Ponta Delgada; Sunday, 26 May, 2019

Overnight the tour company had emailed me to let me know that they were going to have to pick me up from a different point today as the road closures for the Festa do Senhor Santo Cristo dos Milagres was reaching it’s peak today with a major parade through the city centre that had meant most roads were closed. Thankfully, it wasn’t too far away from the hotel, and probably a bit closer than the place where I’d been dropped off the night before.

Unlike yesterday, today I was the penultimate person to be picked up so the van was already mostly full. We did the final pickup on the edge of town and then headed over to the Pineapple farm and greenhouses located in the northern suburbs of Ponta Delgada. The Azorean pineapple is smaller than the ones that most people are used to, and the ones produced on the farm we visited were mostly used for the production of pineapple-based products (mostly alcohol), rather than for eating. Our guide took us around the different greenhouses talking us through the different stages of growth from the initial planting to final harvesting, then there was a chance to sample the final, alcoholic, product in the farm shop.

From the farm we then started to drive up into the mountains and up the side of another volcanic crater. We stopped part way up to take in the views down the spine of the island and, due to its location near the thinnest part of the island, the scene of both the North and South coasts at the same time. We then continued on up the road until we stopped at a hiking trail and walked for about 10 minutes to a viewing point high on the crater wall that overlooked the whole of the crater floor, including multiple crater lakes and the town of Sete Cidades.

Having taken in the view for some time we then walked back to the van and drove a short distance round to another point on the volcano rim to take in the view of the main lake, that appears to be two different lakes as it changes colour part way across. We managed to time the visit almost perfectly as the clouds and fog cleared just as we arrived, and then within seconds of us heading back to the van the fog descended again.

We headed down into the crater and over to the town of Sete Cidades where we stopped for lunch in a very nice restaurant in the town centre.

After lunch we headed back out of the volcano and headed across the island to the third and final volcano of the trip – Fogo. Unlike the other two craters which are enormous and can house whole communities within them this crater is quite a bit smaller and has no access down into it other than by foot, so it’s crater lake and shores are pristine. We stopped at a viewpoint high on the rim to take in the views, which were constantly changing as the cloud rolled in and out of the caldera.

From the view point we headed downhill a long way until we reached a small gorge located on the edge of the rim. Here there are more fumaroles and vents from the volcano that heat the small stream running through the gorge, turning it into natural thermal baths. We had a good look around the site before heading back to the van and onto the final viewpoint of the trip up on the North Coast. From here we were able to get really good views of both the Fogo and Sete Cidades volcanos and take in the sheer size of the mountains.

Then it was time to head back into Ponta Delgada and get dropped off in the city centre. The main parade of the festival, which lasts nearly 8 hours, was still well underway so we had to be dropped off on the edge of the city centre before wandering back towards my hotel. I stopped for a little while to take in some parts of the parade, and then at a small break in the parade I was able to zip across it and actually get back to my room to drop stuff off.

I freshened up and then headed back out to get a bite to eat – stopping at a café near the parade route, but slightly up a hill, so I was able to get a view of the parade taking place, despite all the people lining the route. I ended up having a much longer dinner than I would normally have had, just from the people watching.

As the parade came to an end I had a bit of a wander through the town centre before heading back to my room to pack.