After visiting the incredible island of Pico, we took a huge ferry to continue our trip. We sailed for more than 10 hours to arrive to the remote island of Flores, a route only available once a month. There, a boat smaller than a bus was waiting for us to go to Corvo, the smallest island of the archipelago!
INTER-ISLAND TRIP: CORVO & FLORES
We arrived to the only village in all the island: Vila do Corvo. There are less than 500 inhabitants in this volcano! I think I met half of the population in just one morning! There we also found some windmills as the one on the picture, with Flores in the background.
We took a cab to the crater because we were running out of time (we had to take a ferry to come back to Flores in the afternoon, so we had to be fast). And then I saw it, one of the most amazing scenery I have had the opportunity to see.
After a perfect picnic down there we came back to take the same boat but in the opposite direction. Now, we were going straigh to Flores, saying goodbye to a marvelous island which, for me, was one of the most amazing places I saw in all my stay in the archipelago.
Finally, we arrived to Flores, the westernmost point of the European continent and the most beautiful island according to the azorean people who know all the archipelago. Flores welcomed us with a large group of lakes, slightly separated by green cliffs. The views of the lakes Negra and Comprida made the place perfect for taking pictures.
The magnificent Blanca lake seemed, however, out of context. Was I in the Azores or in the middle of the African savanna?
Was it real, or was it just a dream? The peace and harmony made the place look like a movie. I was waiting to see an Avatar coming out of the trees, or a hobbit drinking from the river. But it was absolutely real, and it was in front of my eyes! We spend a lot of time there taking pictures, contemplating the landscape and taking a nap to recharge. Everything was so perfect we took it as read it was going to continue like this. But do you imagine where do this waterfalls and all this green come from? Right, from the rain! We had a grey mantle above us instead of the blue one, and it was not going to wait a lot! We went to Fajã Grande, a small village with just 200 inhabitants, where we set up the camping tents before it started to rain. The next day though, we could visit a famous waterfall next to the village: Poço do Bacalhau!
It was time to return to Lajes as the next ship was going to sail this day, so we hitchhike, again, under the rain. Despite the weather, we got there soon enough to do another hike in order to say goodbye to this marvelous island. This time, we visited the coastline, an special point of the island due to its micro-climate, which is even more hot than the rest of the island, classified as humid subtropical climate. There, the place was hot but especially relaxing, displaying a fusion between the green of Flores and the blue of the immense Atlantic Ocean
The top view of the crater was absolutely incredible, but it was time to go down and see it from inside. There, apart from crystalline waters I could meet the happiest cows over the world.
The next stop was one of the places I wanted to visit the most before flying to the Azores: Poço da Algoinha, a group of several waterfalls in the middle of the forest. But hitchhiking on the Açores is not always easy. People are very kind, but on an island of 4000 inhabitants the problem is that there are very few cars! After waiting for the cars too many time and feeling like if we were boiling the ocean, we started to walk along the deserted roads of the island. The weather was warm and humid and walking with the heavy backpacks became a hard task. But suddenly, a car appeared out of nowhere! Then we realized the great distance we had to travel. Without the car it would have been totally impossible! And there it was, Poço da Algoinha, one of the biggest treasures of the archipelago!
