Cormac has claimed the right to name all future blog posts. You're welcome. In hindsight, he said this post should be named The Weary Travelers. That's an apt title. As I write this I have been awake for over 24 hours and am a bit delirious. Which also means, I'll come back to fix the typos later.
We flew out of NYC last night and arrived on Sao Miguel at 6:30 am. It was a brutal night. Lucette managed to sleep a good chunk the flight. Lu probably would have slept the entire flight, but the flight crew insisted that she must be given her in-flight kids meal. The commotion eventually did wake her. She ate her brownie and went straight back to sleep.
Cormac and Azy maybe got 2 hours. Ammon and I failed to get any sleep, so today was a little rough. However, the kids really were troopers and have dealt with the lack of sleep rather well all things considered.
After landing we rented our tiny European car. We had been warning the kids that it would be tight, but I think the reality was possibly smaller than they had imagined. No more giant Toyota Sequoia for us this summer. Definitely makes us appreciate our car, Bruce, a lot more.
We wandered around Ponta Delgado for a while until we located some fresh water bottles. Then we headed up into the mountains to find the lakes that lie within the volcano craters, Sete Cidades. The entire island is gorgeous. Our Air BnB host told us they call the island the Green Island and that is a very appropriate description. The kids all agree that it reminds them a lot of Costa Rica, but a little different.
We found an excellent lookout point and stopped in the rain to get some pictures. I told the kids to pose how they felt and the above picture was born.
Our original plan had been to try to rent e-bikes and to take a lap around one of the lakes, but the weather had other plans. It dumped rain for a bit, then it would sprinkle some on and off. The sun did eventually come out for a bit this afternoon, but the rain has returned this late afternoon.
We also learned something very interesting about this little island: nobody gets up early. We saw almost no one about until near noon. We tried to find a restaurant open to get some food, but the very few places that had people there were selling coffee and the occasional pastry but no meal service. We found a bakery thinking that would be the answer to our problems, only to learn that they open at 6:00 pm and close at 2:00 am. This actually works beautifully with our plan to work evenings, sleep in, and then play during the day.
We gathered some snacks and found a little picnic spot near the ocean. It had a spot to climb down to the lava rocks and explore some tide pools. Azure found 2 caves that she explored. We saw lots of lizards and crabs and the occasional fish. The sand is black from all the lava rock.
At this point we got permission to check into our Air BnB early, and being exhausted we decided to take advantage of that opportunity.
The place we are staying is right above a cliff that drops into the ocean. It has a gorgeous view, but even more than that has the most amazing garden.
The above picture is a very small part of the garden that slopes below our Air BnB to the ocean cliff. It is absolutely stunning. The kids enjoyed exploring the various labyrinth type spaces that take up all the various tiers of the garden. There is a tiny pond with tons of frogs. I believe that may be the favorite spot of the girls.
We have the amazing pool right behind our house. As the pool is not heated and it is in the 60s here I'm impressed that the girls swam this afternoon. We are kind of wishing we had this place to stay at in August instead of June, but oh well. We will enjoy it and the view while we can.
All the roads are lined with flowers growing. It is gorgeous to see them all in bloom. These are particularly abundant in huge plants lining all the roads we have taken so far.
The kids have enjoyed the lizards a lot. We had a little lizard friend join us for dinner.
After a very early dinner, we came back to the Air BnB where we are all sitting in our pjs at 5:00 pm writing this blog and planning to turn in very soon. Tomorrow we need to be up bright and early for our first canyoning adventure this trip.
Love the photos and narrative. Looks like you're all doing well.
ReplyDeleteThat looks like an amazing day. I'm blown away with the Swan Castle. The craftsmanship is unbelievable. I can't imagine how they can build such elaborate towers. Too fun, keep smiling, sleep when you get home.
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