDP. Quite tasty, let me tell you. I, of course, had to get dessert, which was a lovely chocolate cake. Such a good meal and a unique dining experience!

Tomorrow is going to end up being quite a relaxed day. Our canoeing trip is officially off - even if they had been able to make the morning work out, all tours are cancelled tomorrow now because of the weather. But, we do still have our gin experience in the afternoon, which will be a lovely way to spend a chunk of the day.

Ribeira Grande

Day 2 of hiking! Today I got smart and grabbed screenshots from the hiking guidebook so that we knew where we were supposed to be going!

We headed out this morning, arriving at a parking area for our hike around 9. Today’s hike was Cascada Salto del Cabrito - reported to be a 7.5km circular trail with a mere 230 metre gain in elevation. In the end, it was just shy of 7.25km but the elevation gain was closer to 280 meters. We started near two streams, both of which the guidebook told us would need to be forded. Yup. Forded. I don’t ford a lot of things but hey, you only take your first post-pandemic trip in honour of your 40th birthday once, right? Well, early birthday present to me - bridges had been built over both streams since the guidebook was last updated! The first stream would have been totally fine but the second stream… Well, it was nice there was a bridge though it was a bit sway-y and low with the rope railing for my taste. EDP was not allowed on the bridge at the same time as me and I definitely had a false start before I whimpered my way across. Then, it was pretty much smooth sailing. The ascents today were much more gradual than yesterday and we were primarily on roads through the country side. We saw lots of cute little geckos, sunning themselves on the stone walls before we made it to Caldeiras, a little village with a thermal spa (appeared to be closed) and a small restaurant (definitely closed.) We continued on out of town, seeing lots of little fumaroles (where volcanic gases are vented from the ground) and then following a pipeline running from an old hydro station before heading to the waterfall we were en route to see. I didn’t quite appreciate that we’d be on a narrow, metal grate just over the pipeline, suspended over a gorge, followed by an incredibly steep metal stairway to lead us into the gorge but I guess every day has its surprises!

Our timing for arriving at the waterfall was excellent - there were only a few people and they were wrapping up so we had uninterrupted viewing for a few minutes before the place started teeming with people. One thing I have learned about the Azores is that whatever you are hiking to also has a parking lot you can drive you. And most people choose to drive. Most people probably know about the metal grate over the suspended pipeline with it’s accompanying steep stairs. Anyway. We only had a short distance to go to get back to the car but it involved an unfortunately steep climb up the road. So many steep climbs…

From the car, it was a short little jaunt over to our first of two planned hot springs visits. Today’s was Caldeira Velha. I believe you can walk over as part of this hike but it would have extended the hike by quite a bit and involved jumping a gate at a power station, which didn’t sound like the smartest idea. With no lockers, we left almost everything in the car, save for our bathing suits & towels, getting admission with the 1:00 cohort. That left us enough time for a little snack (someone had coffee, someone else had ice cream) before heading in. The hot springs had 4 different pools, though we really only could find 3. We started in one that was a bit cooler and quite empty to start, letting the warm water soak into our tired bodies. Then, it was into a warmer pool - I think it was in the high 30s? Also quite lovely to soak in. Then, we ventured off to try to find the final pool, getting up to it and discovering it was cold. We did not go in.

It was then time to move on to the Praia de Santa Bárbara beach in Ribeira Grande where the plan was to have a drink/lunch overlooking the black beach. We found the beach with relatively little problem since there was parking very close by but there were no cafes. There were definitely buildings that used to be cafes. But no longer. So we watched the waves crashing in for a few minutes from the edge of the boardwalk before deciding it was time to move on. I was really looking forward to that drink, too.

We then moved on to the Gorreana tea plantation where we saw how they grow and process their tea before trying several lovely samples, purchasing some to bring home, and enjoying a passionfruit tart and an orange cake.

That should have been us done for the day but sadly, the tour company we had booked a Lagoa das Furnas canoeing morning with had emailed earlier to see if we were able to switch from the morning trip to the afternoon trip. Unfortunately, that wasn’t going to work due to our gin masterclass booked for late afternoon so we figured we had lots of time since our drinks in Ribeira Grande didn’t work out so we would head to Furnas while we still had the car and see the area, even if we couldn’t canoe the lake. So off we went. It would have been quite interesting to canoe out to the middle of the lake, which is in a crater but we satisfied ourselves with walking around, seeing the fumaroles and where they cook the famous cozido das Furnas, a stew that is cooked right in the ground by the volcanic heat. We didn’t stay around long enough to try it, wanting instead to get back to Ponta Delgada.

On the way back, we got stuck in one of the infamous Azorean traffic jams. It wasn’t too bad, mostly the traffic was on the other side of the road but there’s always one that has to break away from the pack and hang out on the wrong side of the road. Of course, I’m talking about a herd of cows. It was being shuffled along by a farmer so it didn’t take long at all for us to pass through but it was still funny to see.

Back in Ponta Delgada, we found ourselves a bottle of chilled green wine, the balcony, something to read, and basked in the sunshine until it was time to head off to dinner. Sadly, while our appetiser was very tasty - duck and mushroom croquettes because you can take the girl out of Belgium but you’ll have to pry her croquettes from her cold, dead hands - the main course was uncomfortable, at least for me, since I had a glass of red wine spilled on me. On my light grey sweater. On my dress. On my suede shoes (grey, not blue…) And there wasn’t a lot that could be done in the restaurant so that was less than fun. Also less than fun - the woman who knocked the glass over didn’t even have the decency to apologize and the restaurant staff couldn’t be bothered to bring water or a cloth while I tried to sponge out as much of the wine as I could. Nope, it was bathroom paper towels and EDP’s water for me! If it hadn’t been for the croquettes and the recommendation for a good coffee place from the gentleman at the table beside us, the evening would have been quite disappointing. At this point, I’ve been able to get most of the wine out of my shoes (the laces may be toast) and I think turning the shower on the dress is leaving that stain-free but the sweater is questionable. And it’s the only sweater I brought. Sigh. The hotel is going to do what they can, which is all I can ask, but maybe I’ll end up starting a new fashion trend?