As promised, we slept in this morning. The first order of business was to hit the Megasabor bakery again, next door to the building we're in, for some bread and coffee.
We had a vague plan to see a few sights in the central part of the island, including a stop at Lagoa do Fogo if it happened to be clear. Yesterday, the forecast for today was overcast and drizzly, but it was a clear morning.
As we headed east along the highway ring-road (EN1-1A), we could see the volcano in the distance, with only a few clouds clinging to the top.
Along the route, we looked for a place to stop and have a picnic lunch. There was another black-sand beach that looked promising, but when we stopped to view it from a distance, memories of yesterday's foot-roasting dissuaded us.
Google Maps identifies it as Parque de Merendas de Água de Alto ("High Water Picnic Park").
Winding along the coast road, we soon encountered Vila Franca do Campo.
We stopped for a break by the harbor, and beached the car on the sidewalk in front of a bakery, blending in with the locals.
The bakery is famous for its small, traditional cakes, so we had to try some.
After our snack, we tacked our way uphill to Ermida de Nossa Senhora da Paz (Chapel of Our Lady of Peace).
The view from the top was supposed to be excellent, and the chapel probably has some interesting history. I think all of the signs were in Portuguese though (understandably), so we didn't learn much.
The view from the top was, indeed, quite good. The small island just off the coast is apparently a tiny volcanic crater, and is a popular snorkel destination. I think there were boat trips leaving from the harbor, near the bakery we stopped at.
It is, of course, surrounded by hydrangea.
Back down the hill, we headed back toward the highway. This view of a narrow city street, with cars parked anywhere and everywhere, is fairly typical of what it's like to drive around the towns here.
In the dark ages before in-dash navigation, we probably would have stuck to the main roads to get around here. Thankfully, Google Maps is able to find delightful shortcuts like this one. I think there were more tractors on this road than cars.
We followed some rural roads across the narrow axis of the island, for maybe 8 or 10 miles, from the south coast to the north coast. Our next stop today was the Gorreana tea plantation.
The view out the windows, looking over fields of tea rows, was splendid and tranquil. The inside was a scene of absolute chaos, with throngs of tourists roaming around aimlessly, some taking guided tours, and others waiting in line to buy tchotchkes.
I caught the tail end of a tour, while Sabrina sampled some of the brewed tea. We decided to join the wandering horde, rather than wait for another tour.
I couldn't figure out if the equipment was actually still used for production, or if these were all just antiques. Some of it was belt-driven from a shaft on the wall, but also had modern safety cages, signs, etc.
We decided that the more interesting part of the experience was outside in the field, so we wandered around the rows of tea for awhile.
I almost lost Sabrina in the hedge at one point.
The weather was still cooperating, so we decided that operation Lagoa do Fogo was a go. From the tea plantation, it was only about a 15 minute ride to what-looked-like the place we needed to go.
En route, however, we made a detour to see Salto Do Cabrito. If you look carefully near the top of the opening in the rock, you can see a bridge (that is actually a pipe, going to the hydroelectric plant next to the parking lot for the waterfall).
Obviously, we had to see where that trail went, so we legged it up the stairs behind the hydro plant and discovered that the trail is more like a service walkway, welded to the top of the pipe.
This is the bridge/pipe over the ravine, that we saw from below. Sabrina was not a huge fan of this part, or the previous part. Or the next part, really.
After walking along the top of the pipe for quite a way, and then alongside it for some distance after that, the trail ended at a pair of buildings that were related to the hydroelectric operation.
We returned the way we came, and continued up the mountain towards Lagoa Do Fogo.
Apparently we hadn't done enough research, because we were surprised to discover that the road to the top is closed to passenger cars between 9 AM and 7 PM, from June 15th to September 15th. Instead, we were diverted into the parking lot at the Centro de Interpretação Ambiental da Caldeira Velha and told that we had to take the shuttle to the top/crater/lake.
Unfortunately, a shuttle was just departing as we entered the parking lot. No problem, right? We figured there'd be another one shortly, which gave us some time to put on non-flip-flop footwear for possible-hiking, fill water bottles, etc. It also gave us time to try to figure out what the deal was with the shuttle, exactly. The only information provided was this sign:
Dissuaded by the part about "round trip time of 70 minutes", and realizing that it was already after 5 PM, we opted to temporarily ditch this plan and head down into Ribeira Grande for an early dinner, instead. We would then return after 7 PM.
On the way out of the parking lot, I stopped and asked the guard (cop?) for more details. He said the shuttle only comes about every 40 minutes, and the last shuttle departs the top at 7 PM. Knowing that, it would have been very difficult to avoid getting stranded up there, anyway.
I had previously found A Mulher de Capote liquor factory during trip planning, but had written it off for today because Google Maps suggests that they are closed on weekends, and their own website has no information about hours of operation, as far as I can see.
We happened to drive by it, however, on the way into town, and it looked extremely open to me, so we stopped for a quick tour.
It ended up being a private tour, probably because nobody realizes they're open on weekends.
At the end of the tour, we sampled several of their products at this tiny bar. It was a quaint little place, if a bit odd.
Anyway. We ended up "downtown", such as it is, where there seemed to be a few restaurants on a large square. Being on a bit of a tight schedule (to get back to the top of the crater just after 7 PM), we settled for the first convenient parking space and essentially picked a restaurant at random. They appeared to all be casual fare.
While we were vacillating, we were distracted by the odd sounds of a man piloting a horse-drawn cart down the street at an impressively quick pace. He appeared to be in a rush to get a barrel delivered.
I had to try the Barack Obama burger. I wonder what the story behind that is, and if he knows he has a burger named after him in a small town on the northern coast of São Miguel.
The pace of service being very much on Island Time here, it took a solid hour to get a bit of food and a beer sorted out. The sun was diving towards the horizon as we left, so we had to make haste.
We made it to the (free, now) parking lot at the viewpoint that overlooks Lagoa Do Fogo with plenty of time to spare.
In fact, it was a perfect place to relax and enjoy a sunset.
Down at the water, it was absolutely serene. We had the entire place to ourselves, with only the squawking of birds to break the silence.
Not wanting to hike up in the dark, we didn't spend too much time at the bottom. It took us about 15 minutes to descend, and 25 minutes to get back to the top.
Back at the top, we were treated to a perfect sunset.
A short drive up the road took us to a scenic viewpoint where we could see the entire western end of the island, and the ocean on both sides, as the sun slipped behind the horizon around 8:30 PM. It was starting to get cold up there, so we didn't stay very long. It was only somewhere around 2200 feet of elevation, but it's been getting chilly here at night.
It was just after 9 PM when we got back to the apartment. Tomorrow, we are planning to do a more rigorous hike, see the eastern chunk of the island, and maybe visit a hot spring in Furnas.
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