The Island of Faial in the Azores July 17 - 27, 2012

Europe » Portugal » Azores » Faial
July 27th 2012

Published: July 27th 2012

The Azores Archipelago is made up of 9 islands. When we first planned our trip to the Azores we had hoped to visit all of them, but as we took 3 weeks to explore Flores and we have already been in Faial for over a week we are sure we won’t be able to get to them all. They are divided into 3 general areas – the western area consists of Flores and Corvo, the central group is made up of Faial, Pi... Read Full Entry

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Bob & Janice Waller

s v Tsamaya

Like so many others we love to travel and we love to sail so cruising makes a lot of sense. Janice has retired from Cornell as a business manager and Bob has retired from South Seneca school district as the high school principal. It's time to sell the house, get rid of whatever doesn't fit on our 40 foot Caliber LRC named Tsamaya (this means Travel Well in Setswana) and set off to see the world. Our reasons for publishing this blog is twofold, first to keep in touch with our friends and family and secondly to share our experiences. If you would like to receive notification when we have added ... full info

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View from the Look Out

Even though the whale look outs are quite a distance from the sea, they had a very clear view along the coastline.

Numerous Flowers

Numerous flowers line the roads here similar to Flores.

Our First Windmill Sighting

This was the first windmill we have seen here. This one appeared to have wooden propeller type blades rather than the fabric sails that were typically. We didn’t get close enough to find out if they were just missing.

Canada? What does it mean?

We kept seeing the word “Canada” on many of the road signs. The modern definition is a passage or narrow road, but historically it described the landscape marked by an extensive network of stone walls that form longitudinal vineyards.

View of Sao Jorge

Looking over at the island of Sao Jorge which is where we will head next when we leave here.

More Fields for Agriculture

The island of Faial is quite green and has lots of fields for agriculture and grazing of cattle.

Stone for Building

One of many stone buildings we saw while on our drive around the island of Faial.

Remains of Lighthouse

This had been a lighthouse but was damaged by a volcano years ago which they decided not to repair as a reminder of what happened before.

Coastline

Agriculture is much easier on Faial as it is not as rocky here. The fields are lush and full of crops.

Trees Here too

There are large forested areas here as well – some of the trees were seen along the roadway as well.

A Nice Place for a Picnic

You find numerous picnic areas around the island. We took advantage of this one. They all provide grills (under the red roof in the background) and water fountains. This one came complete with a horse looking for hand-outs!

Waiting for them to cross

Sometimes you just have to wait for the cattle to cross the road before you can pass.

Seeing blue on the hills

On the other side of the island we finally saw more of the blue hydrangeas that the island is supposed to be known for. The stone fences of Flores are missing here.

Another View

Another view of the island of Faial.

A Lush Valley

The island is quite lush and green on the north and eastern side of the island.

Water Anyone?

Just a few of the examples of water faucets that we saw here on Faial. They come in all shapes, sizes and colors!

Getting to the Overlook

A tunnel that you pass through to get to the lookout over the caldeira. When we got there it started to rain.

Caldeira

We drove up to see the Caldeira which is 2 km (1.24 mi) in diameter and 400 meters (1,312 ft.) deep.

Clouds coming in

The clouds were starting to come soon after we got there. We were running out of time so didn’t take the hike around the perimeter of it this time.

Glad for the Raincoat

We were glad we were prepared with our raincoats!

An Easy Hike

The trail follows the ridge around the caldeira.

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The Island of Faial in the Azores July 17 - 27, 2012

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