Santa Maria, Azores

Santa Maria: the Azores Mother Island


Chimneys of Controversy
Typical houses and chimneys of Santa Maria, it is said that they are inspired by the steamboat chimneys used before by the Azorean emigrants.
Gonçalo Velho, the Lighthouse
The Gonçalo Velho lighthouse warns vessels in the extreme southeast of Santa Maria
Malbusca Nut
Porca walks along a path at the entrance to the village of Malbusca.
a convenient trio
Trio of traditional Santa Maria houses, white, with brown roof.
Letreito and Cactus
Signpost informs the direction of the Miradouro da Vigia da Baleia.
Barreiro da Faneca
Barreiro da Faneca forms one of the most unexpected scenarios on the island of Santa Maria.
Luis brothers
Artur and Vitor Luís, brothers living in the vicinity of Santa Bárbara, taking a break from their rural activities.
corn and corn
Traditional house with a small granary and a satellite TV disc.
A village in the shape of a bay
The houses of São Lourenço, nestled in a green cove in Santa Maria.
Vertical sidewalk
The Calçada dos Gigantes, an impressive geological testimony near the end of the Ribeira de Maloés
small corrals
The houses of São Lourenço, nestled in a green cove in Santa Maria.
an infernal curve
Mota reaches the top of a curve in the form of a ramp next to the Gonçalo Velho lighthouse.
Christopher Columbus
Statue in honor of Cristovão Colombo and his passage through the island of Santa Maria.
Purification of the Holy Spirit
The Church of Our Lady of Purification, in Santo Espírito.
Santa Barbara in the Far
The houses of Santa Bárbara, one of the most traditional villages on the island of Santa Maria.
Quarry Well
Visitor to Poço da Pedreira, a corner formed by the stonework of Santa Maria.
towards the lighthouse
Long staircase that leads to Gonçalo Velho lighthouse.
It was the first in the archipelago to emerge from the bottom of the sea, the first to be discovered, the first and only to receive Cristovão Colombo and a Concorde. These are some of the attributes that make Santa Maria special. When we visit it, we find many more.

The plane flies to the south coast of Santa Maria, Azores, to align with the beginning of the runway, which occupies a good portion of the eastern end of the island. We share the oval window and follow the maneuver and the opening views.

The predominant earthy brown surprises us. In the eight neighbors of the archipelago, the monopolistic tone had proven itself to green with deviations of yellowish.

Soft Landing in the Azorean Algarve

Everything indicated that the last southern and eastern stronghold of the Azores sheltered the exception. Santa Maria is the Azorean Algarve, some natives assure us. “We have the best climate and the best beaches but also the Azores more conventional. Just wait until you go to Pico Alto, which you will see. We don't take long to do it.

Before that, already installed on the outskirts of Vila do Porto, we reversed the usual sense of things and went down to Anjos. We found the Chapel of Nossa Senhora da Nª Senhora with closed doors.

For a short time. Seeing us hanging around the door, a lady at the window of a one-story house next door began to investigate whether the Holy Trinity would grant us a visit to what is believed to have been the first church built by Infante Dom Henrique in the Azores, in 1439, in its original wood and hay version, a few years later replaced by the current one.

The Troubled Visit of Christopher Columbus

Apparently the guardian approved of it, or at least it took only a few minutes before she appeared to us with the key in her hand and a single, simple prayer: "Then, please come back to close it and return it to me." A Cristovão Colombo in a magnified bronze statue contemplates the horizon of the Atlantic but seems to accompany our movements from the sidelines. As soon as we leave the simple but peculiar interior of the temple, we are the ones to relive it and the story of its ephemeral passage through the island.

Cristovão Colombo, Santa Maria, Mother Island of the Azores

Statue in honor of Cristovão Colombo and his passage through the island of Santa Maria.

It didn't take long after the beginning of settlement until the island was attacked by pirates and Berber corsairs. Columbus himself was a victim of these attacks, albeit by default. In early 1493, he was returning from his journey to discover America. The caravel Santa Maria had already sunk in the Caribbean.

In the middle of the Atlantic, Niña and Pinta got lost. Colombo led Niña to the island of Santa Maria. When he arrived, he began to receive food from three of the less than one hundred inhabitants of that time. The following day, he sent a boat with ten men destined for the Hermitage of the Angels in search of a priest who would say a mass of thanks for the good fortune of the trip.

