Sunlight highlights Fajã dos Vimes on the south coast of São Jorge.
roses
Dramatic contrast at the Western Point of the long-lined São Jorge.
Faja do Ouvidor
Sunlight highlights the Fajã do Ouvidor houses.
stew herd
Herd of Frisian cows under one of the frequent showers on the island of São Jorge.
Peak of Good Hope
Marco C. Pereira and Sara Wong at the edge of one of the Pico da Boa Esperança lakes.
blessed slope
Tower of the church of Fajã de São João, east of Vimes.
little blue hood
Sara Wong walks among the cedars of the Sete Fontes forest in Rosais.
bovine sunset
Cows graze against the last light of day.
to Calheta
Casario de Calheta, squeezed between the south cliff of São Jorge and the ocean.
Ponta de Rosais
Ponta de Rosais lighthouse seen from the local Whale Watch.
Cattle sunset
Sun about to set west of São Jorge and the Azores.
Calheta
The village of Calheta at the base of a narrow fajã.
South East view
One of São Jorge's many fountains, it distracts from the grand scenery of the south of the island.
short rest
António Correia and Luís Azevedo on a short break from rural work in a sloping meadow.
the gate of the sea
Figure crosses the Sea Gate on the seafront of Velas.
wicker incense burner
Incense in a plantation in Fajã de Vimes.
by candlelight
Artificial lighting makes the houses of Velas, the capital of São Jorge, shine.
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.
Text: Marco C. Pereira
Images: Marco C. Pereira-Sara Wong
The first time we flew over the Azorean Central Group, sitting by the window, we noticed two attributes.
The conical mountain of the Pico, roof of Portugal, far above the median plane on which the insular triangle rests. On the other side of the longest of the channels, a long island, craggy like no other, a gigantic and verdant Earth ship anchored there, 54 km long and 7 km wide. Several of the fajãs of São Jorge still stand out.
That was not the case, but whenever São Jorge is the final destination, when approaching the runway, the plane moves towards two of them, Queimada and Santo Amaro.
The first time we disembarked in São Jorge, we left the ferry from São Roque, destined for the wharf of Vila das Velas, the capital, also at the bottom of a huge slope.
We spent several days on the island under this geological dictatorship, between the heights of the island and its additions, whether generated by slope collapses or ancestral lava flows.
The Uncertain Times of Discovery and Colonization
Despite the challenging configuration of São Jorge at first sight, Vila de Velas proves the success of the local colonization, with more than half a millennium.
It was inaugurated thirty years after the discovery of the island, which is believed to have taken place around 1439, even though it is not known for sure when the first sighting took place and who was the author of the seaman.
The nearly two thousand residents of Velas inhabit a prolific houses that, over time, occupied the largest of the flat areas of the island, in the extension of a generous inlet, favorable to anchoring.
From 1470 onwards, the ships never stopped arriving and set sail, soon, charged with carrying wine, corn, yams, pastel-dos-dyers and heather, destined for mainland Portugal and northern Europe.
Similar to what happened on the neighboring islands of Pico and the Faial, part of the colonists of São Jorge arrived from Flanders. Of these, the nobleman Willem van der Haegen stood out, whose name was so complex that he was called Portuguese for Guilherme da Silveira.
Velas das Naus, and Vila das Velas
The sails of such vessels have, with great probability, inspired the popular baptism of Vila de Velas, although several other hypotheses coexist.
Some are the distortion of “beautiful”, the simple adaptation of the name of a land on the Portuguese mainland or even the origin of an expression derived from the “velar” synonymous with watching, either the passing of whales or the volcanic activity that, as we will see later, it turned out to be a serious obstacle to the constancy and peace of the settlement.
We walk through the streets of Velas, from its Porta do Mar upwards.
We admire the Azorean elegance of the village, blessed as it is supposed to be, by a worthy temple of the Lord, in this case, its Parish Church.
The slope of the land little or nothing hindered the harmony of the houses, spaced out, polished, in certain points even resplendent in color, as around the Jardim da Praça da República, with a heart in its scarlet bandstand.
We would return to Velas day after day.
