"Sao Miguel -- Such Diversity! " a Ilha de São Miguel Travel Page by AnitaJRT

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Anita, Antonio and Herb

This Island has it ALL!

Sao Miguel was the last island that we visited during our 15 day trip to the Azores ( we visited 6 of the 9 islands, each one with it's own unique flavor.) Sao Miguel was the most urban of all the islands.

The evening before we departed on this trip, here on VT we met Antonio, member Avieira67, who said that he would contact us when we arrived in Ponta Delgada. His village is only a few kilometers from where we going to be staying. He is a man of his word, met us at our hotel and took us to a couple of spots on the night we arrived in Ponta Delgada.

Unfortunately it was pouring rain (and I mean POURING) so we were limited in what we could do, but I can assure you that Antonio was an outstanding guide . . .

The last night that we were there, he invited us to his home for dinner where he mother prepared for us a delicious meal of both cod and beef traditional dishes. You need to stop by his travel pages -- they are packed with more information that I could ever provide about this island.

If you get the chance to meet Antonio and he asks you if you are brave, be sure and ask more questions. LOL He drove us to the top of a mountain where there was nothing but cellphone and electrical towers, and to turn the car around he did a 3 point turn on a 5 meter wide strip of mountain with sharp drop offs on both sides. This is one of his favorite spots and it took my breath away.

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Waterfall at Caldeira Velha

A Day on the Road

After Antonio gave us tips on where to visit first, the next morning we set out on our own in our rental car.

We stopped by Porto Formoso at the tea plantation which was guietly beautiful during the light drizzle. The color of the blooming azaleas popping out against the green foliage was like something out of a magazine.

Caldeira Velha was spectacular with the aroma of sulfur from the hotsprings and lush vegetation.

Next we were onto Logoa do Fogo where the sun was shining brilliantly and the views of the coastline so crisp and clear.

If you enjoy gardens, we absolutely recommend a visit to Furnas where we spent hours in the gardens at Terre Nostra. Here, bubbling fumaroles of both mud and water and the smell of sulphur remind you that you are on a volcano in spite of the garden surroundings.

Sete Cidades was the icing on the cake. After driving up the twisting switchbacks, the two lakes -- one blue and one green were glistening in the bright sunshine.

At each turn in the road, you feel the need to stop and take another photo.

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Coastline in Ponta Delgada

Walkabout in Ponta Delgada

We spent another day walking Ponta Delgada, taking advantage of the warm temperatures and lack of wind. This was a great day to sit in the local cafes and people watch.

I am sincere when I say I have never seen such beautiful, healthy children as here in the Azores. Our driver in Pico , Carlos, thought this was because they spend so much time out of doors (compared to the children in the US.) I mention this here because we watched two grandmothers who were out with 3 granddaughters having lunch. Beautiful little girls.

The local SATA office was downtown, so we stopped in there to confirm our flight home, which was another adventure in itself.

We were scheduled to leave on the Tuesday night flight back to Boston. We boarded the aircraft an hour late, then sat on the runway for another hour, then sat in the terminal for another 3 hours before they cancelled the flight. SATA indicated that it was due to mechanical problems, but we believe it was because of the snow in Boston. We never arrived at the hotel will midnight, and had been at the airport since 1600.

SATA did provide accomodations at the Holiday Inn (beautiful and great for the business traveler, but too far away from the center of town for a tourist) but would absolutely NOT absorb the cost of rebooking our missed connection in Boston. Some passengers had family members who would be waiting for them in Boston and SATA refused to assist them with contacting their family. At several points, it became very ugly.

SATA and TAP are the only games in town if you wish to travel to the Azores; they consider themselves charter airlines which evidently absolves them of reimbursing travelers for missed connections. At least that is what they told us. Fortunately we were able to contact our travel agency "assist" number who rebooked flights for us.