Happy Earth Day! Today we celebrated by exploring the breathtaking island of São Jorge, one of the three so-called “triangle islands” of the Azores. Our group split up this morning, with some going hiking and some going on a tour of the island. The tour stopped at several beautiful spots along the way; at some spots, we were in the clouds. Luckily, the tour also included a cheese tasting at one of the island’s queijarias, or cheeseries. All the islands of the Azores have a unique style of cheese, but the cheese from São Jorge is arguably the most well-known and the most delicious. The hike descended from one of the highest points of the island down to Fajã dos Cubres, an almost six-mile adventure through fog and rain and incredible scenery. This afternoon, we left from the port of Velas to explore the north side of the island aboard National Geographic Endurance, always keeping an eye out for cetaceans. We spotted a sperm whale and several dolphins, as well as many Cory’s shearwaters flying out in front of the bow. For a very special Earth Day event, we listened as guest speaker Andrew Garling, one of the original Earth Day founders, told his story. We learned so much about the history of this important day. In the evening, we turned north from São Jorge towards the island of Graciosa, arriving in the port of Praia to spend the evening and gear up for tomorrow’s adventures!
5/2/2024
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National Geographic Endurance
Faial, Azores
Today’s scenic highlight was a visit to Capelinhos, the site of a massive series of volcanic eruptions on Faial in 1957-58. Villages were buried in ash and over 2 kilometers of new land were added to the island. Miraculously, no one was killed. The views over the towering bluffs of ash and pumice were dramatic, as were videos of the eruptions presented in the nearby volcano museum. The museum is creatively built underground at the base of the historic lighthouse, which somehow escaped destruction during the eruptions. Another highlight of the day was the whaling museum in the town of Horta. This museum is located in the former whaling factory, “Fabrica da Baleia de Porto Pim,” where sperm whales were rendered into oil and “meal” – ground bones and meat that were used for cattle feed and agricultural fertilizer on the islands. Whaling officially ended in the Azores in 1987, though it had ceased to be a major activity by the 1970s. We’re pleased that whale-watching is now one of the major tourist attractions of the islands.