Senhora da Nazaré

We enjoyed our road trip to the east coast so much that we decided to go to where we left off and continue exploring down the east coast of Sao Miguel. But first ... we had a Car Rally to check out!

The Azores Rallye takes place on the largest island in the Azores, which is São Miguel, and has been running for the past 50 years. It is a spectacular event for international rally drivers as they spend 3 days driving on different, challenging sections of the island. The coutryside is lush and the scenery is breath-taking but I am sure when they are driving at the speeds they drive, there is little time to enjoy the scenery! The roads or tracks that they take are very narrow and winding. Often the roads have big stone walls that are barely wider than the cars. In rallies, the drivers are timed so they go as fast as they can. It is crazy!

Today, the drivers started this leg of their rally, right in front of our BnB!!! What a thrill for us. Then they will move on to do a run around the rim of the volcano in Sete Cidades. There is no margin for error there! The weather can change in a blink of an eye going from sunshine and clear skies to showers and fog and ... the drop offs from the cliffs are brutally steep. Yikes!

Once we left for our ‘mild’ driving trip to the east coast, Chris’ promised to take it easy and not try to pretend to be a rally driver.

Our day was good. We drove to the lighthouse which is at the most northeasterly point on the island and started our exploring there.

The views from the new miradors continued to be awesome on the east coast. One of most beautiful was from the Sossego Point which in located in a gorgeous, beautifully maintained garden. Families come here on weekends for outdoor picnics and BBQs.

From there, we went up a mountain road to PIco Bartholomew. On the way, we stopped in at an interpretation centre that had a display about a rare bird that lived in the laurel forests in this area. This little finch, called a Priolo, only lives in this one spot in the world and was on the verge of extinction until a group decided to help save it by teaching people about it and having bird counts every year to see how it is doing. At this time it is the 2nd rarest bird in Europe. It looks a little like a chickadee with its black cap.

We continued on to Bartholomew but it was getting steeper and narrower the further we went up. Also the clouds were rolling in fast. Chris just couldn’t trust the car with all those drop offs and the steepness of the road so we turned around carefully and headed back down. As we went down, a herd of cows that needed to be milked, walked towards us on the road and we had to wait while they took their time investigating us.

More views and on to a place we had visited with the kids earlier - Furnas.Read more