Today is our last port stop of this cruise and the rest of the week we will be crossing the Atlantic. We are in port from 9 am until 6 pm. This is our second time visiting this lovely paradise and I have arranged three taxis for the day. Ramah, Tim and I share one with Nuno as our driver. Mary Kay, Liz & Rick share the second one with Arturo driving, and Linda, Evana & Alan share the third one which Grace is driving. Not a lot of cruise ships stop in this remote area of the world (mostly transatlantic cruises twice a year) and of the approx 110 taxis on the island, only 30 drivers speak English so I had called Nuno whom we had used on our last visit and requested the other 2 for our cruisecritic friends that were interested.
Nuno, Grace and Arturo, our drivers for the day
Alan, Evana, Linda, Mary Kay, Ramah, Liz, Rick, Tim and Joy
Once we met with our drivers and decided to caravan we headed to the west end of the island and visited several picturesque lakes and overlooks. The beauty of this island is a delightful surprise to everyone. I can’t remember all the names of the lakes we visited but the largest on this end of the island is the twin lakes, Sete Cidades. On a sunny day, one lake is blue and one green. Legend has it the lakes were formed when a blue eyed girl on one side of the kingdom wall was in love with a green eyed boy from the kingdom on the other side of the wall and they couldn’t marry and their tears formed the lakes.
The green lake
The blue lake is larger because everyone knows girls cry more :)
Canary Lake: Nuno told us this is a very special place and if you bend over and look between your legs at the lake it will not appear upside down as expected and it is true!
We then traveled to the east of the port to visit the city where Nuno lives and he choose a great restaurant for lunch. The food was plentiful, prices good, and great company! When the drivers picked us up after lunch I told Nuno our only complaint was he should have told us to order one dish for 2 people to split because the portions were huge.
Next stop is in town to have a look around. The town is surrounded by a river and here it flows into the ocean.
We stopped by a botanical garden for s short walk down a trail to see the boiling water coming from the volcano underneath and a waterfall where several people were taking a little swim.
On up the mountain we reach yet another gorgeous lake, Lagoa do Fogo. Our jaws have been dropping all day as we arrive at one beautiful place after another.
We descend the mountain with more grand views and then have a wild ride to the Pineapple Plantation. Our driver is also a race car driver and when Arturo pulls alongside him on the interstate they decide to race! We had seen a couple of tour busses on top of the mountain, but we reach the pineapple place and are through shopping before the busses start rolling in.
Gift shop
Wow. What pictures and what a sunset. It sounds and looks like you had a fantastic time and I want to cruise with you again. You know all the best places with all the best guides. I didn't see any of that when I was there. Now I know I cruise with the wrong people. I never even wanted to go to Sabatini's but that looked so good I might give it a try once more. You make me look at things differently.
ReplyDeletethis is a breath-taking place....WOW!!!
ReplyDeletestacy