8thJune Horta, Faial 38:31.959N 028:37.525W
Whisper
Noel Dilly
Mon 10 Jun 2013 09:36
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8th June -
Horta, Faial
We collected our hire car this morning. It is a brand new white VW UP, we have not heard of the model, but it is small, comfortable and quite nippy on the island roads. Evidently it is the only one on the island so our whereabouts will probably be well reported. Mark Scott (Lone Rival) arrived in Horta yesterday evening and knowing that he is keen on hiking we invited him to join us. There are not many roads on the island but we still managed to get lost on the route up to the Caldeira, just a minor navigation error which we noticed when the tarmac road ran out of tarmac and we appeared to be traveling downhill when we should have been going upwards! Having corrected the small error we found our way to the top. The view over looking the Caldeira was breath taking, we just managed to see the full scene before the cloud came down. It is a huge crater about 2km in diameter and 400 meters deep. The inside is lined with exuberant green vegetation and beautiful blue hydrangeas. There are many ridges in the lower areas and a small lake which was speckled with sea gulls. There was also evidence of other later smaller volcanic activity within this massive crater as we could see a volcanic plug on one side and an ash cone on the floor. There is a wonderful 8km circular walk around the cone, which wasn't difficult but challenged ones fitness both lungs and knees. We started off in the mist which came and went again offering us tantalising snippets of the beauty of the volcano. It is not possible to go down into the crater although it is dormant, the sides are just too steep and also this sanctuary of flora and fauna have been declared a natural reserve. Our pathway was littered with small heathers, ferns, wild strawberries, buttercups and many other small delicate flowers all spilling over the crater sides and disappearing down into the crater below. We stopped for lunch over looking the crater as the mist lifted once again, the whole scene was quite awesome. Cattle grazed on the outside slopes which were equally beautiful down to the fields and the sea beyond. A very enjoyable day. Photographs: "View of Horta"
"Caldeira"
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