The embassy started to go wrong. Afraid that they were pirates, the residents, led by Lieutenant Captain João de Castanheira, imprisoned five of these men. The rest fled to the ship. Three days later, Castanheira checked Colombo's credentials and welcomed him.

The Almost Tragic Return of Santa Maria to Europe. Via Lisbon

The navigator only left Santa Maria six days after having docked, with the ship repaired and supplied. He headed for Lisbon where he arrived under a terrible storm. The population that accompanied the ship hit by the huge waves rejoiced with their luck.

Colombo spent nine days in Lisbon and surroundings. In this period that remains shrouded in controversy and in which he conferred with D. João II, he and the crew will have been received like heroes and rewarded with large gifts.

One of the most persistent historical theories argues that, after discussing the diplomatic strategy to follow, the Portuguese king made it clear that Spain should concentrate on the new Indies discovered by Columbus and not interfere with Africa and the path to India via Cape of Good Hope.

Barreiro da Faneca: a strange clayey Santa Maria

We reversed path. We soon hit the dirt road to Barreiro da Faneca. At the entrance to this vast, arid, clayey and undulating open plains with torrents of rainwater, surrounded by verdant arboreal vegetation, we share the feeling of having landed on Mars.

Barreiro Faneca, Santa Maria, Mother Island of the Azores

Barreiro da Faneca forms one of the most unexpected scenarios on the island of Santa Maria.

From there, we went to Pico Alto (587 m), the highest point of that Terran patch.

Once the last steps have been passed, we are already over this forested zenith and we can see the island all around, the same drier section to the south that we had seen from the plane. And the more southern, the more weedy and wet the landscape.

The Air Tragedy of Pico Alto

On February 8, 1989, pilots aboard the Boeing 707-301 of the Independent Air coming from Bergamo and destined for Punta Cana, they saw little or nothing around before the occurrence of what became the air crash in Portuguese territory with the most victims.

A double failure in the communication between the command tower and the pilots and, above all, the poor preparation and performance of the pilots made the plane's approaching altitude fail and the plane crashed into Pico Alto.

This is despite the fact that the runway at Santa Maria Airport – built by the North Americans in World War II to reinforce their war effort – received, at that time, frequent Concordes on stopovers on their transatlantic trips, as did the equally supersonic Antonov 2 .

Over the decades, the autonomy of new aircraft increased. Santa Maria Airport has lost much of its old traffic.

Santa Maria, Mother Island of the Azores

The houses of Santa Bárbara, one of the most traditional villages on the island of Santa Maria.

Towards Santa Bárbara, with no sign of thunder

From the measured heights of Pico Alto, we descend, without a hitch, towards Santa Bárbara. In this town, the architectural beauty surprises us. The houses are white with blue corners and frames.

Large cylindrical chimneys project from them, which the natives called “steam chimneys” while repudiating the authors of all the conclusions brought by pioneer settlers from the Algarve.

Its true inspiration may have been the steamboats on which Azorean emigrants departed for the Americas and returned from them. Today, jet engine travel is propelled, but it is still rare for Mariens without, at least, relatives in Canada or in the USA.

Chimneys, Santa Maria, Mother Island of the Azores

Typical houses and chimneys of Santa Maria, it is said that they are inspired by the steamboat chimneys used before by the Azorean emigrants.

We found two of them working on their property at the entrance to Santa Barbara. Artur and Vítor are brothers, surnamed Luís. A Chinese tractor calls them to tasks.

We do everything to lead them astray for a few moments of conversation. Shy at first, they try to send us away. We insist with the utmost courtesy and humor possible.

Artur and Vitor Luís, Brothers from the Field with Some Time for Conversation

Finally, they silence the tractor, postpone the tasks and dedicate themselves only to these compatriots from the continent. Unlike what happened with other farmers with whom we had contacted in São Miguel, his accent was noticeable to us. As we all let go, socializing is as fun as it is stimulating.

Vítor Luís is the talker. Arthur remains in reserve. Complete, with additions, the speech of the brother. As they tell us, their mother has about twenty brothers and they don't even know half of it. “Some live in America, others in Canada. Yeah, right. That's why we work with caps from these teams over there!” (on American football teams from San Francisco and Seattle).

Santa Maria, Mother Island of the Azores

Artur and Vitor Luís, brothers living in the vicinity of Santa Bárbara, taking a break from their rural activities.

