Wandering West: Sao Miguel, Azores

Well, we have made it to the last port before the “crossing” and arrival at Port Canaveral. We have sailed 2,638.3 nautical miles from Copenhagen to Sao Miguel, and it is 2,820 nautical miles to Port Canaveral. So we are about half-way home.

I said “made It” because the passage from Lisbon to Sao Miguel was very rough. Waves were from 7.5 to 12 feet. And gale winds were blowing so high at Sao Miguel with ocean swells of 30 feet that cruise ships were unable to land there for two days prior to our landing.

Here’s the beautiful sunrise that greeted us as we sailed into port:

And view of the port city, Ponta Delgada.

I was off the ship early for a full day’s excursion around the island. What an interesting place this is!! I really wasn’t expecting much, but I was surprised at the variety of landscape, industry, and towns that this one island has to offer. (Nine islands make up the Azores, all formed from volcanic lava flows, and located where two major plates of the earth come together and move. Sao Miguel is the largest.)

They say they have two earthquakes a day, but they are so slight that they are not felt. However, in the past, there have been major earthquakes, like the one in 1588, which caused a landslide, destroying the oldest town on the island. The remnants of past earthquakes and landslides can be seen like these fences of lava rock which can be found around the island. They were used to separate orange groves.

Exportation of oranges was the major industry of the island from the end of the 17^th century to the first half of the 18^th century. About a third of the arable soil was filled up with orange groves. As time went by, easier access to oranges grown in Sicily and Valencia and a deadly disease destroyed this business.

The orange industry was replaced little by little with tea, pineapple, tobacco, chicory and hydrangeas. They grow the pineapples in green houses where they are marketed as organic fruit. I had some as a desert for lunch and it was very sweet and juicy.

You see thousands of hydrangeas everywhere. Hedges of them line the road. Because of the pH of the soil, they are either white or blue.

Also along the road, you see clumps of pink amaryllis.

One plant that is causing a lot of problems here is the ginger lily which is a non-native plant and is overtaking the country-side. I guess you could call it Sao Miguel’s cudzu. The guide mentioned that there are about 3,000 native plants on the island, but over 6,000 non-native ones, some of which are really causing problems.

While on the subject of plants, one of the places we visited was Terra Nostra which is a garden created by Thomas Hickling, first US Consul of the Azores.

It is filled with interesting huge fern trees and has a feel of a sub-tropical rain forest. It is damp and muggy, but is strangely beautiful.

In the center is a pool of yellow-colored water (from the iron content) which is supplied by warm springs from the volcanoes. Here people swim along with black swans.

Near the town of Furnas, boiling water inside the cauldron is evident from the steam billowing out of the ground, much like at Yellowstone.

The local people use “hot holes” like this much like crock pots to cook stew which takes about six hours. I had some of this stew (though not cooked in this manner) for lunch. It is called, cozido. It was a delicious platter of all kinds of meat—chicken, pork, beef, sausages—and vegetables carrots, potatoes, cabbage, and kale.

Water is a constant presence all over Sao Miguel from rivers like at Ribeira Grande

Or lakes, formed inside craters, which Azoreans call lagoons. This one was almost hidden by the misty rain which comes and goes throughout the day.

Or black sandy beaches along the south coast.

There are big and little and gardens and parks in all of the island towns. Some are more decorative like the Paradise Garden in Ribeira Grande.

Others are gathering spots, it seems mostly for men to talk.

The main town is Ponta Delgada. There is a university here as well as several elementary schools and a high school. The people of this island are very religious and celebrate many holy days with processions. There are churches and old convents everywhere.

The town center has characteristic black and white figured plazas and sidewalks with statues or fountains in the center.

Ponta Delgada is where the cruise ship port is. This was recently built since tourism is on the increase as more and more ships stop on their way across the Atlantic.