Sao Jorge Island, The Azores, Portugal
The Azores are an Archipelago consisting of nine largish islands plus a few smaller ones, uninhabited. Their origin is volcanic, as they sit on the Atlantic Ridge. Discovered and mapped in the 15th century by the Portuguese explorers, these islands played an important part in the expansion of the Europeans across the Atlantic, and into the Indian Ocean.
Ilha Sao Jorge (Saint George Island) is the narrowest of all, and very difficult to access, as it consists of a long mountain with sheer cliffs, and very little flat, accessible space for communities. As we approached in the wee hours of the morning, rain clouds spread showers in every which direction, creating a lovely series of rainbows. These would appear and disappear in a short moment! We looked for a landing opportunity with our Zodiaks but couldn’t find one, due to low tide. The incredibly green walls of the island seemed to call us in, so we moved more to the west and eventually were able to go in to the small dock of a community called Calheta. Here we walked into the town and enjoyed the cute layout of the houses and the museum of the town, where we learned about the manufacture of linen fiber and the cloth. After a delicious coffee we boarded our ship again, and set off west again.
After lunch we arrived in the town of Velas, where the dock was big enough for us to tie to the dock. A group of young kids waited patiently to hand us a magazine of their community. We found shops that had some handicrafts, as well as t-shirts. But the great interest was the community, and how they lived along this narrow band of land between the mountain and the sea.
The Azores are an Archipelago consisting of nine largish islands plus a few smaller ones, uninhabited. Their origin is volcanic, as they sit on the Atlantic Ridge. Discovered and mapped in the 15th century by the Portuguese explorers, these islands played an important part in the expansion of the Europeans across the Atlantic, and into the Indian Ocean.
Ilha Sao Jorge (Saint George Island) is the narrowest of all, and very difficult to access, as it consists of a long mountain with sheer cliffs, and very little flat, accessible space for communities. As we approached in the wee hours of the morning, rain clouds spread showers in every which direction, creating a lovely series of rainbows. These would appear and disappear in a short moment! We looked for a landing opportunity with our Zodiaks but couldn’t find one, due to low tide. The incredibly green walls of the island seemed to call us in, so we moved more to the west and eventually were able to go in to the small dock of a community called Calheta. Here we walked into the town and enjoyed the cute layout of the houses and the museum of the town, where we learned about the manufacture of linen fiber and the cloth. After a delicious coffee we boarded our ship again, and set off west again.
After lunch we arrived in the town of Velas, where the dock was big enough for us to tie to the dock. A group of young kids waited patiently to hand us a magazine of their community. We found shops that had some handicrafts, as well as t-shirts. But the great interest was the community, and how they lived along this narrow band of land between the mountain and the sea.