“Vítor still confesses to us, without any embarrassment: “my wife has a twin sister but it's rare for me to live with her family.” When we dare to understand why, it takes refuge in the joke. “It's better anyway. See if I'm mistaken later." Twenty minutes later, we leave them to their business.

We point to the center of Santa Bárbara that we find arranged around the homonymous church. We entered a café-grocery store, rested and regained strength. We then proceeded towards the east coast of Santa Maria.

From the heights of São Lourenço to Santo Espírito

When we reach the Espigão viewpoint, at the top of the slope that hides São Lourenço, sunlight intermittently falls on the corrals, on the vineyards they protect, on the houses sunk in the half crater and at the mercy of the Atlantic onwards. Clouds filter this light.

Santa Maria, Mother Island of the Azores

The houses of São Lourenço, nestled in a green cove in Santa Maria.

They make the town and its long beach even more mystical than the extreme location already provided.

We return along the same zigzag road above and look for Poço da Pedreira, a large pink wall made of a stone from Marian masonry that has, at its base, a lake carpeted with lush grass.

Poço da Pedreira, Santa Maria, Mother Island of the Azores

Visitor to Poço da Pedreira, a corner formed by the stonework of Santa Maria.

Shortly after we hit it, it started to rain hard, so we bet on the meteorological clemency of Santo Espírito, the civil parish because it passed the island's road axis. In the early days of colonization, its dispersed communities of settlers gathered heather from the high cliffs of the Malbusca region along the sea.

They did it in baskets that descended to the height of the cliff where they could see the fungi. And they would hoist up again when they finished filling the baskets. The heather thus gathered was exported to Flanders where local artisans used it for coloring fabrics and others.

This parish received its name because it was there that mass was said, for the first time after the colonization of the island, before moving to Santana.

Towards the eastern ends of the Azores

Nowadays, the religious core of the current Santo Espírito resides in the church of Nossa Senhora da Purificação, built in the XNUMXth century, baroque in basalt stone semi-painted in white to form a mosaic and with its frontispiece added in the century XVIII, cut into rounded shapes against the sky. It's time for work and not even at the bar-band Recreio Espiritense is the village lively.

Santa Maria, Mother Island of the Azores

The Church of Our Lady of Purification, in Santo Espírito.

In any case, there are still a few kilometers to the last Azorean corner to the east, the closest to the Portuguese mainland which is 1436 km away.

From Santo Espírito to the east, the road descends without parsimony and offers magnificent views over the coastal scenery below, such as the Vigia da Baleia viewpoint from where the old sentries patrolled the Atlantic in search of cetaceans.

We don't see any sign of whales, but the panorama of the Gonçalo Velho Lighthouse halfway up the slopes and the steps beyond that lead to a bunch of cactuses keep us entertained for a long time.

Santa Maria, Mother Island of the Azores

Long staircase that leads to Gonçalo Velho lighthouse.

In Search of the Giant's Causeway Evasion

We left the island's main road for good, with the aim of returning to Vila do Porto along the south coast of Santa Maria. We bet on finding the Ribeira dos Maloás. In the village of Malbusca, we look for someone to look for the way.

Instead of people, we come across a waddling sow who descends a steep path and stops to sniff at our car, curious about the hot obstacle that had stopped her evasion.

Santa Maria, Mother Island of the Azores

Porca walks along a path at the entrance to the village of Malbusca.

After half an hour, we find the geological monument there. It lay at the end of a path flanked by cactuses, on the edge of an abyss that overlooked a rough but crystalline Atlantic, with seductive tones.

With the sea imminent, at a certain point, the Ribeira de Maloás falls into a waterfall measuring about 20 meters. There, hides the impressive Calçada dos Gigantes de Santa Maria, a prehistoric geological sculpture that groups together basalt columns.

Calçada dos Gigantes, Santa Maria, Mother Island of the Azores

The Calçada dos Gigantes, an impressive geological testimony near the end of the Ribeira de Maloés

Knowing what we know today, we would only regret ignoring such a place. In the last hours of light, we complete the journey to Vila do Porto. With a brief strategic stopover in Praia Formosa that precedes it.

