After our large buffet breakfast, we headed out for a day of sightseeing. The forecast was for rain and it was holding true except the weather gods threw in fog!
Rather than driving the coast, that we could not see, we headed to the Capelinhos Lighthouse for a tour (indoors). The fog was soupy thick, but with three navigators, we found it. This was the sight of the 1957/58 eruption that resulted in the evacuation of thousands from the island.
We had an outstanding woman giving us the detailed tour of dynamics of this 13- month eruption. The collection of actual photographs and time-lapse re-creation videos, really made it feel like you were experiencing the year long eruption. The eruption spewed lava and ash, creating an extension of the peninsula, where the lighthouse is located, by at least 500 yards. There is now a cone-shaped mountain in the center of what will, through erosion, become a small island in itself.
The two story lighthouse building was completely covered in ash and the tower itself was covered halfway up.
The entire landscape is now gravel like, but grey in color. The museum is underground, at the same level and below the first level of the original lighthouse building. Today, only the second story of the lighthouse building has been excavated from the tons of ash.
In 1957/58, Portugal and the Azores where still under a dictatorship. The US and Canada agreed to accept the thousands of people that had to be evacuated. The US agreement was signed by Senator John F. Kennedy and Vice President Richard Nixon. Primary destinations were New England, California and Toronto, where there were already significant populations of Portuguese immigrants.
We were allowed to climb the 140 steps to the top of the restored lighthouse. The rain was gone, the clouds had lifted and we had spectacular views. We climbed several hundred feet above the lighthouse to what was left of an old whaler lookout. This lookout was actually manned during the early days of the eruption. We were all blown away by the tour and museum.
Following the coastline with its magnificent cliffs dropping hundreds of feet, we arrived at the village of Cedros for lunch.
Aldina is half restaurant/half grocery store. The proprietor is a woman who spoke perfect English. Like so many on the island, she has relatives who immigrated to the US, during and after the 1957/58 eruption. Her mother stayed while her aunts all immigrated. The families still regularly visit each other, thus the excellent English.
We all ordered our lunch that turned out to be dinner portions. We had pork, mussels, fish and codfish casserole, respectively. Sue’s codfish casserole very much resembled the tuna fish casseroles we had growing. The portions were so large, we quickly concluded that we should have ordered only two meals to be shared.
At lunch we met an American couple who were on our flights from Boston and to Horta. It turns out she is a granddaughter of an immigrant who moved to California 30 years prior to the earthquake. Following the earthquake, the grandfather sponsored dozens of immigrant families to California. She only learned of his local hero status when she visited the Azores for the first time a dozen years ago. Now she has visited many times to visit relatives. They were staying near Peter’s Cafe so we hoped to see them that evening at Peter’s. Unfortunately, our paths did not cross again.
Continuing the coastal drive, we stopped at a local artisans shop where Carole and Karl got a beautiful hand sewn shoulder bag and Dave & Sue added to their coffee mug collection. Also, in the shop was a 1958 National Geographic with the pictures of the devastating earthquake.
Surprisingly, it was left out for anyone to view and was still in good shape.
Just a short drive from the artisan shop was a roadside park with pretty little lava rock lined walkways, picnic areas and playgrounds. There were also a half dozens peacocks roaming free and several deer in an enclosure. We found throughout the trip that all these little roadside parks and rest areas had stone built grills for public use.
The weather was clearing so we decided to make an attempt to go to the caldera of the highest mountain on the island. Thinking we found a new direct route, we were disappointed when we spotted the “cement mixer” that we had passed earlier in the day, we knew we had been driving in circles!
After several course corrections, we finally arrived at the caldera. The wind was ferocious and the fog was heavy, but as we stood on the rim, the wind sucked out the fog up and over us and several hundred feet below we could see three lakes at the bottom of the caldera. As quickly as the caldera emptied of fog, it refilled. Walking around the rim for another 15 minutes, we never saw the bottom again. We felt very lucky for our glimpse.
Our next stop was suppose to be Feteira, a length of coastline with rock arches that should create some spectacular crashing waves. With our combined excellent navigational skills (including Nigel), we ended up back at the peacock park before finding a spot where we thought we could walk to the rocks. We got out of the car and walked but did not see a clear path to the rocks. We did, however, see hundreds of dead Portuguese man o’ wars. When you stepped on them it sounded like popping bubble wrap.
We continued our exploration of the island by going to Castelo Branco, a natural reserve for the Cory Shearwaters and other birds. We walked down the trail to the big rock (morro) where it was forbidden to go further. Without binoculars, we could not really see the birds, just the sheer number of them.
When we returned to the hotel we parked the rental car, leaving the keys with the front desk. We walked to Peter’s Cafe hoping for another gin and tonic and possibly to run into Deb & Doug. The place was packed so we walked to Atlético for dinner. This restaurant was recommended by Victor who said it was more local. It was a large seafood restaurant where the local fish were prominently displayed. There were some very large groups and the bellhop from our hotel was also there (guess the locals do eat there). We had octopus, squid, shrimp and tuna. Karl had the tuna and he was the happiest. Sue had grilled shrimp on a skewer that was simply impossible to peel.
Long, but great day.
2025-02-07