Wed. 9/20/23 Pico Island. Madalena Jeiroes do Mar
Left Furnas at 8:15 and met Paulo in PONTE del Gado, then he dropped us off at the airport. Our flight ended up delayed due to the incoming flight. Finally got off for a quick hour flight to Pico. Light rain when we arrived. We ended up in line for an hour and a half, but finally got car and drove to our bungalow. We are staying at Jeiroes do Mar which is a series of bungalows only separated from the water by volcanic rock. Our unit is beautiful with views out to the ocean. We have a huge terrace, then bedroom, living room and kitchen. Once we got settled in we drove to the grocery store to pick up some food. It was a very modern store with allot of selections. We then returned and scouted out the route to the ferry we will be taking tomorrow at 8:15 am. The town is adorable and has a great vibe. We got back, made dinner, and ate just chillin* for awhile.
Th 9/21/23. Pico Island
We caught the 8:00 AM ferry over to Faial today. We met our guide Andreas and set off for a 4 1/2 tour. The main industry of Faial was shipping and whaling. Today Horta is a big sailing stopover for boats making the trans Atlantic passage. The waterfront is covered with messages painted and left by sailors. The island was beautiful. Part of our tour was looking into an old volcano crater/cone called a caldeira, then touring part of the island that was destroyed by an eruption in the 80’s called Capelinhos. They also had some really cool natural swimming pools, and lots of breathtaking scenery. We are able to walk to the ferry from our bungalow. It was a whole different scene waking up today. Yesterday was rainy and foggy, today we were able to see Faial, as well as the huge volcano behind us here on Pico. When we got back, we walked around exploring, then walked over to the beachfront/natural swimming pool for dinner at the snack bar. While we were there we saw a guy who had been pulled out by the currents, was in a huge crashing surf with rocks everywhere and could not get back in. Jon said he thought the guy was in trouble, then sure enough the guy started to wave his arms. There were not many people there, but luckily 3 guys jumped in and were able to get the guy in. We talked to the 3 guys afterward to commend them on their bravery. Turned out they were super friendly and were all Captains for the ferry. We were treated to a lovely sunset tonight !
We caught the 8:00 AM ferry over to Faial today. We met our guide Andreas and set off for a 4 1/2 tour. The main industry of Faial was shipping and whaling. Today Horta is a big sailing stopover for boats making the trans Atlantic passage. The waterfront is covered with messages painted and left by sailors. The island was beautiful. Part of our tour was looking into an old volcano crater/cone called a caldeira, then touring part of the island that was destroyed by an eruption in the 80’s called Capelinhos. They also had some really cool natural swimming pools, and lots of breathtaking scenery. We are able to walk to the ferry from our bungalow. It was a whole different scene waking up today. Yesterday was rainy and foggy, today we were able to see Faial, as well as the huge volcano behind us here on Pico. When we got back, we walked around exploring, then walked over to the beachfront/natural swimming pool for dinner at the snack bar. While we were there we saw a guy who had been pulled out by the currents, was in a huge crashing surf with rocks everywhere and could not get back in. Jon said he thought the guy was in trouble, then sure enough the guy started to wave his arms. There were not many people there, but luckily 3 guys jumped in and were able to get the guy in. We talked to the 3 guys afterward to commend them on their bravery. Turned out they were super friendly and were all Captains for the ferry. We were treated to a lovely sunset tonight !
Fri 9/22/23 Pico Island
Today was quite an adventure ! We headed out in the car and explored for about 7 hours. We thought we could cover the entire island in 3 to 4 hours, but we did not even cover half of it. We started out driving west on the south shore. We made multiple turn offs, some were great and others dead ends. We were trying to drive as close to the coast as possible. The whole south side was all lava rock with crashing surf. We had amazing views of the volcano and all of the vineyards, and several windmills. We drove up to Laje which was a really quaint town with quite a whaling history. We went to a small but very interesting whaling museum. They had a video from 1970 which showed an actual whale hunt and gave you the story of each of the whalers. It was interesting that the Azore whaling history is directly connected to New Bedford MA. We ate lunch at a cafe on the waterfront, then continued on with our exploring. At one point I thought there was a road that would take us to some lakes. We climbed up and up, then the pave road turned to gravel, and all we saw were cows everywhere ! We had to be super vigilant to make sure we did not hit any. Did great till the road got socked in with fog and we had to drive at a crawl. About an hour in, the fog and mist finally broke and we were treated to a full, double ended rainbow ! We finally found our way back to a paved road and drove another half hour back home. We went out to dinner in town. All the restaurants only except reservations, and don’t start serving until after 7:00 PM. We finished dinner then had a relaxing walk back to our hotel.