 

THIS REPORT WAS DONE WITH THE SUPPORT OF:

AZORESAIRLINES.PT

SATA.PT

Sistelo, Peneda-Gerês, Portugal

From the "Little Portuguese Tibet" to the Corn Presidia

We leave the cliffs of Srª da Peneda, heading for Arcos de ValdeVez and the villages that an erroneous imaginary dubbed Little Portuguese Tibet. From these terraced villages, we pass by others famous for guarding, as golden and sacred treasures, the ears they harvest. Whimsical, the route reveals the resplendent nature and green fertility of these lands in Peneda-Gerês.
Castro Laboreiro, Portugal  

From Castro de Laboreiro to Raia da Serra Peneda - Gerês

We arrived at (i) the eminence of Galicia, at an altitude of 1000m and even more. Castro Laboreiro and the surrounding villages stand out against the granite monumentality of the mountains and the Planalto da Peneda and Laboreiro. As do its resilient people who, sometimes handed over to Brandas and sometimes to Inverneiras, still call these stunning places home.
Terceira Island, Azores

Terceira Island: Journey through a Unique Archipelago of the Azores

It was called the Island of Jesus Christ and has radiated, for a long time, the cult of the Holy Spirit. It houses Angra do Heroísmo, the oldest and most splendid city in the archipelago. These are just two examples. The attributes that make Terceira island unique are endless.
Flores Island, Azores

The Atlantic ends of the Azores and Portugal

Where, to the west, even on the map the Americas appear remote, the Ilha das Flores is home to the ultimate Azorean idyllic-dramatic domain and almost four thousand Florians surrendered to the dazzling end-of-the-world that welcomed them.
São Miguel, Azores

São Miguel Island: Stunning Azores, By Nature

An immaculate biosphere that the Earth's entrails mold and soften is displayed, in São Miguel, in a panoramic format. São Miguel is the largest of the Portuguese islands. And it is a work of art of Nature and Man in the middle of the North Atlantic planted.
Pico Island, Azores

Pico Island: the Azores Volcano with the Atlantic at its Feet

By a mere volcanic whim, the youngest Azorean patch projects itself into the rock and lava apogee of Portuguese territory. The island of Pico is home to its highest and sharpest mountain. But not only. It is a testament to the resilience and ingenuity of the Azoreans who tamed this stunning island and surrounding ocean.
Campos do GerêsTerras de Bouro, Portugal

Through the Campos do Gerês and the Terras de Bouro

We continue on a long, zigzag tour through the domains of Peneda-Gerês and Bouro, inside and outside our only National Park. In this one of the most worshiped areas in the north of Portugal.
Montalegre, Portugal

Through Alto do Barroso, Top of Trás-os-Montes

we moved from Terras de Bouro for those of Barroso. Based in Montalegre, we wander around the discovery of Paredes do Rio, Tourém, Pitões das Júnias and its monastery, stunning villages on the border of Portugal. If it is true that Barroso has had more inhabitants, visitors should not miss it.
Horta, Azores

The City that Gives the North to the Atlantic

The world community of sailors is well aware of the relief and happiness of seeing the Pico Mountain, and then Faial and the welcoming of Horta Bay and Peter Café Sport. The rejoicing does not stop there. In and around the city, there are white houses and a green and volcanic outpouring that dazzles those who have come so far.
Capelinhos Volcano, Faial, Azores

On the trail of the Capelinhos Mistery

From one coast of the island to the opposite one, through the mists, patches of pasture and forests typical of the Azores, we discover Faial and the Mystery of its most unpredictable volcano.
Porto Santo, Portugal

Praised Be the Island of Porto Santo

Discovered during a stormy sea tour, Porto Santo remains a providential shelter. Countless planes that the weather diverts from neighboring Madeira guarantee their landing there. As thousands of vacationers do every year, they surrender to the softness and immensity of the golden beach and the exuberance of the volcanic sceneries.
Pico do Arieiro - Pico Ruivo, Madeira, Portugal

Pico Arieiro to Pico Ruivo, Above a Sea of ​​Clouds

The journey begins with a resplendent dawn at 1818 m, high above the sea of ​​clouds that snuggles the Atlantic. This is followed by a winding, ups and downs walk that ends on the lush insular summit of Pico Ruivo, 1861 meters away.
Paul do Mar a Ponta do Pargo a Achadas da Cruz, Madeira, Portugal

