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Two western islands: A morning tour
of Flores then a coastal cruise past Corvo
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After departing from
Vila da Praia (Graciosa) at 6:00pm
yesterday, we sailed 158 nautical miles overnight, arriving
at the port of Lajes das Flores on Flores
Island first thing in the morning. |
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The little port of Lajes
das Flores, the starting point for our morning trip around
the island. |
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Kevin, one of the tour
managers. We have travelled with him many times over the
years. |
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Our tour today began
and ended at the port (bottom right) and we drove in a clockwise
direction. The island has an area of 143 km2, with a population
of 3,428 inhabitants. Together with Corvo Island, they form
the western group of the Azores archipelago. Both islands
lie within the North American plate and the nearby Monchique
Islet is the westernmost point of Portugal. |
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At our first stop we
enjoyed the view across the bay of Mosteiro. |
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A short drive and we
stopped at another viewpoint to get an excellent of the
vertical basalt cliffs of Rocha dos Bordões, which
are similar to the columns of the Giant's Causeway in Northern
Ireland and Fingal's Cave in Scotland, both of which we
have been lucky enough to visit. |
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| Bento, one of two Azorean guides (the other
one being Bruno), who accompanied us throughout our visit
around the islands. |
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From Miradouro do Portal,
we had stunning views of the coast and of the village of
Fajãzinha.
The prefix Fajã
designates a small flat piece of land, generally cultivatable
and located by the sea, formed of materials fallen from
cliffs. |
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Travelling a short distance
back down to sea level, our next stop was at Fajã
Grande. |
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From Fajã Grande,
we were led on a walk to the base of the waterfall (Cascata
do Poço do Bacalhau), through some absolutely
beautiful scenery. |
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We were lucky to see
eels in the crystal clear water near the waterfall. |
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The final stop on our
tour was at the viewpoint overlooking two different coloured
lakes, Negra and Comprida, which lie side by side at an
altitude of 600 metres. The green one is Lagoa Negra and
the black one is Lagoa Comprida (which means long lake). |
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Driving back into Lajes
das Flores and to our ship after a very pleasant morning
tour. |
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Over lunch, we sailed
away from Flores. |
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After sailing 20 nautical
miles, we arrived close to the island of Corvo
at around 3.00pm. We weren't scheduled to go ashore, but
instead were treated to a two hour cruise along the island's
coast for some close-up views of the scenery and wildlife. |
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Most of the island's
small population live in one small part of the island, although
the area of Vila
do Corvo covers the whole island. |
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After a
couple of hours of seeing the sights on and around the island,
the ship set a course for São Jorge Island, which
we would be visiting tomorrow. |
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