With all of São Jorge to be unraveled, we set out on the road and the winding slope that rises from the edge of the village to the heights of the island.
In the time that had elapsed since the crossing of Pico, such a barbaric storm was affecting the Continent. As we saw it, either it was another that intensified on us, or it arrived with such a level of barbarity that it tormented the Azores at the same time.
The more we ascend the island and lose the protection of its south, the more we feel the force of the wind. Curiosity grew in us about the northern slope of São Jorge.
A wintry French toast and unpredictable downpours would not be enough to intimidate us.
Barred by the passage of an extensive herd of Frisian cows, we left the N1 road.
We enter another one that, lost in pastures and walled agricultural rectangles, intersects the island.
Fajã do Ouvidor's Dazzling Vision
In an almost winding diagonal, we skirt the area full of caldera of Pico da Boa Esperança (1053 m, the highest elevation on the island) and continue to Norte Grande. On the northern edge of this North, we find the top and the viewpoint we were looking for, Fajã do Ouvidor.
Ahead, but about 400 meters below, an addendum to the island stood out. The name of the fajã comes from its owner Valério Lopes de Azevedo, the Ombudsman of the Captain Donatário at that time.
Despite a dense cover of agricultural grass, the black lava and furrows uncovered on the edge of the sea, seemed to prove an origin in lava flows. Once solidified and eroded, several natural marine pools were molded in it at that time, invaded and beaten by waves increased by the wind.
The bathing factor of fajã do Ouvidor makes it one of the busiest on the island in the summer months. The most modern houses threaten to outnumber the traditionally built ones.
On the other hand, despite being used almost all year round by farmers in the area, with the Estio, dozens of families come on vacation.
The Café, the restaurant and, if necessary, even the disco are open.
The Ouvidor gains another life.
The Dazzling Sequence of Fajãs from the North Coast
From the top of the Miradouro, looking east, we could also glimpse the contours of the nearest fajã, Ribeira da Areia. Therefore, less obvious, those of Mero, Penedia, and Pontas.
Further afield, over the Atlantic, in the shape of a flattened volcano, we could still distinguish that of the Cubres, owner of a fascinating lagoon of brackish water, vulnerable to the highest tides and the strong waves of the storms.
Fajã dos Cubres is also the starting point for a stunning walk to the neighboring Fajã da Caldeira do Santo Cristo, to which we will dedicate our own article. Until then, let's return to the top lands of São Jorge.
We cross again to the south coast where we descend to Calheta, the neighbor of Velas.
As a village, it continued to contribute to the colonization and development of the island, which did not prevent a progressive decline in population.
Calheta: for centuries in the Calha da Vila de Velas
After the second half of the 8400th century, Calheta, in particular, had almost 2011 inhabitants. In 3773, it had XNUMX.
As you would expect, the village went through the same ordeals as Velas. Attacks by pirates and corsairs, earthquakes – especially the “Mandado de Deus” of 1757 – landslides and flooding tidal waves such as the one in October 1945.
Today, Calheta do Atlântico is protected by the rough end of a prehistoric lava torrent and a wall that the municipality added to it as an extra boundary of the marginal.
We arrived at the eastern edge of its cove and harbor. We take a look at the former Marie d'Anjou cannery, recently transformed into the Island Museum.
We feel the pulse of the day-to-day life of the village, after which we ascend the Jorge slope again.
Back to the Top, Towards the East End of São Jorge
We returned to the east of the island, always attentive to the map, in search of the fajãs at its base. Along the way, we delight in the succession of centuries-old fountains on the island, all marked with the initials OP (public works), and the year of their construction.
One of them, made of volcanic stone gilded with time, seemed to want to distract us from the natural work of art that lay behind it: the green and abrupt rest of the island, unfolded in three large sections of southern cliffs.
A meander of the road takes us to the base of a hillside resplendent, green and dotted with stones from an old water mill. A few kilometers ahead, a new viewpoint reveals a new fajã, Vimes.
The Prodigious Café of Fajã de Vimes
We zigzagged in favor of gravity, until we ended up on its humanized coastline. Even if the day was still windy and cool, the scenery above had an almost tropical feel. In such a way that in vegetable and rural terms, the star product of Fajã de Vimes is coffee.
