Azores: Vila Franca do Campo, Furnas, Parque Terra Nostra, Lago das Furnas, Chá Gorreana Tea Plantation
Islet of Vila Franca do Campo
Today is our last day on São Miguel. We fly back to Lisbon tomorrow and then fly back to Boston the day after. Our Portuguese adventure is winding down.
After a hearty buffet breakfast at the Vila Gale Collection S. Miguel in Ponta Delgada, we meet our local guide at the mini-bus and off we go for Vila Franca do Campo.
Remember Vila Franca do Campo from yesterday. Vila Franca do Campo was the capital of the archipelago and the most important Azorean settlement until 20 October 1522, when a violent earthquake hit the area. 5000 people were killed during the earthquake and subsequent landslide.
Because of the destruction at Vila Franca do Campo, the capital of São Miguel was transferred to Ponta Delgada.
Our first stop is a view of the Islet of Vila Franca do Campo.
It's become a heavily visited tourist spot particularly since an event in the Red Bull Cliff Diving world championship was held here.
It's all quiet this morning.
One of the park primary attractions is pool with naturally brown iron-rich thermal water at a temperature around 37 °C.
It's all quiet this morning.
We stop near the fishing pier for a quick break and walk around the marina.
We drive inland and visit Parque Terra Nostra.
The Terra Nostra Park (Portuguese: Parque Terra Nostra) is a botanical garden in Furnas in the Povoação municipality.The garden's inception dates back to 1780, when the then United States Consul on the island of São Miguel, Thomas Hickling, in 1775 built his summer residence here, which later became known as Yankee Hall.
It was built by Thomas Hickling in 1780 and enlarged in 1935. The pool features stone carvings and is surrounded by a ring of araucaria trees.
Bathing is allowed, but requires a longer shower afterwards.
The whole experience was so peaceful and tranquil.
You can read about the healing properties of the thermal waters.
Back into the mini-van and were heading to Lagoa das Furnas.
This beautiful crater lake is surrounded by the steep peaks of the ancient Furnas mountain and its lush, green rim.
This beautiful crater lake is surrounded by the steep peaks of the ancient Furnas mountain and its lush, green rim.
We stop to watch earth's oven at work.
And bubbling hot mud.
Cozido das Furnas.
A longstanding tradition among the locals, is this beloved popular dish, a Portuguese stew (cozido) cooked in holes known as fumaroles that are dug in the hot volcanic soil in Furnas.
The stew is comprised of a carefully layered pot of pork, beef, chicken, sausages, potatoes, carrots, cabbage, and kale that is cooked slowly in the ground for around 6 hours.
Every restaurant in the town of Furnas serves its variation of this dish, so there is no shortage of places for you to try it.
We'll be trying the Caldeiras & Vulcões version later this afternoon.
I posted a couple of videos on my page showing how they get the pots into and out of the fumaroles.
While waiting for our lunch reservation, we visit Caldeiras.
In the center of town, Furnas boasts close to 30 bubbling, steaming calderas and fumaroles of different temperatures and biological compositions, there is a strong smell of sulfur wafting through the air at every turn.
Unsurprisingly, the locals have made the best of having these natural steam pots around. Temperatures range from 70ºC (158ºF) to 100ºC (212ºF) which is perfect for cooking (but dangerous to get too close to!)
After lunch we travel up into the hills for a view of Pico de Ferro.
From this viewpoint, you can also enjoy views of the Caldeiras, located just below, on the shores of the lagoon.
Our final stop of this tour is the Cha Gorreana Tea Plantation.
The oldest tea plantation in Europe. They have been cultivating tea since 1883, keeping it in the family for five generations.
Although the Azores were initially famed for growing oranges, a blight devastated the orange fields to the point of near-complete destruction by 1864.
The farmer José do Canto was the first to import tea, in 1860, as a potential replacement crop.
In 1878, the Society for the Promotion of São Miguel Agriculture arranged for two Chinese tea specialists from Macau, Lau-a-Pan and his interpreter Lau-a-Teng, to teach São Miguel the fundamentals of the industry.
The tea plantation that would become Gorreana was founded in 1883 by Ermelinda Gago da Camara, wife of José Honorato Gago da Camara.
Gorreana was maintaining its operations much as it had in earlier times, producing between 30 and 40 tons of tea per year, both black and green teas.
More photos: CLICK HERE
Her granddaughter Angelina and her husband Jaime Hintze took over the plantation upon her death in 1913.
Hintze modernized the plantation and rebranded it as Gorreana in 1926.
Hintze's son Fernando Gago da Camara Hintze inherited Gorreana in 1945; Fernando's wife Berta Maria Ferreira de Lima Meirelles managed the property after his death in 1961.
Fernando's daughter Margarida Meirelles Gago da Camara Hintze and her husband Hermano Mota began managing Gorreana in the 1990s.
After Hermano's death in 2013, their children began managing Gorreana.
We had a wonderful time and our guide Richard was one of the best we've had in all our years traveling. Our group started as strangers and quickly became family (and we're still emailing each other-that's a sign of a good trip!)
Here's to more travel and meeting new people and trying new foods.
Travel on my Friends!