We were excited to visit the coffee farm in Faja dos Vimes after reading The NY Times article in February, and especially after meeting Paula Azevedo at the festival. A faja is caused in two ways: by gravity deposits produced by landslides caused by erosion of the base of a cliff or by lava flowing over cliffs into the sea making a platform. The drive down from the main to the coastal faja was long and constant curves. Swear that all roads in the Azores in one giant Grand Prix!
We drove to Fajas do Vimes and visited Paula at her coffee shop, Quinta do Cafe. We actually ran into her on the street in front of her shop. We ordered cups of café con leche with a couple of the horseshoe-shaped cookies with cinnamon and spices, the specialty of Sao Jorge. All was good and we watched a video showing how the coffee came to the Azores from Brazil and how Paula’s grandmother had worked the farm and then how Paula continued the work and built the shop. We ordered another coffee and then Paula gave us a tour of the back shop where gifts were displayed as well as some historic weaving looms.
She then took us to see the 6 feet tall coffee bushes. The beans are picked by hand between April to October. Paula said she is constantly picking the ripe ones.
In Fajas do Vimes several hikes begin. We chose a 3km (one way) hike to Portal. The trail ascended steeply then down to another faja where the ruins of a famous Maestro’s house stood. He lived there for eight years after WW I. The walk continued up a steep, scary staircase to the town of Portal. We hoped to take a peek into the church, but it was closed.
We turned around and retraced our route, taking much care to maneuver the skinny steps on our way down.
With another gorgeous and strenuous hike behind us, we headed to Cafe Nunes, the coffee shop and farm mentioned in the NY Times article. It was only a couple of hundred yards from Paula's shop. When we arrived, there were beans drying on tarps spread on the patio in the sun. After drying they will be roasted on a stovetop in a cast iron pan. This coffee farm is the largest plantation in Europe, with 700 plants yielding approximately 1,600 pounds of coffee annually.
The low altitude and high humidity makes this microclimate ideal for growing arabica coffee.
We ordered coffees and then realized that after our hike, and because we had some leftover pizza, we really wanted beer. We had both and shared our two pieces of pizza, unfortunately, they didn't multiply like the loaves and fishes!
After our snack, we walked around the back of the coffee shop to see the plants and the famous weaving called high point, one of the island’s most famous handicrafts. The weaving room was almost a museum showing off some wooden looms with magnificent samples of woven bedspreads.
One of our guidebooks mentioned a footpath nearby with a waterfall and mill. We drove there but soon realized the waterfall was dry, the mill was gone and the road was really un-navigable. We abandoned the idea but also found along the road an antique wooden mallet or hammer. We kept commenting that this island was a place from another time.
We decided we had some time to explore the north side of the island so we picked a route and went sightseeing.
Our first stop was in Norte Grande at the Nossa Senhora das Neves Church. The weathervane on the top was in the shape of a fish. The interior was beautiful with tiled religious scenes.
The next detour was to Faja do Ouvidor. This faja’s harbor with a natural swimming pool and rock arches is so picturesque. Unfortunately, the water was not crashing on the rocks but it was still gorgeous.
We took an interior-island road which went through a natural forest to head toward a lighthouse on the west end of the island. Since we had already toured Topo lighthouse on one end, we wanted to see the other end. Sao Jorge is a cigar-shaped island that is no more than 15 miles wide and less than a 100 miles long.
Along our drive, we passed the cheese factory we hoped to visit the next day, the pretty town of Rosais and the Sete Fontes Forest Park. The park was really lovely with huge trees that almost looked like redwoods.
Past the park, the road got really rough and rutted and we already read that the lighthouse was abandoned after an earthquake in 1980 and the cliffs are unstable. A car in front of us turned around but we persisted. When we arrived at the lighthouse, it was off limits so we stopped at a viewpoint a short distance back. There was a steep walkway up to a lookout building which was falling apart. The lookout was set back about a mile from the 180 degree views of coastline. Because of the distance from the coast, views were okay, but we had seen many that were so much better! On a return trip to Sao Jorge, we would not do this excursion again.
Starving and back in Velas, we had crackers, cheese and our bottle of white Pico wine on the patio. We were told by the clerk that we could not eat or drink outside food and beverages, but he also turned his head and gave us some wine glasses and a knife to cut the cheese!
After our aperitif, we made our way to the Town Centre and ate at the Acor Restaurant. Karl and Dave had filets of the fish of the day, Carol had rice with seafood and Sue had fantastic cod in a clay dish. Once again, too much food.
Another wonderful day.
2025-02-07