In a couple of earlier posts I have discussed the volcanic nature and some of the history of the island of Faial in the Azores. I really have not discussed much about the rest of the island. We took a scooter drive around the island and these are a few of the pictures from that trip.
The island in general has very fertile land and is a lush green almost everywhere. Only around the volcanos that the ash has built up do you see the barren gray land in some of my earlier pictures. The open countryside is typically divided up into small plots of 5-10 acres. In the past each of these plots was farmed individually. Now you see a few plots with crops, vegetable gardens and such. Most of the plots have dairy cows on them now. The major products which they export are cheese and dairy products.
This set of pictures takes us on a counterclockwise tour of the island. The first pano shot is looking back at Horta from the first ridgeline North of Horta. I included another picture of Pico just because it is such a photogenic little island. The windmills were quite a surprise for me when we ran across them. I understand now that the original settlers of Faial were Flemish. They came to Faial about 600 years ago and founded the only inland village of Flamengo. Don't use this in your book reports kids. I don't speak Portugese that well, it could have easily been some other number. But anyway, that's where the windmills came from. They are no longer in use and the government maintains them for historical and tourist reasons.
We took a shoreline road around the island and I have included some pictures of the coast. From the sea Faial is rather imposing with sheer rock faces dropping straight to the water in most areas. Up close there are interesting little coves and black sand beaches tucked in and around in different areas. Sometimes we would see a sign pointing down a small dirt road to the playa (beaches). Since we were on scooters we would shoot off down the roads in search of the beach. One sign indicated there was a motocross track on the same road so we thought that would be fun on the scooters and headed that way. We ended up going through a few fields and such trying to locate the source of some thick smoke. We ran across a burning fire with a couple of firetrucks and firemen putting it out. It looked like it was some kind of a dumping pit that had caught fire.
Some of the electrical power on Faial is generated with windmills. There is a ridge with six windmills on it that we toured. The rest of the power for the island is generated at a plant in Horta.
We took the backroads up as we climbed to the top of the caldera. The roads around the island can get very steep and many are just paved or gravel right up the side of the hill. Other roads ended up using switchbacks to make the larger climbs. As you travel up in elevation the plant life changes dramatically. During the trip up the hills we passed through a very thick forest that had tall trees. The trees were mostly some species of cedar that I was told were imported from China and not native to the island. One also sees hydrangeas of two different varieties all over the island. When we were there they were just beginning to bloom and I understand that they really put on quite a show during the early summer months.
From the caldera in the center of the island we worked our way down across to the Southeast corner of the island. We stopped at a little park that overlooked Horta and gave us another nice view of Pico. The Southern coastal road had some nice views as well. Finally we ended up on the hills to the South of Horta where I took the last panoramic picture looking at Horta from the other direction. The pano shots look small but remember you can enlarge the photos by clicking on them.
The island in general has very fertile land and is a lush green almost everywhere. Only around the volcanos that the ash has built up do you see the barren gray land in some of my earlier pictures. The open countryside is typically divided up into small plots of 5-10 acres. In the past each of these plots was farmed individually. Now you see a few plots with crops, vegetable gardens and such. Most of the plots have dairy cows on them now. The major products which they export are cheese and dairy products.
This set of pictures takes us on a counterclockwise tour of the island. The first pano shot is looking back at Horta from the first ridgeline North of Horta. I included another picture of Pico just because it is such a photogenic little island. The windmills were quite a surprise for me when we ran across them. I understand now that the original settlers of Faial were Flemish. They came to Faial about 600 years ago and founded the only inland village of Flamengo. Don't use this in your book reports kids. I don't speak Portugese that well, it could have easily been some other number. But anyway, that's where the windmills came from. They are no longer in use and the government maintains them for historical and tourist reasons.
We took a shoreline road around the island and I have included some pictures of the coast. From the sea Faial is rather imposing with sheer rock faces dropping straight to the water in most areas. Up close there are interesting little coves and black sand beaches tucked in and around in different areas. Sometimes we would see a sign pointing down a small dirt road to the playa (beaches). Since we were on scooters we would shoot off down the roads in search of the beach. One sign indicated there was a motocross track on the same road so we thought that would be fun on the scooters and headed that way. We ended up going through a few fields and such trying to locate the source of some thick smoke. We ran across a burning fire with a couple of firetrucks and firemen putting it out. It looked like it was some kind of a dumping pit that had caught fire.
Some of the electrical power on Faial is generated with windmills. There is a ridge with six windmills on it that we toured. The rest of the power for the island is generated at a plant in Horta.
We took the backroads up as we climbed to the top of the caldera. The roads around the island can get very steep and many are just paved or gravel right up the side of the hill. Other roads ended up using switchbacks to make the larger climbs. As you travel up in elevation the plant life changes dramatically. During the trip up the hills we passed through a very thick forest that had tall trees. The trees were mostly some species of cedar that I was told were imported from China and not native to the island. One also sees hydrangeas of two different varieties all over the island. When we were there they were just beginning to bloom and I understand that they really put on quite a show during the early summer months.
From the caldera in the center of the island we worked our way down across to the Southeast corner of the island. We stopped at a little park that overlooked Horta and gave us another nice view of Pico. The Southern coastal road had some nice views as well. Finally we ended up on the hills to the South of Horta where I took the last panoramic picture looking at Horta from the other direction. The pano shots look small but remember you can enlarge the photos by clicking on them.
