Saturday, March 3, 2007

An outstanding crater lake - Azores - Açores

A stopover in Sao Miguel Island was on the itinerary of our return route. We were to spend several days there after the symposium had ended. After our discovery of the beauty of Pico and Faial, I couldn't wait to arrive at this, the largest of the nine islands!

Although Sao Miguel is the biggest island in the Azores, it is still quite small: 65 kilometres long by 16 kilometres wide. And just like the other two islands we had visited, extraordinarily beautiful. We had been told that the best way to get around would be by renting a car or by taxi. We chose the second option as that way we would be travelling with somebody who knew the place very well. For our first outing, though, we decided to take a taxi to our destination and then go back to Ponta Delgada by bus. We started off with a visit to Sete Cidades, an outstanding crater lake in a caldera which is twelve kilometres in diameter. There is a town next to the lake with the same name. The taxi left us at Vista do Rei, at the top of the crater and we walked for kilometres along a trail designed especially for hikers, following the narrow edge of the caldera before heading down to the town. We had a view of the lake on one side and the Atlantic Ocean on the other. It was quite an experience!

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Açores - Azores - São Miguel - Furnas

Açores - Azores - São Miguel - Furnas , originally uploaded by Luis Miguens .