Atlantic Adventurer Cruise: Day 7, Horta, Faial, Azores

Friday, October 27, 2017
Day 7, Horta, Faial, Azores

Today was the first time we set foot on land since we left Fort Lauderdale six days ago.  Our port today is Horta, which is on the island of island of Faial in the Azores.  The Azores are an archipelago made up of nine volcanic islands in the North Atlantic Ocean.  They are an autonomous region of Portugal with the closest island being 850 miles west of Portugal.  

This gives you an idea of where the Azores lie in relation to Europe and North America.

Faial is the fifth largest of the 9 islands with a size of 67 square miles and is one of the western most, lying 1,100 miles west of Portugal.  It is considered the western most point in Europe as it is very near the divide between the European and North American tectonic plates.  The island has a population of 15,000 and it's capital is Horta where we are docked today (population 7000). 

A map of the Azores.  Faial is on the left side of the map and Horta is on the southeast corner of the island.

We weren’t scheduled to arrive in Horta until 10:00 AM, but we did want to be up and ready to go so we could be on deck for our arrival.  We were up by 8:00 and when we looked out our window we could see land, but we did have a while until we reached the harbor.  After a quick breakfast in the Neptune Lounge, we went out on our balcony to watch our arrival.

Horta has a small harbor and narrow entrance, which can be difficult for a big ship to enter due to wind and / or high seas.  On the itinerary they always indicate that this port will be visited “weather conditions allowing”.  As we watched our approach to the harbor we realized why as the ship seemed to be too close to one side of the entrance.  Sure enough, the ship circled and tried the approach from another angle.  Still not right so we circled again and tried yet another approach and this one was successful.  Because of the small size and location of the pier, they cannot go straight in, but kind of slide in sideways and then reverse and dock on the pier which is part of the breakwater.  Even though our ship is small for a cruise ship, it is probably the largest ship that can fit in the harbor.

Looking across the breakwater at Horta and the Atlantic Ocean beyond.

The pier we were docking at was part of the breakwater.

It is a small harbor better suited for ships of this size.

Our view of Horta as we sailed into the harbor.

By the time we finally got docked it was getting close to 11:00 and we were already overdue for our tour.  Val had booked a guide and private tour so as soon as the ship was cleared, we were off to find our guide and start the tour.  Usually when you book a private tour, the guide will be standing outside the terminal with a sign with your name on it, but when we exited the terminal we didn’t see anybody.  Val walked back through the terminal and looked around and I walked around outside, but still no tour guide.  Val finally called the tour company and they said they would locate the tour guide.  Soon, someone came up and to our relief it was our guide. 

Our guide’s name was Alda and she spoke English very well.  She said the children start learning English in school at an early age so English is widely spoken or at least understood in Portugal.

To start our tour, Alda drove us around Horta pointing out various points of interest and filling us in on the local history.  She stopped along the waterfront so we could view the harbor.  The Horta harbor is one of the busiest in the world, for small ships, as it is the last stop before starting on the long voyage across the Atlantic.  As I said, the harbor is not big so it was filled with yachts, fishing boats and small freighters.  Across the street from the harbor there was a very famous café / pub, which has been a gathering place for sailors for many years.  It is called Peter Café Sport and while it is still a gathering spot for sailors, it is now also a tourist attraction.

The view across the harbor looking at our ship.

The Cafe Sport

Inside the Cafe Sport.

Upstairs in the Café Sport there is the Scrimshaw Museum where you can see displays of  carvings and paintings done on whale bones and teeth.  Before whaling was banned, it used to be a big industry in the Azores as it is right in the migration path of many different species of whales.  Sperm whales are considered to be resident and are here year round.  We decided to visit the museum and it was well worth it as the paintings and carvings were amazing.  It is hard to imagine that such fine detail could be done this way, particularly the etchings done on the teeth.

After our tour of Horta, we started our tour of the island.  The weather had been overcast when we arrived, but looked like it might be breaking up. That wasn't the case however, as it became worse and completely covered in heavy clouds.

The fact that the Azores are volcanic is apparent everywhere you look as the island is covered with volcanic rock and many of the buildings are built with volcanic rock.  Due to frequent earthquakes, building only with volcanic rock is no longer allowed unless there is a concrete core for structural strength. 