We took a stony path up. Soon, between walls and an almost Azorean jungle, we identified its berries, at that time, yellowish and green. We were still trying to understand the chaotic configuration of the plantation, when the leaden sky released a deluge above us. We ran to the seaside.
Soon, we detour to an establishment. Already soaked, but in good time, we took refuge in Café Nunes. At the counter, Mr. Nunes, himself, welcomes us. “But they could have gotten in the car and brought him here to the door.”
We thank you for your attention, we ordered two coffees and cheeses to accompany. "And what about? It's special, isn't it?” We express our agreement to Mr. Nunes.
He retorts with justified concerns about the future of his business. “I have less and less health to take care of the plantation and I cannot pay to maintain it. The bush, there, grows back in a few days. My son is an architect, my daughter works in tourism. Little time is left for them. Even so, last year we managed to harvest a good ton of coffee, Arabica and the best!”
The conversation lasts much longer than the rain. Warmed by the warmth of the welcome, we say goodbye.
In Search of the Top of São Jorge
We return to the main road at the top of the cliff. From which, we descend to the Fajã de São João, where, for some time, the terrace of the picturesque Águeda tavern serves as a landing place.
Then, we aim at the extreme southeast of São Jorge, a point that its islets call Topo, and a village that is the lady of an empire of Espírito Santo, one of the most elegant yellow-red ones we have found across the lands of the Azores.
Everything, on these sides, is connoted with the apogee. We detour to the Ponta do Topo lighthouse.
arrived at finisterre Below, we are left to admire the fury with which the Atlantic punished the surrounding coast and, off to the sea, the eccentric Ilhéu do Topo.
We reverted to the itinerary.
After 40km opposite the EN2 from São Jorge, we reach lands of Urzelina.
We find what is left of the old local church, its bell tower.
From the Unexpected Volcanic Event of Urzelina to the Vastness of Ponta dos Rosais
In 1808, an unexpected eruption of the Urzelina volcano razed much of the village, but not only that. Its lava flowed down the slope. It only stopped after adding a wide-open lava V at the foot of the island.
The eruption caused residents to flee in panic.
In the most reliable narrative of the event, the Father João Ignácio da Silveira, says that the nuns of Velas took refuge in the church of Rosais. We follow in your footsteps.
We cross the dismal, wet cedar forest of Sete Fontes.
On the opposite side, we face the point of São Jorge opposite to Topo and an immensity of agricultural patches still buffeted by the gale.
The abandoned lighthouse at Rosais and the Vigia da Baleia that also looks out over its ruins was as much as we could explore from the intriguing western end of São Jorge.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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 Flores. Welcome to the most fearless of the Azorean islands.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Situated on the ancient Silk Road, Bukhara has developed for at least two thousand years as an essential commercial, cultural and religious hub in Central Asia. It was Buddhist and then Muslim. It was part of the great Arab empire and that of Genghis Khan, the Turko-Mongol kingdoms and the Soviet Union, until it settled in the still young and peculiar Uzbekistan.
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.
On the world map, south of the famous brazilian wetland, a little-known flooded region appears, but almost as vast and rich in biodiversity. the Guarani expression Y bera defines it as “shining waters”. The adjective fits more than its strong luminance.
At the first glimmers of light, the sight of the white mantle that had covered the village during the night dazzles us. With one of the toughest walks on the Annapurna Circuit ahead of us, we postponed the match as much as possible. Annoyed, we left Upper Pisang towards Escort when the last snow faded.
In the rainforest of Xilitla, the restless mind of poet Edward James has twinned an eccentric home garden. Today, Xilitla is lauded as an Eden of the Surreal.
During winter, the island of Hailuoto is connected to the rest of Finland by the country's longest ice road. Most of its 986 inhabitants esteem, above all, the distance that the island grants them.
December arrives. With a largely Christian population, the state of Meghalaya synchronizes its Nativity with that of the West and clashes with the overcrowded Hindu and Muslim subcontinent. Shillong, the capital, shines with faith, happiness, jingle bells and bright lighting. To dazzle Indian holidaymakers from other parts and creeds.
