Categories
in azores

nice neighbours

we’ve been really lucky with the neighbours we’ve had in our life so far, all friendly and polite (or just absent). we hear such horror stories sometimes, that i really appreciate the fact that all of ours have been great. it seems that this rule extends to holiday “neighbours” as well, as the people in the house next to ours in pico kept regaling us with stories about the island and feeding us sweets and produce from their plentiful garden…

… including this huge bunch of 17 (!!) bananas that their son had grown! :D we couldn’t refuse it, but with just 2 days before our flight back to the mainland, it was a challenge to eat so many bananas in such a short period of time… i didn’t even know you could grow bananas in azores, but now the islands taste like bananas in my memory!

Categories
in azores

climbing pico!

with many things in life, i’m a fan of jumping off into the deep end of the pool and then somehow finding a way out. this was sort of our approach to climbing pico, a “let’s go and see what happens — hopefully we’ll make it!” kind of attitude. so, when a rare sunny day popped up on the meteorology report, we signed up for the climb, checked in to get our gps trackers and off we went!

the tallest mountain in portugal might not be very tall by other countries’ standards, but it was plenty tall for us – and a volcano on top of that! the path there is all volcanic rock, sometimes lava flows that turned into solid rock, and sometimes just loose spiky rocks that slip like sand underneath your feet, making the hike hard. the path is not really a path — more like a collection of numbered wooden posts that hint the general direction you should be heading in, but it’s enough to guide.

the views are spectacular though, and distract you from the pain. on the way up we could see faial in the distance, then we went through some misty clouds for a bit, then popped up above them again as we reached the summit. the last 70m of piquinho’s ascent are extra tough, but worth it for the view from up there and the feeling of accomplishing something hard!

i was surprised to see that the volcano is still showing signs of some activity, with fumaroles evaporating steam up there at the very top of it — the last eruption was in 1718 already! we snapped some pictures at the top, grabbed some lunch in the crater and then started to make our way down, which was extra rough and painful on the feet and knees. i landed on my butt three times, but luckily only scraped my hand and leg a bit (those rocks are sharp!).

after that, we showered, went to bed and proceeded to enjoy the accomplishment and not move much for the following few days… everything hurt! :S

Categories
in azores

lava!

i’ve mentioned before that i’m kind of obsessed with lava and molten rocks, and there’s lots and lots of it in the azores! we’ve visited the excellent museum at capelinhos, walked over the ashes that covered the whole island of faial after the 1957 eruption, and then kept seeing it everywhere, to my heart’s delight.


this time, we’ve also seen lots of lava tunnels — some tiny and more like pipes, and others tall and several hundred meters long. it was brilliant!

Categories
in azores

cagarros in the night

we haven’t seen a cagarro (aka cory’s shearwater) yet, but we have heard plenty of them in the middle of the night, cackling somewhere in the backyard of house we’re staying at in pico. they spend all their time in the sea, and come back to land during the night to check on their nests, so there must be one somewhere behind the house. :| the sound is loud and super creepy… gave us a proper fright the first night!

Categories
in azores in portugal traveling

hiking calheta do nesquim

we’ve taken the boat to pico, where we’ll be staying for some time, half-working and half-exploring the island. the small town we’re staying at is called calheta do nesquim (after a dog named nesquim, who is said to have saved some shipwrecked people, many years ago). right by our house, there’s a circular trail (PR11PIC) that goes around the town and up to the whale watching hut, so of course we had to give it a go!

halfway through the hike, we found a friendly dog that decided to follow us around for a few kms… and then eventually got more interested in a local mechanic and left.


i love these rural paths, bordered with black stones and covered in moss. tiny volcanic stones crunching underneath our boots, the ominous sky, the cows munching on grass with a sea view. now and then, the sun shines through the clouds and the whole island looks green green green, as if we were on drugs or watching color for the first time.

i don’t know what it is about the azores… we come, and i always feel silly that we haven’t come sooner.