Partying Amidst Flowers and Volcanoes in the Azores



The Azores have always been on the fringes. These volcanic fortresses that defy the Atlantic Ocean were apparently discovered in 1421 by the Chinese. They were uninhabited and continued to be so until the Portuguese rediscovered them. These virtually beachless islands are the eden of gardeners and geologists and of anyone wishing for an heteroclite vacation amidst walls of flowers towered by craters.



Located somewhat in the middle of the Atlantic, the Azores are visited by almost all boats that made the passage west to east across the Atlantic. As such they are one of the few places in the world where all the sailor one meets have lived a similar experience. Throw in the World Cup (soccer) and there is one more reason for everyone to meet at the bars and exchange stories. It's there that you meet the person who has made multiple Atlantic crossings, or people like Endre who left Norway and sailed to Antarctica on his 31 foot fiberglass sailboat, spending three years exploring South America. In other words, the Azores are not only the dream of those who make it there, but it is the place where everyone can exchange the dreams they have lived and the ones they want to live with those who understand the pull of the horizon.



Rike and I decided we wanted to spend more time in the Azores than Olivier, so he left us in Horta. Meanwhile Matthew and the four of us continued enjoying the place. Rike stayed on board at night while Matthew, me and our new friend Endre went out and mixed with the local population at the bars. When we did manage to wake up we toured the island and walked on the lunar landscape created by the latest volcanic eruption. In the island of Terciera we moored at the foot of the town of Angra do Heroismo, a town that was declared "World Heritage" by UNESCO. The last island we visited was Sao Miguel and there we bathed in a thermal bath I bathed in when I was nine years old. We easily could have stayed most of the summer in the Azores, hiking and exploring, but there are so many places to visit we had to move on.

Flores is filled with rockwall lined paths

A populists dream. . . everyone grows their own vegies and lives in similar size houses.

Volcanoe Pico in the background. This is Horta, one of the busiest yacht harbour in the world.

Windblown Christy fresh from a transatlantic. I was fresh from the bar to catch their lines

Three generations of volcanoes.

We are standing on the youngest and the oldest is in the fog, the privilege of age I guess

Endre shows us that nothing grows here

The crews from Cenou and Zia plus Endre hiking up Faial's newest crater

The volcanoes errupt, build new terrain and the sea takes it back.

Anouck keeping the tradition alive. Sailors calling into Horta have to paint something on the docks

Ther are hundreds of paintings like ours. Rike paints the final touches after three days of work.

Amidst the most beautiful park any of us had ever walked in was the enourmous thermal pool

Fresh from the thermal baths