Saturday volcano tours

 Our Saturday morning was a lazy one, pass we did very little other than packing on breakfast calories. In the afternoon we set off for a series of Lava caves and fumaroles located in the centre of the island. The first lava cave descended about 150 metres via stone staircases and displayed a variety of mosses, ferns and algae with a sizeable pool at the base, fed by waters dripping from the central hole exposed to the sky. Our second stop was to fumaroles, in ground vents releasing sulphur vapours and warm moist gases. A normally circular path was all but rendered invisible by extremely low cloud cover so we skipped that part. Our final stop was the Gruta do Natal ( Christmas Grotto) It featured mostly horizontal low ceilings and roughly uneven floors of cooled lava streams, making walking a challenge. Required hard hats reduced our chances of scalp lacerations and skull fractures as we limboed through the narrow passageways, often on our knees.

Returning to town around 5, damp and hungry we decided to skip the evenings bull run, instead opting for a quiet dinner at The Captains Table restaurant for a meal of forked beard fish ( a mild, cod like fish) with smashed potatoes, salad and a couple of bottles of local white wine. Local cheeses, olives, fig jam and olives, walnuts and pepper jam made up our appetizers.  By far the best tasting meal of the trip, it clocked in at about $140 Canadian for the 4 of us ,including the wine,  desert and tips. It proved to be our most expensive meal of the trip but it was also considered the best restaurant on the island by the staff at our hotels.

A relatively early start, Sunday morning, found us walking downtown and through the harbour for a 2km hike to the fortress of Sao Sabastiao. A stone multi-sided fort overlooking the sea, it is now a small hotel which allows small groups of visitors during the day. Built in the early 1800’s it served as a defence against the Spanish during various conflicts.

 Leaving the fort, we walked roughly in the direction of home, arriving at A Canadhina, a small local pub/restaurant, catering primarily to locals. Packed, with most tables reserved, the owner found us a small table in the back half of the restaurant, squeezed into a corner. The menu, including the day’s specials plus regular dishes were printed on a wheeled white board that was pulled between tables. Our first choices being unavailable,Boca Negra and a grilled fish offering, we substituted Bacalao Assada (baked cod) tasty, but a tad salty and quite boney, accompanied with a decent salad and boiled semi-roasted potatoes.The waitress seemed tacken aback when we refused her offer of coffee and dessert but we were , by that time, too stuffed to move.We.covered the return trip to the hotel at a substantially slower pace than the trip there as the temperature was beginning to climb and our energy was waning.

 Still stuffed by dinner time Susanna said “No” to an evening meal so I settled for a takeout pizza from a small family restaurant in the neighbourhood.