Faial Island, Azores, Portugal
Volcanism originated and formed the series of nine Azores Islands. As we travel among these islands we can see nothing but volcanic rock, mainly basalt. The island of Faial is no exception, and today we visited a very interesting part of this lovely green island, the quite new crater of the Capelhino Volcano. We took advantage of an easy road to walk to the area, enjoying the vegetation and the views of the ocean. In 1957 a new volcano was born a few kilometers from the island and rapidly grew to a monster that spewed enormous amounts of ashes and rocks onto the area, flooding a small fishermen’s town and part of the island. Earthquakes accompanied the eruption, which lasted one year. Extra land was thus formed there, and the old lighthouse, originally built in 1903, was severely damaged and partially covered in ashes. During the last fifty years part of the ashes have been washed and blown away, exposing almost all the lighthouse, which a group of locals want to save. Dark sands cover the site, and some plants have begun reclaiming what was theirs, the land.
En route back to our starting point on the island, the capital Horta, we visited a small handicraft shop, where a number of different crafts were perused. Some of us visited the local Botanical Garden, where a good number of the native or endemic species of plants (62) were exhibited, as well as some others from this series of islands in the Atlantic, called Macaronesia, which include Madeira, the Canaries and Cape Vert.
Volcanism originated and formed the series of nine Azores Islands. As we travel among these islands we can see nothing but volcanic rock, mainly basalt. The island of Faial is no exception, and today we visited a very interesting part of this lovely green island, the quite new crater of the Capelhino Volcano. We took advantage of an easy road to walk to the area, enjoying the vegetation and the views of the ocean. In 1957 a new volcano was born a few kilometers from the island and rapidly grew to a monster that spewed enormous amounts of ashes and rocks onto the area, flooding a small fishermen’s town and part of the island. Earthquakes accompanied the eruption, which lasted one year. Extra land was thus formed there, and the old lighthouse, originally built in 1903, was severely damaged and partially covered in ashes. During the last fifty years part of the ashes have been washed and blown away, exposing almost all the lighthouse, which a group of locals want to save. Dark sands cover the site, and some plants have begun reclaiming what was theirs, the land.
En route back to our starting point on the island, the capital Horta, we visited a small handicraft shop, where a number of different crafts were perused. Some of us visited the local Botanical Garden, where a good number of the native or endemic species of plants (62) were exhibited, as well as some others from this series of islands in the Atlantic, called Macaronesia, which include Madeira, the Canaries and Cape Vert.
