Ponta Delgada, Azores

We finally arrived across the Atlantic to Ponta Delgada in the Azores. We are still about 1,000 miles from the coast of Portugal. Although they have their own government, the 9 islands of the Azores (pronounced ah-zor-ess) are part of Portugal.

The islands are all volcanic and are clustered in 3 groups. The island we were on was the biggest and the town is the capital of the islands. The total population of the islands is about 250,000 with San Miguel, where we were having about 150,000. Because the islands are volcanic the beaches all have black sand.

Besides tourism, the islands grow pineapples, tea, bananas and passion fruit. They export most of these. There are huge herds of cattle and their dairy cows produce milk which is made into amazing cheeses. Our guide told us they have 2 cows for every person on the island.

Our tour was called Off the Beaten Path. We were in 4 wheel drive Land Rovers and we were on lots of back roads. We went to Lagoa du Congro, a small lake. To see it we had to hike down a path through a beautiful forest. After a stop for cake and the bathroom we went to a lookout where we could see all of the island and a small waterfall.

We returned to the ship, had lunch and then walked into town and saw some of the sights there. All the sidewalks were made of black and white mosaic tiles. The main buildings were white with black trim. We went to the main square and saw the 3 arched city gates and the main church. It was nice to get onto land and walk without swaying.