We made several stops to view the coastline and were amazed at how green everything was on land.  For some reason I expected the island to be drier, but it is very lush and there were flowers everywhere.  Particularly prominent were hydrangeas, which were profuse. Faial is called the "Blue Island" because of the color of their flowers.  They lined the roads and were used in hedges in place of fences in the fields.  The flowers of the hydrangeas are a major export of the island and every year they are harvested from the hedges along the road and in the fields.  We saw a lot of cattle as we drove around and it turns out they are raised for both beef and dairy and both are major exports of the islands.  Cattle will not eat the hydrangeas, which is why they make such excellent fences.

Our next stop was a craft school where traditional crafts are both taught and sold.  After looking over everything, Val bought a few things and then we were back on our tour.  As we continued our tour, it started to rain harder and as we headed up to view a volcanic caldera, it really started to pour.  As we reached the viewpoint, there was very little visibility due to the cloud cover and since it was raining quite hard, we decided not to bother as there was nothing to see at this time.  When you travel, you have to expect and be prepared for any type of weather so even though it was disappointing to have it rain, we didn’t let it spoil our day.

After our ill-fated attempt to view the caldera, we stopped at an old house that had been preserved as a museum depicting life on the island from earlier times.  It was much the same as rural life in our own country before such things as running water and indoor plumbing was common.

An old farmhouse built entirely of blocks of volcanic stone.  This was their main building material, but if it is used now it must be reinforced by concrete.

The pig pen.

There was no indoor plumbing so everyone used the stone outhouse.

Our next stop was a roadside café where we had lunch.  I thought we would see a menu with Portuguese specialties, but the menu looked much like what we would see in the US; sandwiches, burgers, omelets, etc.  I asked Alda whether the menu was because this café catered to tourists and she said no, that this was typical food that they would have for lunch.  There were a few things we wouldn’t see in the US, but mostly it was very familiar.

After lunch, we went to an area where there was a major volcano eruption in 1957 - 1958 that caused widespread damage on this area of the island.  The lava flow was mostly into the sea so the biggest problem was the ash.  There was no loss of life as everyone was evacuated from area, but property losses were extensive.  The ash layer was over 30 feet deep in places and buried whole villages.  We saw a lighthouse that at one point was covered up to the very top, it was very hard to believe that the ash could be that deep.  Near the lighthouse was a fishing village that was completely gone.  In another area we saw only the top of a church steeple as the rest of the church was buried.  After the earthquake, the island of Faial lost almost half of its population as many people migrated to the US and Canada where they were granted green cards because of the disaster.  We saw many deserted shells of home of people that had left the island.  When I asked why they were still standing, Alda said it was because the owners or their heirs stilled owned the land and kept them even though they no longer lived on the island.


This is all ash.  Much of it as been dug away or eroded away by the winds and rain, but it is still deep.

Right after the eruption, ash was pile to the very top of this lighthouse.

Our tour was almost over, but we made one more stop at a viewpoint where we could look down on the harbor and see our ship docked far below.  We had hoped to have time to walk around Horta when we returned, but it was getting late and it had started raining again so Alda brought us straight back to the ship.  She drove us right to bottom of the gangway and we were quickly back on the ship and into our room.

You can see how a ship the size of ours has to do some maneuvering to dock in this small harbor.

Val and our guide, Alda.  She was great and we had a wonderful day despite the bad weather.

Despite the weather, we had a great tour today.  Having a private guide is a great way to go as you not only can be flexible in where you go and what you see, but you end up talking to your guide all day long and get a real feel for life on the island.  Alda not only told us about the geography, history and culture of the island, she gave a real insight into her life and what life was like on the island.  We felt like we really got to know her and very much enjoyed our time with her today.  I would highly recommend Alda and this tour to anyone visiting the island.  We booked this tour through Viator and the tour company is Aerohorta (ask for Alda when you book).

After returning to the ship we relaxed for a while and then I downloaded the pictures to the computer.  It was almost time for trivia and I hadn’t quite finished so Val went on by herself while I wrapped things up and then joined her for dinner and the casino.

Tomorrow we will be visiting another island of the Azores, this time San Miguel Island.  We will be docking at 8:00 tomorrow morning so we will have to be up early.