Azores Trip 2018 Report

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Day 1

An early morning coach transfer took us (12 students from 4th year to Lower Sixth, Mrs Plewes and Mr Nighy) to Heathrow for our flights to Sao Miguel, connecting via Lisbon. On arrival in Ponta Delgado, we were very pleased to find that our hotel was the ground floor of a former palace, adjacent to the Azorean president’s official residence and set in the very attractive grounds of a botanical garden. An afternoon orientation and ice-cream wander into town coincided with a religious holy spirits festival as the various villages of the wider Ponta Delgado region paraded flags and crowns along the esplanade, accompanied by their marching bands.

Day 2

Our first day of activities was spent in the geologically older eastern section of the island, in and around the Lagoa das Furnas caldera. This started with a short presentation at the information centre concerning the volcanology and hydrology of the region. The Azores archipelago owes its existence to its location on the boundary of the North American, Eurasian and African tectonic plates. The magma chamber under the Furnas caldera is particularly close to the surface (10 km), which is why there are so many volcanic features in evidence. A lakeside walk took us through the verdant consequences of the fashion for botanic gardens amongst wealthy orange barons two centuries ago. The combination of fertile volcanic soils and the warm and wet sub-tropical climate make the islands suitable for most forms of vegetation, and the introduced species have thrived and proliferated, very much at the expense of the smaller and less colourful native variants. Many species grow to be much larger and more extensive than in their original biome and hydrangeas are particularly abundant throughout Sao Miguel. At the end of the walk we were able to see and smell the acrid vents, fumaroles and mineral rich boiling springs indicative of the active tectonics. On to our lunch stop at the Terra Nostra Gardens and a dip in its geothermal bathing pool, stained brown by the oxidation of the iron rich water as it cools. Later in the day we were able to touch and taste a selection of different mineral waters issuing from the springs, both hot and cold, in Furnas village on the caldera floor. Our final stop of the day was at one of the Azores’ two tea plantations and factories, where we were able to enjoy a tour of the tea-making process from harvesting to packing, tastings of the varieties produced and a stroll through the bushes.

Day 3

Day 3 started with a three hour rib-ride looking for the Azores’ resident cetaceans. We were able to see pods of inquisitive bottlenose and more reserved Risso dolphins and four sperm whales, pausing to spend a little time resting at the surface before deep-diving back below in search of squid. Then up into the hills for the spectacular view of today’s central caldera, Lago de Fogo, before returning to the crater floor to bathe in a collection of geo-thermal pools and a short but dramatic walk along the course of a 1920s HEP pipe that carried part of the island’s major river, Ribeira Grande, through an impressive vertical gorge and around a waterfall on its journey from the caldera to the sea. Back to the palace Just time to watch France eliminate Belgium from the World Cup before dinner (or catch up with Love Island…)

Day 4

Day 4 took us to the western and youngest caldera on Sao Miguel, starting with a walk around the western rim of the crater enclosing the magnificent Sete Cidades and its twin blue and green lakes. This afforded wonderful views inland to the secondary crater down on the caldera floor and seawards to the impressive coastline. It was only very recently (in geological terms) that a series of under-sea eruptions created the chain of cones that form the saddle linking the western and eastern portions of Sao Miguel into one island. Following a relaxing lakeside lunch we continued on to the impressive northwest coast and its familiar landforms of headlands, stacks, shore platforms and sandy beaches, eroded and deposited into a black basalt landscape by the westerly swell. Our final stop was at the Gruta de Carvo, for a guided walk through the relict lava tubes created in an eruption some 5000 years ago with a variety of volcanic features identified and explained including skylights, lava bridges and the various types of lava in evidence. Another excellent day, marred only later by Croatia’s extra time goal…

Day 5

Day 5 offered a last chance for a souvenir shop before returning via Lisbon and Heathrow to College. All told, this was a super trip to a wonderful location. My thanks go to Mrs Plewes and the twelve pupils, for being such easy and entertaining companions.

David Nighy