The Azores – Part 3
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Sat for breakfast, a good one this time, and my "usual" – omlette + musli + pineapple juice, and thought what I wanted to see today. Things got piling up so I decided to write them down. I consulted with the receptionist on what's recommended and how to organize the driving from one to another.

IMG_20150507_075621 IMG_20150507_075608

Actually my first task was to recharge my SIM card. You'd think it's a simple task right? You're sooo wrong! I thought it would be easy for a local since everything is in Portuguese (on the website and over the phone) but none of these options worked out , so I had to go to some office in the city that might be able to do it … in a strange way, it worked!

I drove to Ribeira dos Caldeiros which is an artificial waterfall created next to a watermill station. It was raining so I waited for a few minutes for it to stop. It didn't stop, but got lighter so I went for the 10 minute walk 🙂 .

IMG_20150507_111249 IMG_20150507_114714 IMG_20150507_110900 IMG_20150507_111241

Salto do Prego

My next destination was Salto do Prego, which is a waterfall. One of the directions from google maps wasn't so clear so I found myself on a different road, but still it looked good from direction and time perspective. It was a secondary road that after a while became a gravel road, but a fairly good one. So after like 15-20 minutes I was wondering when will I get back to a regular road but instead of it I got a muddy road! This is where I got a little suspicious. "I don't want find myself stuck in mud in the middle of nowhere" I said to myself. I continued for 50 meters and when I saw a puddle (which didn't know how deep it is) I decided to turn around. So I got back to the point where the road changed from gravel to mud and then what?! 'She', google maps, (isn't it weird that "she" doesn't have a name?! Like Apple's "Siri" …) tells me to 'turn left'. Are you serious?!? Where were you just 2 minutes ago?!?

Finally, after an hour or so, I reached my destination, Faial de Terra, where the Salto do Prego trail begins and ends. At last, a circular trail 🙂

I didn't mention it until now but all the trails in San Miguel were marked real good. Always when the way splits, you easily understand which way you need to choose. The hike itself was nice and at the end you reach this nice waterfall with pool where I rested for a while. At that time it was sunny and the sun came thru the trees so it influenced the photos I could get … (= no good photos). On the way back, just before the car, there was quite a steep downhill which was made out of these laid rocks in uneven spaces. Most annoying 🙁 .

DSC01925 Ohhh the colors ! DSC01928 DSC01918 DSC01940 DSC01931 IMG_20150507_151554

Since the skies were blue and it was sunny I decided I should try the lakes area. I debated with myself between “Fogo” lake and “Crongo” lake. They both should be in the same area… I reached the sign of “Crongo” from the main road, and noticed one thing about the road signs in the island – they don't have distances, so you're kind of clueless, you don't know if that place is 1 mile away or 20 miles away … I went on and on and couldn't find this lake 🙁 oh, and another important fact, while it was sunny near the coastline, here the clouds rule.

Strolling in Furnas

So I decided its no time to start a hike in “Fogo” and went back to Furnas. My cell battery was nearly over so I left it to charge in the room and went for an easy walk around the town. This is when I saw hotel “Terra Nostra” and made a dinner reservation. Dinner at Terra Nostra. The restaurant is quite fancy, no doubt about it. Tables are nice and the dishes also look very good on the plates. I had a ravioli as an appetizer, wrote “a ravioli” cause it was only 1! but was good 🙂 and for the main dish I had a sirloin steak. There was a Dutch couple sitting in the table next to me so we started chatting. This was the moment where I was certain there are vista points on Lagoa do Fogo (until that point I wasn't sure since I couldn't find them, so I thought there's only a walking trail).

Back to the menu – I also had a lemon mousse for dessert which came in the most unpractical kind of high-glass to eat from. Anyways… Eventually I wasn't charged for it, and although I told them they forgot it, they did not charge me for it.

Lagoa do Fogo

The next day I decided to go to the Lagoa do Fogo vista points. I didn't have much to lose. I only have a few days left and there isn't too much else I can do and the forecast for the next days is rainy. I asked the receptionist where are they and how to reach them and marked that road on the map. The road starts to climb, and along with it, the fog gets thicker until I can barely see the road, I could see about 10 feet and so I almost didn't notice the viewpoint at all 🙁 , I guess by now you understand that the lake could not be seen… Despite the clouds I continued with the road just to see tourist buses stopping by. Everyone's laughing but crying inside.

Despite the fog I went to do the trail, trying my luck. Because it starts from a different region and lower altitude I thought it had a chance. However, couldn't find it (luck) there. Parked the car somewhere and left in chilly kind of temp, went for more than 4 miles and didn't see anything. At some point I passed next to seagulls' nesting area, which I heard more than saw due to the heavy fog. I pulled out my printed copy of the trail description and it did say "passing in nesting areas and you need to be cautious". Part of the trail was in a forest, the temperature was great, just like I like it! But when I went out of the forest, it was really windy, so I needed to put on my jacket… Although this trail was classified as “c” – circular, it was a point to point kind so I returned the same way I came.

Foggy road DSC01969 IMG_20150508_143005

After the lake disappointment I went to Caloura which is a small beach town. Had a cold beer, which was exactly what I needed ! And from there basically headed back to Furnas.

The previous day I found that not far from my hotel there's a small open hot spring, so today I checked it out. I sat there for a couple of minutes with my feet in the boiling water (its only that deep …). And for the last evening in Furnas I'm having dinner at my hotel. For starter they served some nice bread with tomatoes. Had a pineapple pizza and baked pineapple for dessert, so it was an "all pineapple" dinner 🙂 !

I returned to Ponta Delgada for 2 more nights before going home

Caloura The Azores Furnas Spa hotel The Azores IMG_20150508_182047 Small hot spring IMG_20150508_201416 IMG_20150508_205943

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