Santa Maria - The First Island Discovered in the Azores, The Last One Discovered by Us

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October 14th 2012

Published: October 14th 2012

September 17 - September 25, 2012 (note - I have included many collages to include more photos - if you can not see them, click on the photo to make them larger) Yes, we had said that Sao Miguel would be the last island in the Azores we would visit before going to the mainland, but tropical storm Nadine had other plans. Earlier in August hurricane Gordon came through when we were in Terceira. Th... 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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The Old & The New

From the fort you can look across at the wind turbines on the hill

What is Important?

As Bob said you can always tell what they value by what they store in their garage - here the boat is definitely king

The land is lush

Color Sets It Off

The trim colors typically were blue, green or yellow

Stones Everywhere

Stones for buildings and stone for walls

The Lone Tree Here

Water Jug In the Garden

Stone Buildings

You see many of the traditional stone buildings standing, but not in useable condition

One of many views

How About Living Here?

Would you like a place with peace and quiet - we found one for you

"Rock" Islands

This "rock" island off the coast is named Ilheu do Romeiro. Most do not have navigational lights so need to be careful when sailing by the coast.

Out in the Vineyards

The area used to be planted in vineyards but are now not used unfortunately

Flowers Set Off the Views

Coastline

Even though the day was overcast we enjoyed the views of the coast line

Dinosaur Food

As Bob says this was dinosaur food as it is one of the oldest plants around

The Ponta do Castelo Lighthouse

This lighthouse was way out on a point -quite a place to get to, but worth the trip

Inside the Lighthouse

We had a chance to go climb the circular stairway into the area where the actual light is to see the prisms that bend the light. The view was spectacular. The map shows that the Azores are protected by lighthouses on each of the islands

Private Chapel

We found out that this chapel & surrounding grounds were owned privately by a gentleman we talked to - he gave permission for us to walk around

The coast line of Santa Maria

The coast line of the island was lined with beautiful beaches and small villages nestled in the hills

The trim sets it off

The colored trim set off all the white buildings here on Santa Maria

Stone Vineyards

The hills used to be covered with vineyards surrounded by these stone fences. The grapes are now gone but the walls & stairways remain

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Santa Maria - The First Island Discovered in the Azores, The Last One Discovered by Us

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