Azores - Exploring the south of Sao Miguel

Today I finally got time to write about day 3 of our amazing Azores trip in October. In general I would say that October is the last good month to visit the islands as the weather definitely gets worse and it gets colder.

Luckily we got a very good tip of a friend how to get the best out of a short visit. Since the weather can change quickly and while the east side of the island is sunny and the west is rainy you need to adapt quickly or simply life with bad weather. After breakfast before we left the hotel we checked all the webcams from the island on http://www.spotazores.com/cams and went to the part that looked best to us weather wise. This way we hardly experienced any bad weather that did not allow us to explore. Anyway, lets go to the first spot of day 3, a beautiful waterfall. but not without stopping at a beautiful beach on the way to there.

As you can see, the webcams tell the truth and we started the day with nice and sunny weather.

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Cascata do Segredo

That beautiful little waterfall in the south of the island is nothing we had planned to visit. That morning I´ve found it on google maps and we just thought "Lets give it a try". Since its not as popular as other spots there were not many other people which can sometimes be a real blessing. Of course, as on any other spot we were welcomed by many cats. Its just crazy how many cats we´ve seen in this one week vacation.

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Not only the cats were pretty, also the short walk through the nature until we reached the waterfall. Also it did rain a lot there was not that much water running but therefore the water was crystal clear.

In summer I would have definitely jumped it as it really looked inviting.

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Although it was an amazing spot we went back to the car after a few minutes soaking up that scenery because we had still lots of things to do and see. Next stop was a chapel, probably the chapel with the best view ever, the Ermida de Nossa Senhora da Paz

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Ermida de Nossa Senhora da Paz

This exceptional chapel was only a stones throw away from the waterfall so it was a no brainer to go there next. We love to see as much as possible on such short trips and with a rental car its easy since the island isn´t that big.

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The only downside of this stop was the very wet and slippery road over cobblestones leading up to the parking as well as the stairs that bring you to the chapel itself. :)

But they few steps up there were worth it. While the chapel itself wasn´t really special from the inside the view we had over the ocean and to the Ilhéu de Vila Franca do Campo were pretty cool. In better weather condition you can rent a kayak and paddle to that small island.

During the 30 minutes we´ve spent there we could literally see the rain coming and shortly after we got back into the car it started.

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Caldeira do Vulcao das Furnas

After we made it back into the car without getting wet we made our way towards the only sightseeing spot we´ve planned for that day, the hot geysers in Furnas.

Being on a volcanic island means that you will most likely have these hot geysers and if you can stand the horrible smell this is something you should not miss. In general you should definitely not miss the town of Furnas as there is more to see I will tell in one of my next blogs.

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Its an amazing scenery in the middle of the town. There is lots of steam coming out of many different holes and the smell of hydrogen sulfide that to me, smells like bad eggs. Once you´re used to it you don´t smell it anymore but some people can´t stand it.

We stopped here after lunch, just in case the smell spoils my hunger. It was worth to take a stop here and explore the parks around the geysirs and the many hot water springs. The water coming out of there was almost boiling hot. Perfect for a hot spring bath but more about this in another blog :)

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Before I forget about it, look who we´ve find in the bushes near a hot spring...a cat. The always find the best spots to chill.

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If you now think "I thought the Azores are more spectacular", I tell you to come back another time because I'm just holding you out until we get to the really breathtaking spots. Honestly you have nothing seen so far, this island has some of the most breathtaking spots I´ve ever seen on my travels so make sure to come back to my blog. :)

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you will find this post on pinmapple as well
[//]:# (!pinmapple 37.77338 lat -25.30290 long Azores - Exploring the south of Sao Miguel d3scr)