Another cloudy sunrise, so I was not out and about seeking early morning pictures of Ponta Delgada. Instead, we got off to a slow start and a leisurely breakfast. I did get one panoramic shot from our balcony using my Nokia Lumia 1020 cellphone.
This morning we head off on a full day tour of Sete Cidades. We will make our way along the Southwest part of the island, on one side you get to view the green pastures of the island on the other side the blue Atlantic Ocean. Our first stop will be the Vista do Rei, where we get to see the blue and green lakes that are in the volcanic crater. Afterwards we stop for lunch in the town of Mosteiros. We then head back to the city of Ponta Delgada, first stopping at the Lagoa do Fogo, a lagoon in the interior of a crater of an extinct volcano, on the top there is a panoramic view of the south and north coasts of the island, followed by a visit to one of the few Pineapple Plantations on the island. There we will show how the pineapple is grown and cultivated. We return to the hotel after samples of the delicious fruit.
The description of today's tour is more accurate than the prior two days.
By 9:40 we were on the bus and headed to a pineapple plantation. We learned the phases of the pineapple's growth. It takes three years for a pineapple to reach maturity. They are grown in greenhouses. Crop size and shipping costs would make it economically non-viable as a crop if it was not subsidized by the EEC. This is the only place in Europe where pineapples are grown.
Our next destination was Sete Cidades, along the way entering the clouds as we approached the crest of the ~2,500 foot ridge line. At points the drop next to the road seemed bottomless as the steep slope melted into the fog.
Sete Cidades is one of the Seven Wonders of Portugal. Unfortunately the Vista do Rei observation point for viewing the Green and Blue Lakes was shrouded in fog. We could see nothing looking down that side of the ridge line while on the other side although the visibility was far from crystal-clear, we could see all the way to the coast.
A bit further down at another viewpoint we got glimpses of Green Lake and Blue Lake as visibility fading in and out.
Just a very short distance further and on the opposite side of the ridge line we had a better view of Lagao de Santiago.
We continued our descent through a series of turns and switchbacks.
Crossing the causeway that divides Green Lake and Blue Lake, we went to the tunnel dug to control the level of the lakes. We were now just below the cloud cover. "Fascinating" is not the word I would use to describe this stop, nor is "interesting", "intriguing", "informative" or "worthwhile".
Although too difficult for me to effectively photograph, this was literally a place where you could see the light at the end of the tunnel, the tunnel having about a 6-foot radius and being over half-mile long.
Someone could not resist wading in the water.
After having lunch in the town of Mosteiros, with low clouds still blocking any view of the mountains, we stopped at Miradouro Escalvado at Ponta do Escalvado. This is at the west end of the island.
We drove the winding road along the coast passing through Rabo de Peixe ("Tail of the Fish"), the biggest fishing community in the Azores. Steady rain and poor visibility limited anyone's interest in stopping.
We entered Ribeira Grande, the second biggest city on Sao Miguel. The stop's primary purpose was to visit a shop where our group could sample all the various liquors of the island.
Pam & I decided to forgo this opportunity in favor of exploring the center of the city during a passing bit of sunshine. We saw the river from which the city got it's name and watched a band march into the park for a political campaign rally.
There was time for a few more pictures before the little rain started again and the the bus seemed welcoming.
We were originally scheduled to make a 3,000-foot ascent to see the 'Lake of Fire' but the cloud cover made that pointless so we returned directly to the hotel arriving there about 5:00 PM.
Several of us have arranged for a min-van to take us to Lake of Fire tomorrow if visibility has improved to the point that the trip will be worthwhile.
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We had good dinner at O Marineiro and called it a night.
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