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Graciosa Island: The Cave of Sulphur
& Santa Cruz from port of Vila da Praia
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Overnight, we sailed
95 nautical miles from Praia da Vitoria (Terceira) and arrived
at Vila da Praia (Graciosa)
early in the morning. |
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Our excursion this morning
took us south-east from the port at Praia to the volcanic
Enxôfre Caldera, where we visited the Furna do Enxôfre
(Cave of Sulphur), then north west to the coast with stops
at Pota da Barca, Barro Vermelho and following the coast
to Santa Cruz da Graciosa, returning to the port for a late
lunch. |
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Our first stop was at
the top of the caldeira... |
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...from where there was
quite a long flight of steps... |
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...with some interesting
plant life along the way... |
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...until we arrived at
the entrance to the visitors centre at the Furna do Enxôfre. |
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The inside of the cave
is reached via a tower, roughly 37 metres high and containing
a spiral staircase with 183 steps. |
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The main feature of the
impressive lava cave is its perfect dome-shaped roof. |
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Besides a cold water
lake, there is "an important degasification field consisting
of a mud pot and diffuse gaseous emanations of carbon dioxide,
which are released imperceptibly in various areas of the
cave floor." (I found this description after some research.
I not sure what it means exactly, but it sounds plausible!) |
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Ponta da Barca, the whale
islet, emblematic of the island of Graciosa. |
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A little way further
along the coast, we stopped at Barro Vermelho. |
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We had some free time
after exploring the town, so we walk up to a viewpoint overlooking
the sea. |
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Returning to the port
and back to the ship for a late lunch. |
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After lunch, we walked
off the ship took a walk along the coast after which we
explored the port town of Praia. |
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As we returned to the
town, we met Pat and Bob, so we had a little photo opportunity
and then visited the famous pastry shop nearby. |
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Naturally, we bought
a box of their treats, but only opened the box when we got
home. They were nice, but we weren't overwhelmed! |
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Walking past the windmills,
we walked into the centre of the town. |
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We had been told that
there was a public event happening today, which would culminate
in a "running of the bulls" later in the afternoon.
We would be sailing before the main event (and weren't disappointed
about that), but feast preparations were well under way
and the main street was in the process of being blocked
off as we walked along it. |
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At 6:00pm we enjoyed
some beautiful views of the island as we sailed for the
next island, Flores. |
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