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São Miguel Island:
A full day tour of the
island from the port of Ponta Delgada
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After an uneventful night during our voyage
from Faial Island to São
Miguel Island, we awoke to find ourselves in the port
of Ponta
Delgada, where we had embarked the Island Sky a week
earlier. This would be our last day in the Azores and
there were two options to choose from today. The first
was to do an all day tour of the island with lunch ashore.
The second was to explore the city of Ponta Delgada independently.
Bruce chose to do the island tour. Geoff chose to stay
local. This page track's Bruce's route. The following
page shows Geoff's pictures of the city as well as our
final departure and sailaway from the island group.
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With fewer than 70,000
inhabitants in the municipality of Ponta Delgada, capital
city of the Azores, it is quite small, yet much larger than
any of the towns we had visited on the other islands in
the group. |
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This was the route of
our road trip today. Setting off from the port (Cais Portas
do Mar) on this map, we drove west, past the airport and
along the coast for a while before turning inland towards
the Sete Cidades volcano. Our first stop was at Miradouro
da Vista do Rei. From there, we walked along the rim of
the volcano on the Sete Cidades trail (approx 5.5km) which
finished at Miradouro da Lomba do Vasco where the coach
was waiting. A short drive from there, we visited the Green
Love Restaurant for a coffee stop before returning to Miradouro
da Vista do Rei. Driving back towards our starting point,
we carried on driving east before turning inland for a scenic
drive along the north coast, eventually turning inland again
towards the town of Furnas, where we had lunch. After lunch,
we visited the botanical gardens and the hot springs in
the town, before driving back to our ship via the south
coast road. |
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Our first stop was at
Miradouro da Vista do Rei, a viewing point overlooking the
Sete
Cidades volcano. |
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This is what we should
have been seeing from the viewing point. |
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This is what we actually
saw! |
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It was left to Bruno
(who, along with Bento, were the two local Azorean guides
accompanying us throughout) to explain what we should have
been looking at. |
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We did wonder whether
the poor visibility was a common occurrence here and whether
it might explain why the once-luxury Monte
Palace Hotel nearby had failed to remain viable. |
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From Miradouro da Vista
do Rei, we set off on foot, following the Sete Cidades walking
trail in a clockwise direction for a planned 5.5km hike
along part of the rim of the caldeira. In theory, we could
have had wonderful views of the lakes in the crater on our
right and a view of the coastline on our left. Instead,
and rather disappointingly, all we could see were trees
and the odd cow. Nevertheless is was nice to stretch our
legs and chat to fellow travellers. |
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Bruno pointed out a pile
of pumice, which was interesting... and so light to pick
up! |
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At the end of the walking
trail, we were reunited with our coach at Miradouro da Lomba
do Vasco. The low cloud was begining to rise and we were
able to get some nice views of the coast from here. |
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It was time to get back
on the coach and head to the restaurant on the shores of
one of the twin crater lakes. |
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I had some coffee, others
enjoyed some of the nice looking pastries. Afterwards, there
was some free time to wander down the edge of the lake and
to see the birdlife. |
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The restaurant is very
close to the edge of the crater lake, Lagoa Azul (Blue Lake).
Together with its twin lake, Lagoa Verde (Green Lake), they
form the Lagoa
das Sete Cidades. If we had had clear views from our
first viewpoint and along our hike, we would have got the
complete picture of the twin lakes. |
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Leaving the restaurant,
we continued our journey by coach through the crater. As
we began to ascend out of it, suddenly the clouds lifted
and we got some wonderful views. Here the twin lakes were
both clearly visible. |
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Our guide Bruno decided
to make an unscheduled stop back at Miradouro da Vista do
Rei, where we had began our hike. This time, we were rewarded
with the view we had missed earlier. Thank you Bruno! |
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The restaurant we had
just been to is on the left hand edge of the second lake
(the Blue Lake). The Green Lake is in the foreground. Together
they form the Lagoa
das Sete Cidades. |
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Leaving the area at
around 12 noon, we were starting to think about lunch. We
didn't know that the lunch venue was nearly an hour and
a half's drive from here, in the town of Furnas on the eastern
side of the island. On the other hand, the scenery en-route
was really beautiful. |
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Approaching the town
of Furnas, we decided that it had been worth the longish
drive to get there, because the town had some interesting
buildings, amongst other attractions. |
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Lunch was served in a
very elegant looking building. |
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After quite a large
lunch (although nothing compared with the carnivorous feast
served to the German passengers from a rival cruise ship
who were sitting at the table next to us), we were grateful
that we had a couple of hours to wander around the botannical
gardens nearby. Bruno and a local guide led the group through
the Terra
Nostra Park, (see also Parque
Terra Nostra) but we were free to go off on our own
when we felt like it. |
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One of the park's primary
attractions is a thermal pool, with naturally brown iron-rich
thermal water at a temperature around 37°C. We did not
take a dip! |
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Before leaving Furnas,
we visited the hot springs, close to the centre of town. |
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Leaving Furnas, we drove
for an hour along the southern coastal road, arriving back
at the ship at 5:30pm which was half an hour before the
ship was due to sail. |
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