The Azores | FindPenguins

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Trip start
September 30, 2017
The Azores Traveler
Arrival
September 30, 2017 in Portugal ⋅ ☀️ 24 °C
Arrived at Ponta Delgada on the island of Sao Miguel at midnight, and left at 6.30 to get a flight to the island of Teceira. Spent the morning sightseeing by minibus, especially the rock formations from the various volcanic eruptions (there hasn't been one since the 17th century!)
There are only six of us on the tour, all tolerable and mobile, so we can pack in a lot of places and stops without it taking too long. The minibus is a bit ancient with not much suspension and no air- conditioning.Read more
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The Azores Traveler
Day 2 - island of Teseira
October 1, 2017 in Portugal ⋅ 🌙 20 °C
After lunch, in a stunning new restaurant, we when down inside one of the volcanos where the lava cut tubes into the rock and these are now tunnel-shaped caves. As well as being a great experience it was also nice and cool inside. It has been clear blue skies today and the temperature is mid-20's, but it is very humid so after a late arrival yesterday and an early start today we are definitely wilting!Read more
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The Azores Traveler
Day 3 - Terceira to Faial
October 2, 2017 in Portugal ⋅ ☀️ 24 °C
Spent the morning on a walking tour of Angra do Heroismo, which is a UNESCO world heritage site, on Terceira before having lunch and leaving to go to the airport. Flying this afternoon to the next island, Faial, and having a tour of the harbour and volcanic rock formations. Except as of 3 p.m. We are still at airport waiting for the plane, which has technical problems. In the meantime I'm looking at the one plane on the Tarmac, which is a NATO plane, this being a big NATO base.Read more
Just home from Alex's after lovely weekend. Thank you for a very relaxing couple of days. Great to see your photos! Looks like a fascinating place. Lots of lovely sunshine to top up the Vitamin D! Davina xx
10/2/17Reply
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The Azores Traveler
Day 3 - on to Faial
October 2, 2017 in Portugal ⋅ ⛅ 23 °C
Finally got the flight and arrived in Faial in time for a tour round the port. It's the fourth busiest marina in the world because of the trans ocean sailing boats that put in there, also cruises. Each sailing boat paints a panel on the harbour wall to record their ocean transit, some of them have recorded up to a dozen trips. We also stopped at rock formations where the lava flows have come down to the coast and have been worn away to create arches, holes and sea tunnels.Read more
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The Azores Traveler
Day 4 - ferry to Pico island
October 3, 2017 in Portugal ⋅ 🌬 17 °C
Leisurely breakfast and a stroll around the port, then a 30 minutes ferry journey to Pico, the next island, for the day. The tour took us all around the island visiting a wine museum (but with no wine), a whale museum ( but with no whales!). This was a big centre of whaling so it's still very recently in everyone's minds. Now it's a big centre of tourists wanting to go out to see whales off the islands. We may go later in the week. The island is dominated by its huge volcano, which is the highest mountain in Portugal. We also saw lots of the lava rock formations again, with huge Atlantic waves crashing over them. After getting the ferry back to Faial, we went up the caldera of the volcano here, but by the time we got there the clouds had come down and all we could see was thick fog!Read more
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The Azores Traveler
Day 5 - from Faial back to Ponta Delgada
October 4, 2017 in Portugal ⋅ ⛅ 22 °C
Trip out in the morning sunshine to the other end of the island to see where the last big eruption created a small offshore island that then got joined to the shore. The eruption went on for eighteen months and left the lighthouse that was on the cliffs marooned inland surrounded by the lava and ash. Very surreal! Then a flight to the island of Ponta Delgada, which was where we arrived at midnight on day one.Read more
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The Azores Traveler
Lots of volcanoes
October 5, 2017 in Portugal ⋅ ⛅ 18 °C
Another good day today despite it being cloudy most of the time but still 22C. This island was originally two, formed by volcanoes 1 - 2 million years ago. About 50,000 years ago some fissures between them spewed lava that joined them together. This morning we went up one of the eastern volcanoes which has a beautiful crater lake, Lagoa do Fogo. Then onto an area of fumaroles with bubbling hot water forming pools. This is a very popular areas with the locals who come to bathe in the iron rich hot water and as today is a national holiday, it was packed.
We continued down to the north side of the island where there is a pretty old town called Ribeira Grande.
This afternoon we went up a volcano at the far west of the island where a whole sequence of eruptions has created several craters most with lakes of rain water in them.
A drive round the west and north coasts brought us back to Ponta Delgarda where we visited a pineapple plantation and saw the lengthy and tricky process to grow just one pineapple per plant.Read more
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The Azores Traveler
More volcanoes and pineapples
October 5, 2017 in Portugal ⋅ ⛅ 18 °C
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The Azores Traveler
Day 7 - volcanic geysers and hot pools
October 6, 2017 in Portugal ⋅ ⛅ 20 °C
Last night we had dinner at a fish restaurant on the harbour, and indulged in some local favourites, including some really tasty octopus and some not so tasty limpets. Then today we started the day by going to an area of volcanic geysers, fumerols and hot springs. The clouds of steam are amazing and we were able to go for a swim in one of the hot water pools. To get lunch they buried a big pot of meat and vegetables in the hot ground, and left it till lunch. Interesting, but in truth not really better than a good stew!Read more
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The Azores Traveler
Day 7 - more
October 6, 2017 in Portugal ⋅ ⛅ 20 °C
After lunch we drove all round the eastern end of the island, and stopped at a pretty waterfall, and had doce de leche icecream. Then a trip to a tea plantation, a tour of the factory and a welcome cup of tea!Read more
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The Azores Traveler
Last day - whale watching
October 7, 2017 in Portugal ⋅ ⛅ 21 °C
We were due to go on a whale watching trip today, but Lynette didn't feel up to it so I went alone. Just a few minutes out of the harbour we came to a school (school? Pod?) of maybe 30 or 40 dolphins (common ones apparently) and stayed watching them for a while then went further out to sea and a found a huge school (maybe many hundred) of much rarer Atlantic spotted dolphins feeding. The ocean seemed full of them, swimming, diving and jumping to great heights, higher than the boat. They are so fast that it's near impossible to catch them with a camera. Then finally I got my whale, a big Fin whale, mostly going just under the surface and just coming up a bit to breath. All we got to see was its fin and a back of its back, not a head or tail, and again coming up and diving much fast to get a picture.

Back home tomorrow - early flight to land at gatwick at 1 p.m., so giving an hour or so to get out of the airport, and maybe a couple of hours train home, we could back home late afternoon. Somehow I doubt that it will work like that!Read more
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Trip end
October 7, 2017