Los Cabos and the bottom of the long peninsula are home to most of the resorts and Gringos. La Paz receives its own, but remains the great genuine city of Baja California, with a desert and marine environment that is one of the most exuberant in Mexico.
At the beginning of the century. In the XNUMXth century, São Tomé and Príncipe generated more cocoa than any other territory. Thanks to the dedication of some entrepreneurs, production survives and the two islands taste like the best chocolate.
Tokyo's Meiji Temple was erected to honor the deified spirits of one of the most influential couples in Japanese history. Over time, it specialized in celebrating traditional weddings.
It's in our genes. For the pleasure of participating, for titles, honor or money, competitions give meaning to the world. Some are more eccentric than others.
In the second of the holes that we have during a tour around Lake Inlé, we hope that they will bring us the bicycle with the patched tyre. At the roadside shop that welcomes and helps us, everyday life doesn't stop.
Seen from the air, Malé, the capital of the Maldives, looks little more than a sample of a crammed island. Those who visit it will not find lying coconut trees, dream beaches, spas or infinite pools. Be dazzled by the genuine Maldivian everyday life that tourist brochures omit.
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.
She sold burguês to GI's in World War II and opened a hotel that hosted Marlon Brando and Gary Cooper. Aggie Gray passed away in 2. Her legacy lives on in the South Pacific.
When shipowners from Reykjavik bought the Seydisfjordur fishing fleet, the village had to adapt. Today, it captures Dieter Roth's art disciples and other bohemian and creative souls.
In 1964, Katsura Morimura delighted the Japan with a turquoise novel set in Ouvéa. But the neighboring Île-des-Pins has taken over the title "The Nearest Island to Paradise" and thrills its visitors.
Discovering the Virgin Islands, we disembark on a tropical and seductive seaside dotted with huge granite boulders. The Baths seem straight out of the Seychelles but they are one of the most exuberant marine scenery in the Caribbean.
Lost among the snowy mountains that separate Europe from Asia, Sheki is one of Azerbaijan's most iconic towns. Its largely silky history includes periods of great harshness. When we visited it, autumn pastels added color to a peculiar post-Soviet and Muslim life.
Scientists studying the crater caused by a meteorite impact 66 million years ago have come to a sweeping conclusion: it happened exactly over a section of the 13% of the Earth's surface susceptible to such devastation. It is a threshold zone on the Mexican Yucatan peninsula that a whim of the evolution of species allowed us to visit.
At 3718m, El Teide is the roof of the Canaries and Spain. Not only. If measured from the ocean floor (7500 m), only two mountains are more pronounced. The Guanche natives considered it the home of Guayota, their devil. Anyone traveling to Tenerife knows that old Teide is everywhere.
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.
Perfect tropical settings and genuine local life are the only luxuries available in the so-called Corn Islands or Corn Islands, an archipelago lost in the Central American confines of the Caribbean Sea.
In July 2017, we visited Pemba. Two months later, the first attack took place on Mocímboa da Praia. Nor then do we dare to imagine that the tropical and sunny capital of Cabo Delgado would become the salvation of thousands of Mozambicans fleeing a terrifying jihadism.
Until 1947, the Tren del Fin del Mundo made countless trips for the inmates of the Ushuaia prison to cut firewood. Today, passengers are different, but no other train goes further south.
Japan is served by millions of executives slaughtered with infernal work rates and sparse vacations. Every minute of respite on the way to work or home serves them for their inemuri, napping in public.
It is repeated at almost all stops in towns of Mozambique worthy of appearing on maps. The machimbombo (bus) stops and is surrounded by a crowd of eager "businessmen". The products offered can be universal such as water or biscuits or typical of the area. In this region, a few kilometers from Nampula, fruit sales suceeded, in each and every case, quite intense.
After two days of impasse due to torrential rain, we set out to discover the Tortuguero National Park. Channel after channel, we marvel at the natural richness and exuberance of this Costa Rican fluvial marine ecosystem.
In the century. XVIII, the Kiwi government proclaimed a mining village on the South Island "fit for a queen".Today's extreme scenery and activities reinforce the majestic status of ever-challenging Queenstown.
