Walking on Flores

Gordon: The Azores have embraced the idea of walking holidays, with marked trails and brochures available from the tourist offices or on line. The island of Flores is no exception, with the tempting claim of the most westerly walk in Europe (with the exception of Greenland, if there is a west coast walk there).

The west coast walk breaks down nicely into two days of walking, each ending at our town of Fajã Grande, which is located at the middle of the west coast. The tourist website shows the northerly segment as “closed” but we asked around and no one believed that was true, so I walked both sections on consecutive days.

What spectacular outings! The trails are ancient routes to the fields and between villages (usually shorter than the much newer roads). There are massive dry stone walls of lava, with lush pastures and flowers everywhere. I passed occasional taro fields, and banana and orange trees. Cattle, a major product of the Azores, are scattered liberally over the landscape. If I am reincarnated as a cow I would like it to be in the Azores, as life seems very good for them. In fact, I am developing the opinion that the cows here are enlightened, and possibly deeply intellectual. I believe a couple of them were discussing string theory when they were unaware of my approach.

The southern section of the trail passes through a couple of picturesque villages. The more dramatic, northern section has open views to the island of Corvo, before dropping down a cliff face. The brochure contains a warning for those with a tendency to vertigo, not without some justification.

Ruth and I did a couple of shorter walks today, including one to the nearby village of Cuada. This hamlet was abandoned following mass emigration in the 1960s. However, it has been beautifully restored as a vacation village with 17 traditional houses for rent.