Discovering the Madeira Finisterre

Curve after curve, tunnel after tunnel, we arrive at the sunny and festive south of Paul do Mar. We get goosebumps with the descent to the vertiginous retreat of Achadas da Cruz. We ascend again and marvel at the final cape of Ponta do Pargo. All this, in the western reaches of Madeira.
Terra Chã and Pico Branco footpaths, Porto Santo

Pico Branco, Terra Chã and Other Whims of the Golden Island

In its northeast corner, Porto Santo is another thing. With its back facing south and its large beach, we unveil a mountainous, rugged and even wooded coastline, dotted with islets that dot an even bluer Atlantic.
Graciosa, Azores

Her Grace the Graciosa

Finally, we will disembark in Graciosa, our ninth island in the Azores. Even if less dramatic and verdant than its neighbors, Graciosa preserves an Atlantic charm that is its own. Those who have the privilege of living it, take from this island of the central group an esteem that remains forever.
Corvo, Azores

The Unlikely Atlantic Shelter on Corvo Island

17 km2 of a volcano sunk in a verdant caldera. A solitary village based on a fajã. Four hundred and thirty souls snuggled by the smallness of their land and the glimpse of their neighbor Flowers. Welcome to the most fearless of the Azorean islands.
São Jorge, Azores

From Fajã to Fajã

In the Azores, strips of habitable land at the foot of large cliffs abound. No other island has as many fajãs as the more than 70 in the slender and elevated São Jorge. It was in them that the jorgenses settled. Their busy Atlantic lives rest on them.
Funchal, Madeira

Portal to a Nearly Tropical Portugal

Madeira is located less than 1000km north of the Tropic of Cancer. And the luxuriant exuberance that earned it the nickname of the garden island of the Atlantic can be seen in every corner of its steep capital.
Ponta de Sao Lourenco, Madeira, Portugal

The Eastern, Somehow Extraterrestrial, Madeira Tip

Unusual, with ocher tones and raw earth, Ponta de São Lourenço is often the first sight of Madeira. When we walk through it, we are fascinated, above all, with what the most tropical of the Portuguese islands is not.
Vale das Furnas, São Miguel

The Azorean Heat of Vale das Furnas

We were surprised, on the biggest island of the Azores, with a caldera cut by small farms, massive and deep to the point of sheltering two volcanoes, a huge lagoon and almost two thousand people from São Miguel. Few places in the archipelago are, at the same time, as grand and welcoming as the green and steaming Vale das Furnas.
Residents walk along the trail that runs through plantations above the UP4
City
Gurué, Mozambique, Part 1

Through the Mozambican Lands of Tea

The Portuguese founded Gurué in the 1930th century and, from XNUMX onwards, flooded it with camellia sinensis the foothills of the Namuli Mountains. Later, they renamed it Vila Junqueiro, in honor of its main promoter. With the independence of Mozambique and the civil war, the town regressed. It continues to stand out for the lush green imposing mountains and teak landscapes.
Host Wezi points out something in the distance
Beach
Cobue; Nkwichi Lodge, Mozambique

The Hidden Mozambique of the Creaking Sands

During a tour from the bottom to the top of Lake Malawi, we find ourselves on the island of Likoma, an hour by boat from Nkwichi Lodge, the solitary base of this inland coast of Mozambique. On the Mozambican side, the lake is known as Niassa. Whatever its name, there we discover some of the most stunning and unspoilt scenery in south-east Africa.
Lion, Elephants, PN Hwange, Zimbabwe
safari
PN Hwange, Zimbabwe

The Legacy of the Late Cecil Lion

On July 1, 2015, Walter Palmer, a dentist and trophy hunter from Minnesota killed Cecil, Zimbabwe's most famous lion. The slaughter generated a viral wave of outrage. As we saw in PN Hwange, nearly two years later, Cecil's descendants thrive.
Prayer flags in Ghyaru, Nepal
Annapurna (circuit)
Annapurna Circuit: 4th – Upper Banana to Ngawal, Nepal

From Nightmare to Dazzle

Unbeknownst to us, we are faced with an ascent that leads us to despair. We pulled our strength as far as possible and reached Ghyaru where we felt closer than ever to the Annapurnas. The rest of the way to Ngawal felt like a kind of extension of the reward.
Itamaraty Palace Staircase, Brasilia, Utopia, Brazil
Architecture & Design
Brasilia, Brazil

