Pico da Esperança hike, São Jorge, Azores

We really are in the land of lava. It’s everywhere! I was amused by this ATM machine on a typical steep São Jorge street. A slab of lava has been thoughtfully supplied by the bank to help you get at your money without tilting over. And although it’s not whale or dolphin watching season at the moment, I did get to see one dolphin while we were here. Made of lava, of course.

It was a logical step therefore to get to the source of all this lava and go on a hike up in the volcanoes. The Dynamic Duo surprised me (and I think themselves) by setting out to Pico da Esperança which, at 1053 m, is the highest peak on São Jorge.

Already on the drive up to the start of the hiking trail we had lovely views of Pico Island. In spite of the beautiful clear day, Ponta do Pico was still hiding behind a cloud which simply refused to shift. Once again, there was sadly no chance of a peek of the peak.

Our walk was just part of a 17 km route (which continues on to Fajã do Ouvidor), but the Wingless Wonders decided to do a shortened version, simply walking from Pico do Pedro to Pico da Esperança and back. This entailed an easy six kilometres each way, so they had nothing to be too smug about. But what a stunning walk it was!

I’ve gone on many a hike with the Oldies before, and once I’d tuned out all the puffing and panting, they were all most enjoyable. But this walk has got to be one of the best ever. As we were almost slap bang in the middle of the island and started out at an altitude of around 800m, we had stunning views – in all directions, all the time. The island being so narrow, we had sight of the ocean on either side of us, and the mountains being so steep, we could easily pick out the villages hugging the coastline below. Fabulous! 

Early on, we had a clear view of the airfield strip we had landed on a couple of days earlier. We had had quite a bumpy approach and landing in heavy cloud and rain so I hadn’t noticed what a scary looking airstrip it is. The Atlantic on one side, sheer mountains on the other and jagged lava coastline at either end. And, oh dear, we are flying back to Terceira in a couple of days! The memorial to the 35 passengers and crew who died in 1999 when a plane crashed into the side of Pico da Esperança in bad weather didn’t do much to settle the nerves either.

I didn’t need to see the dozens of different types of mosses and lichens growing on the lava stones to know how fresh and clean the air is up here. On the top of a mountain ridge in the middle of Atlantic, this must be about as fresh as it can get!

Pico, peak, is a bit of a misnomer in the case of Pico da Esperança, as the peak has long ago been blown off in volcanic eruptions. There are in fact two craters in this volcano. I was sorely tempted to drop my two creatures in the craters, I can tell you. The carry-on of them, prancing around on the crater edges as if they were some sort of daring explorers! To be fair, in spite of the wonderful weather that day, there wasn’t another soul up there with us so it was easy to imagine being the first to set foot on this incredible landscape.

Later, the Dynamic Duo had a poke around Manadas, a small village on the south coast of the island, famous for its lovely Santa Barbara church. When we came to a narrow path behind a nearby house, the Oldies stopped, assuming it to be privately owned. An elderly man emerged from the house and waved them on to the path with a broad smile. What a garden he had! Vines and bananas growing between the lava stone walls, the waves crashing on the shore just below, and those magnificent views of Pico Island across the channel. No wonder he was full of smiles.

On São Jorge, there are constant reminders of the impact of the volcanoes and earthquakes. The small harbour town of Urzelina, just down the road from Manadas, has a particularly interesting remnant of the volcanic eruption of 1808. The parochial church was destroyed by the lava flow, leaving only the bell tower standing. I didn’t, of course, understand the poem by Urbano Bettencourt commemorating the bi-centenary of the event, displayed on a tile picture in front of the tower. The piece that sprang to my mind was ‘For whom the bell tolls’.

The creatures from the crater didn’t come away unscathed either. Her Ladyship had returned from the volcano walk with a volcanic hairdo, the top of her head looking as if it had just erupted. After the day’s exertions, she also looked like she was about to erupt with the hunger, so His Lordship quickly steered her into the nearest café, where two coffees with two pastries set him back €3. Ah well, sometimes you just have to treat yourself and hang the expense!

And, whatever about occasionally living life on the edge, the crater creatures still enjoy their creature comforts.