At Sea and Santa Maria, Azores, 5/6/2024, National Geographic Endurance
Aboard the
National Geographic Endurance
Europe
The morning found National Geographic Endurance underway from Terceira to Santa Maria in the Azore islands. The expedition team scoured the ocean for cetaceans and sea birds and yielded a long-tailed jaeger and the elusive Bulwer’s petrel. Dolphins road the bow briefly and time was spent watching presentations and enjoying the ship’s many onboard amenities.
In the afternoon, National Geographic Endurance came alongside in Vilo do Porto and we were treated to an amazing picnic in Reserva Florestal de Recreio de Fontinhas.
Mike's love for the water comes from growing up on the great lakes where his dad worked as a commercial ship captain. After going to university for mechanical engineering he worked in the automotive, plastics, and aerospace defense industries before ...
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Our last full day exploring the Açores took place on São Miguel, where we began our journey seven days ago. Having already visited six of the nine islands that make up the archipelago, we had the chance to make the most of the last day of our expedition with a couple of options. Each island has its own character, tastes, and history. We experienced as much as we could in our time here, from the delicious local Queijadas (small pastries), Açorean tea, and local culinary delicacy, cozido das furnas, which is a stew cooked in a geothermal bath. All groups visited Lagoa das Furnas (Furnace Lake), where our meals were cooked for seven hours. One group spent a good part of the day walking along a scenic and leisurely path around the lake. Another highlight was visiting the geothermally active site of Caldieras in the village of Furnas. Here, several active pools constantly spew steam and boil mud, as well as providing fourteen different types of mineral water…a constant reminder of this island’s fiery volcanic past.
On this day in Santa Maria, the sun colored our photos and our memories. The first group set out for a strenuous walk from Pico Alto. They experienced the gradual dissent from the highest part of Santa Maria through what felt like a cloud forest, to the warm kiss of the sun as they arrived at the lower altitudes at Ermida de Nossa Senhora do Pilar. Another group started at the Church of Santo Espírito and ended at Maria’s by the Sea. They witnessed the amazing Aveiro Waterfall and the star-shaped yellow flowers of the endemic Aichryson santamariensis. The people who preferred to explore the island on the scenic tour visited a multitude of places. They saw tiny churches, like the Ermida de Nossa Senhora dos Anjos, and several miradouros (viewpoints). A bonus was hearing an incredible chorus of Iberian green frogs at a pond, acoustically amplified as it was set within a local quarry. In the afternoon, we enjoyed presentations by Gemina Garland-Lewis on whaling and whale watching in the Azores, and Dr. Douglas Nowacek spoke on underwater pollution and cetaceans. To conclude our day, Rafael Carvalho, a local master musician, graced us with his Azorean guitar.
Terceira gets its name, unsurprisingly, from being the third largest island in the Azores archipelago. It’s the second largest island by population, and the largest of all in terms of chapels, festivals, and nightlife. While we were not destined to see the latter two, we spent our day exploring the island and visiting the scenic overlooks and dairy pastures before descending into the city of Angra do Heroismo, the oldest city of the Azores and a UNESCO Cultural World Heritage Site. Some took to a nearby volcanic remnant on the coast for an afternoon hike, while most of us enjoyed the scattered clouds and scenic streets of the town by foot.
