Disclaimer/Warning: In order to fully express my feelings about this leg of the trip, I need to use some strong language, because this place is
SO FUCKING BEAUTIFUL!
Exhibit A: Did all of the airport nonsense, got a car, and within 3 minutes we're on this FUCKING RIDICULOUS ROAD that's lined with hydrangeas. Is this a special occasion? A memorial stretch of the highway? Some kind of inside Seussian joke from the Azorean people? NOPE! It's just a regular-ass road. That's just how it is here. Don't question it. (BTW, hydrangeas are also used as FUCKING FENCES IN COW PASTURES)
Exhibit B: This is the little seaside village we'll be staying in for the next week or so. So goddamn cute! Every morning, in fact as I write this, a little van comes down this street blowing a clown horn and selling fish.
Exhibit C: This is our fucking back yard. Enough said.
OK, I'll stop with the "exhibit" nonsense, because it's all a fucking exhibit. Just everything.
After a day or so of recovery in our cute-ass little home, some grocery shopping, laundry, we were ready to strike out and explore the island of San Miguel.
A note on driving: thank the fucking universe that Rani's doing all the driving. Most of the streets here are tiny, with houses right up on the curb, windows and doors opening directly into the street. She's gotten the hang of the "rules" for dealing with these streets, and is navigating them like a pro now, but it was stressful to start.
Here's what it's like on the country roads:
First stop: Ponta da Ferraria, where a hot spring meets the ocean. There's a natural pool where the hot spring water and the cold ocean water mix, where we swam for a bit to start our day.
Did some 'yaking in Lagoa das Sete Cidades.
Milady turns over a new leaf and changes clothes in public.
The first time we visited Sete Cidades, it was pretty cloudy, and we couldn't see anything off of the viewpoint nearby, which some say is the most beautiful view in the world. So we came back a few days later on a clear day.
OK, that's pretty fucking beautiful. Miradouro da Boca do Inferno, and it's view of lagoas Rasa, Santiago, and Sete Cidades, was well-worth the second trip.
And the hike, of course, was full of these pretty little bastards.
Coffee, fresh fruit, and pineapple upside-down cake at A Arruda Pineapple plantation. Did you know pineapples take like 2-3 years to mature? They have to grow them in greenhouses here because of the weather, and the local pineapples are small and very sweet.
Out of our way, cows!
So fucking pretty: Lagoa do Fogo
Seriously cows! We took a little walk up here through some pasture, and had to learn some cow-herding methods to get 'em off the path (make yourself look big and clap your hands).
Gotta see where this goes, right?
Guess what? Another fucking beautiful view (with the Islet of Vila Franca do Campo in the background).
Queen of the hill
Bathing in some rust-colored thermal pools in Parque Terra Nostra botanical gardens. Beautiful grounds, stunning trees and ferns.
Somewhere in there, we also had a few days of diving. Nothing too exciting, but decent dives and nice to get back into it. The water here is FUCKING COLD, so we have to wear more gear than we're used to.
So we have a couple more days here, but we're sort of winding down this leg and getting ready for the next island. We're taking a post-diving morning off, so I can sit in the back yard, write this, and contemplate the ridiculous view with this goddamn storybook tree staring at me. Seriously, I just stare at this tree for like an hour every day. And I'm OK with that.
Wordless . . . . .
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