Brasília: from Utopia to the Capital and Political Arena of Brazil

Since the days of the Marquis of Pombal, there has been talk of transferring the capital to the interior. Today, the chimera city continues to look surreal but dictates the rules of Brazilian development.
Salto Angel, Rio that falls from the sky, Angel Falls, PN Canaima, Venezuela
Aventura
PN Canaima, Venezuela

Kerepakupai, Salto Angel: The River that Falls from Heaven

In 1937, Jimmy Angel landed a light aircraft on a plateau lost in the Venezuelan jungle. The American adventurer did not find gold but he conquered the baptism of the longest waterfall on the face of the Earth
Ceremonies and Festivities
Pentecost Island, Vanuatu

Naghol: Bungee Jumping without Modern Touches

At Pentecost, in their late teens, young people launch themselves from a tower with only lianas tied to their ankles. Bungee cords and harnesses are inappropriate fussiness from initiation to adulthood.
Cape Town, South Africa, Nelson Mandela
Cities
Cape Town, South Africa

In the End: the Cape

The crossing of Cabo das Tormentas, led by Bartolomeu Dias, transformed this almost southern tip of Africa into an unavoidable scale. And, over time, in Cape Town, one of the meeting points of civilizations and monumental cities on the face of the Earth.
Lunch time
Margilan, Uzbekistan

An Uzbekistan's Breadwinner

In one of the many bakeries in Margilan, worn out by the intense heat of the tandyr oven, the baker Maruf'Jon works half-baked like the distinctive traditional breads sold throughout Uzbekistan
Big Freedia and bouncer, Fried Chicken Festival, New Orleans
Culture
New Orleans, Louisiana, United States

Big Freedia: in Bounce Mode

New Orleans is the birthplace of jazz and jazz sounds and resonates in its streets. As expected, in such a creative city, new styles and irreverent acts emerge. Visiting the Big Easy, we ventured out to discover Bounce hip hop.
combat arbiter, cockfighting, philippines
Sport
Philippines

When Only Cock Fights Wake Up the Philippines

Banned in much of the First World, cockfighting thrives in the Philippines where they move millions of people and pesos. Despite its eternal problems, it is the sabong that most stimulates the nation.
DMZ, South Korea, Line of no return
Traveling
DMZ, Dora - South Korea

The Line of No Return

A nation and thousands of families were divided by the armistice in the Korean War. Today, as curious tourists visit the DMZ, many of the escapes of the oppressed North Koreans end in tragedy.
Meeting of the waters, Manaus, Amazonas, Brazil
Ethnic
Manaus, Brazil

Meeting the Meeting of the Waters

The phenomenon is not unique, but in Manaus it has a special beauty and solemnity. At a certain point, the Negro and Solimões rivers converge on the same Amazonas bed, but instead of immediately mixing, both flows continue side by side. As we explore these parts of the Amazon, we witness the unusual confrontation of the Encontro das Águas.
sunlight photography, sun, lights
Got2Globe Photo Portfolio
Natural Light (Part 2)

One Sun, So Many Lights

Most travel photos are taken in sunlight. Sunlight and weather form a capricious interaction. Learn how to predict, detect and use at its best.
Lights of Ogimachi, Shirakawa-go, Ogimachi, Japan, Village of Houses in Gassho
History
Ogimashi, Japan

A Village Faithful to the A

Ogimashi reveals a fascinating heritage of Japanese adaptability. Located in one of the most snowy places on Earth, this village has perfected houses with real anti-collapse structures.
Viti Levu, Fiji Islands, South Pacific, coral reef
Islands
Viti levu, Fiji

Islands on the edge of Islands

A substantial part of Fiji preserves the agricultural expansions of the British colonial era. In the north and off the large island of Viti Levu, we also came across plantations that have only been named for a long time.
Geothermal, Iceland Heat, Ice Land, Geothermal, Blue Lagoon
Winter White
Iceland

The Geothermal Coziness of the Ice Island

Most visitors value Iceland's volcanic scenery for its beauty. Icelanders also draw from them heat and energy crucial to the life they lead to the Arctic gates.
On the Crime and Punishment trail, St. Petersburg, Russia, Vladimirskaya
Literature
Saint Petersburg, Russia

On the Trail of "Crime and Punishment"

In St. Petersburg, we cannot resist investigating the inspiration for the base characters in Fyodor Dostoevsky's most famous novel: his own pities and the miseries of certain fellow citizens.
Capelinhos volcano, Misterios, Faial, Azores
Nature
Capelinhos Volcano, Faial, Azores