Today was quite an adventure ! We headed out in the car and explored for about 7 hours. We thought we could cover the entire island in 3 to 4 hours, but we did not even cover half of it. We started out driving west on the south shore. We made multiple turn offs, some were great and others dead ends. We were trying to drive as close to the coast as possible. The whole south side was all lava rock with crashing surf. We had amazing views of the volcano and all of the vineyards, and several windmills. We drove up to Laje which was a really quaint town with quite a whaling history. We went to a small but very interesting whaling museum. They had a video from 1970 which showed an actual whale hunt and gave you the story of each of the whalers. It was interesting that the Azore whaling history is directly connected to New Bedford MA. We ate lunch at a cafe on the waterfront, then continued on with our exploring. At one point I thought there was a road that would take us to some lakes. We climbed up and up, then the pave road turned to gravel, and all we saw were cows everywhere ! We had to be super vigilant to make sure we did not hit any. Did great till the road got socked in with fog and we had to drive at a crawl. About an hour in, the fog and mist finally broke and we were treated to a full, double ended rainbow ! We finally found our way back to a paved road and drove another half hour back home. We went out to dinner in town. All the restaurants only except reservations, and don’t start serving until after 7:00 PM. We finished dinner then had a relaxing walk back to our hotel.
Sat 9/23 Pico Island
Today we set out for another day of exploring. We first stopped in a old village that had been started around the vineyards. We toured a museum to learn about the wine industry on the island, and walked all over the village. We drove the coastal route around to Sao Roque to tour an old whale processing plant and walked around the town. Next stop was in a village where we grabbed lunch at a tiny restaurant. Ended up spending quite a bit of time talking with a local who was originally from Norway, and had a female friend visiting him. He was artist who paints here and ships his paintings back to his gallery in Norway. They were surprisingly like minded with our political views and could not believe all the stuff that is currently going on in the States. We finally continued on our trip and stopped at a potters shop and bought some Christmas ornaments, then headed back home after another 7 hour day of exploring. We went to eat dinner at a waterfront restaurant next to our hotel, but the menu was in Portuguese and no one spoke English. We decided not to gamble because I have to be really careful about what I am eating. We walked to the snack shack, picked up an order to go, then had the perfect evening dining on our patio watching the sun go down.
Today we set out for another day of exploring. We first stopped in a old village that had been started around the vineyards. We toured a museum to learn about the wine industry on the island, and walked all over the village. We drove the coastal route around to Sao Roque to tour an old whale processing plant and walked around the town. Next stop was in a village where we grabbed lunch at a tiny restaurant. Ended up spending quite a bit of time talking with a local who was originally from Norway, and had a female friend visiting him. He was artist who paints here and ships his paintings back to his gallery in Norway. They were surprisingly like minded with our political views and could not believe all the stuff that is currently going on in the States. We finally continued on our trip and stopped at a potters shop and bought some Christmas ornaments, then headed back home after another 7 hour day of exploring. We went to eat dinner at a waterfront restaurant next to our hotel, but the menu was in Portuguese and no one spoke English. We decided not to gamble because I have to be really careful about what I am eating. We walked to the snack shack, picked up an order to go, then had the perfect evening dining on our patio watching the sun go down.
Sun 9/24 Our last day on Pico Island.
It is funny because I thought 5 days in Pico would be too long, but really enjoyed our time here. Today we set out again by car to explore and spend more time on the hill top dirt roads. We went to the base center of where the climbers start the climb up the Pico volcano and they had an interesting information center and a movie about the volcano. We ate a snack at a really cool restaurant called Magna overlooking the water, then continued driving on the coastal route. We got back in, finished getting organized and packed, then went out for dinner. We ate at a nice restaurant that we could walk to from our hotel. We wrapped up our night by watching the surf and sunset. Our whole Pico experience has really been laid back and fun.
It is funny because I thought 5 days in Pico would be too long, but really enjoyed our time here. Today we set out again by car to explore and spend more time on the hill top dirt roads. We went to the base center of where the climbers start the climb up the Pico volcano and they had an interesting information center and a movie about the volcano. We ate a snack at a really cool restaurant called Magna overlooking the water, then continued driving on the coastal route. We got back in, finished getting organized and packed, then went out for dinner. We ate at a nice restaurant that we could walk to from our hotel. We wrapped up our night by watching the surf and sunset. Our whole Pico experience has really been laid back and fun.