Sunday, 13 October 2013

Day 16 Oct 12 - Western Sao Miguel

Today we took a tour of the western part of Sao Miguel which was called the Sete Cidads and Wine Tour.  There were many stops along the way. To see what we did refer to the link http://www.azoreantours.com/tours/sete-cidades-wine-tour/.

We were joined by a fellow Canadian who was traveling alone so she asked to join our tour.  Always nice to help out a fellow Canadian traveler.

Here are some random pictures from our day....

First stop at a local vegetable/fish market in Ponta Delgada (the capital of Sao Miguel)



Along the west coast near the thermal springs. Incredible power of the ocean. There is also a thermal spa located here along with natural hot springs at the oceans edge.






A natural hot spring pool (mostly used at low tide)

The spa

The spa from above

Sete Ciades is a Civil Parish located in a massive volcanic crater almost 5 km across. There are twin lakes that are now slightly different colours.  In the past they were vibrant blue and green.  Now they are both quite green due to a build up of algae due to the fertilizer runoff from the farms. There are also many other lakes that formed within the crater.

The Sete Ciades valley 

Igreja Sao Nicolau (church of Saint Nicolas - Santa Clause church)

A lake in the crater

Top right you can see the clear cutting of the trees


 Local transportation - Pumpkins

 Twin lakes that are now slightly different colours




Views of the north west side of the island (where we are staying)



One of the few remaining stone houses in the area

Ribeira Grande and area

We took a very informative tour of a local winery..Qunita d Jardinete. It is best described as a boutique winery as they produce small amounts of very good, natural (non-oaked) wine.


Mario the winemaker


On the way back to our accommodation, we came across three young children traveling to the local water tap to get water for their animals...see below why we thought we HAD to get a photo! You don't see this in Canada.

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