On the trail of the Capelinhos Mistery

From one coast of the island to the opposite one, through the mists, patches of pasture and forests typical of the Azores, we discover Faial and the Mystery of its most unpredictable volcano.
Mother Armenia Statue, Yerevan, Armenia
Autumn
Yerevan, Armenia

A Capital between East and West

Heiress of the Soviet civilization, aligned with the great Russia, Armenia allows itself to be seduced by the most democratic and sophisticated ways of Western Europe. In recent times, the two worlds have collided in the streets of your capital. From popular and political dispute, Yerevan will dictate the new course of the nation.
Torres del Paine, Dramatic Patagonia, Chile
Natural Parks
PN Torres del Paine, Chile

The Most Dramatic Patagonia

Nowhere is the southernmost reaches of South America so breathtaking as the Paine Mountains. There, a natural fort of granite colossi surrounded by lakes and glaciers protrudes from the pampa and submits to the whims of meteorology and light.
Cilaos, Reunion Island, Casario Piton des Neiges
UNESCO World Heritage
Cilaos, Reunion Island

Refuge under the roof of the Indian Ocean

Cilaos appears in one of the old green boilers on the island of Réunion. It was initially inhabited by outlaw slaves who believed they were safe at that end of the world. Once made accessible, nor did the remote location of the crater prevent the shelter of a village that is now peculiar and flattered.
female and cub, grizzly footsteps, katmai national park, alaska
Characters
PN Katmai, Alaska

In the Footsteps of the Grizzly Man

Timothy Treadwell spent summers on end with the bears of Katmai. Traveling through Alaska, we followed some of its trails, but unlike the species' crazy protector, we never went too far.
Cahuita, Costa Rica, Caribbean, beach
Beaches
Cahuita, Costa Rica

An Adult Return to Cahuita

During a backpacking tour of Costa Rica in 2003, the Caribbean warmth of Cahuita delights us. In 2021, after 18 years, we return. In addition to an expected, but contained modernization and hispanization of the town, little else had changed.
Young people walk the main street in Chame, Nepal
Religion
Annapurna Circuit: 1th - Pokhara a ChameNepal

Finally, on the way

After several days of preparation in Pokhara, we left towards the Himalayas. The walking route only starts in Chame, at 2670 meters of altitude, with the snowy peaks of the Annapurna mountain range already in sight. Until then, we complete a painful but necessary road preamble to its subtropical base.
Serra do Mar train, Paraná, airy view
On Rails
Curitiba a Morretes, Paraná, Brazil

Down Paraná, on Board the Train Serra do Mar

For more than two centuries, only a winding and narrow road connected Curitiba to the coast. Until, in 1885, a French company opened a 110 km railway. We walked along it to Morretes, the final station for passengers today. 40km from the original coastal terminus of Paranaguá.
patpong, go go bar, bangkok, one thousand and one nights, thailand
Society
Bangkok, Thailand

One Thousand and One Lost Nights

In 1984, Murray Head sang the nighttime magic and bipolarity of the Thai capital in "One night in bangkok". Several years, coups d'etat, and demonstrations later, Bangkok remains sleepless.
Visitors at Talisay Ruins, Negros Island, Philippines
Daily life
Talisay City, Philippines

Monument to a Luso-Philippine Love

At the end of the 11th century, Mariano Lacson, a Filipino farmer, and Maria Braga, a Portuguese woman from Macau, fell in love and got married. During the pregnancy of what would be her 2th child, Maria succumbed to a fall. Destroyed, Mariano built a mansion in his honor. In the midst of World War II, the mansion was set on fire, but the elegant ruins that endured perpetuate their tragic relationship.
Asian buffalo herd, Maguri Beel, Assam, India
Wildlife
Maguri Bill, India

A Wetland in the Far East of India

The Maguri Bill occupies an amphibious area in the Assamese vicinity of the river Brahmaputra. It is praised as an incredible habitat especially for birds. When we navigate it in gondola mode, we are faced with much (but much) more life than just the asada.
Full Dog Mushing
Scenic Flights
Seward, Alaska

The Alaskan Dog Mushing Summer

It's almost 30 degrees and the glaciers are melting. In Alaska, entrepreneurs have little time to get rich. Until the end of August, dog mushing cannot stop.