After a day
of rough seas having left Portugal, our floating resort docked at Ponta
Delgada, a tranquil harbour in the Azores, two hours late. At this point we were far out in the
Atlantic, several hundred miles off the coast of Portugal, the country to which
these enchanting islands belong.
Everything on this volcanic island was incredibly lush and green as we
toured through the countryside. This
island averages 6 inches of rain each month.
Beautiful terraced farms with pastures divided by black volcanic rock
“fences” were everywhere we looked. As
part of our tour we were taken to a small town (Pico de Ferro) near the far
coast of the island. This was a beautiful place with a huge gothic church in
the centre of town, with beautiful gardens and river with waterfalls below it. We were then taken to Lake Furnas, in the crater of a volcano at the top of the
island. After a very steep climb up to the rim, the view was spectacular. Down in the valley far below was the town of
Furnas where we would go later as part of the tour. In the town there was the
most incredible park and garden called Terra Nostra. The gardens were first
started more than an 200 years ago surrounding a mineral pool that is supposed
to be healthy, but looks rather gross because of the iron content. The gardens
themselves are spectacular with an enormous variety of vegetation from around
the world as well as reflecting pools. On
December 4, we enjoyed viewing and photographing a variety of flowers that were
still blooming. The atmosphere was warm and humid, typical for this area. As the sun was setting, we took the one hour
trip back to the ship, arriving in the dark.
It was a thoroughly enjoyable day.
Now we have six days at sea before reaching Fort Lauderdale on Sunday.
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