After six days at sea we today reached the final port of call before Southampton- The Azores. Sylvia and I have been here twice before but on both occasions we just had a gentle walk around the main town of Ponta Delgada, so today we booked a ship’s excursion to the Crater Lakes.
During the journey to our first stop, our guide gave us a brief history of agriculture on the islands, with the first major crop being oranges. The sailing ships on their voyages across to North and South America from Europe would use The Azores as a staging post to pick up supplies of this important commodity. One of the many benefactors of this trade was Antonio Burges who used some of his money to create a wonderful garden on the outskirts of the city. This was our destination.
The various species of plants and trees in the garden have been gathered from all over the world, again a benefit of being on the major trade routes. The climate of the islands being suitable for many of the more exotic plants to survive. The photographs don’t really do justice to the many different species such as this tree from Australia……
……or these “Bird of Paradise” flowers.
I’m certain the gardens will look much more attractive later in the season when more of the plants will be in bloom, but it was a lovely place to spend a Sunday morning.
It was then back on the coach for the slow drive out of the city and up the beautiful green hills. The Azores were formed by volcanic action and technically (as they have had activity in the last 1000 years) the volcanos are active. However there were no eruptions today as we parked near the viewing point to look across the two main Crater Lakes.
On a good sunny day the two halves of the lakes appear to be two different colours with one blue, reflecting the sky and the other green, reflecting the lush pasturelands on the sides of the lakes. Today , although pleasantly warm, was not too sunny so the effect was not so good.
All around the lakes the fields were beautifully green and with this rich source of grass it’s not difficult to understand the major agriculture of today, namely dairy farming. There are, allegedly, more cows on this island than people and at one stage The Azores supplied more than 30% of Portugal’s milk requirements. Recent changes within in Europe and cheaper imports from China has reduced to importance but it is still a major industry.
The third and final stop on today’s itinerary was yet another agricultural industry – pineapple growing. Although not having a tropical climate The Azores manages to grow pineapples under glass producing fruit of a very high calibre.
The various greenhouses had plants at different stages of the development as it takes two years for each plant to produce a fruit. It also provided a perfect photo opportunity.
Returning to the ship we had a spot of lunch before having a short walk around the city. It has a typical Portuguese feel about it with the black and white coloured buildings and tiled pathways.
There had been an event earlier in the day and many of the roads had been closed to traffic making it very easy to walk around. Most of the shops were closed as it was Sunday although a few touristy souvenir stores were open.
The cafes and bars by the marina were very lively, filled with both locals out for Sunday lunch and passengers from our cruise ship. The atmosphere was lovely and once again we had very fine weather. There was just one last chance to see one of the cows.
Well that’s all the stops completed and now the ship has sailed towards our final destination of Southampton on Thursday. It’s been a very enjoyable holiday and apart from the rough crossing we have had excellent weather. I’ll post a last post over the next two days.
I have always loved geography