Today was a stellar day with mostly sunshine, 17* C and clear views of Pico Mountain. On the recommendation of Egidio (one of our island contacts), we chose the Prainha do Norte hike today. It’s an 8 km circular route, that took us 2 hours, with lots of stops for photos, and let’s be honest, to chat with the cows. (If you don’t talk to the cows on your hikes, who are you?)

After our hike, we ate our picnic lunch sitting in the sun at a table in the village garden beside the church.

With the sun still shining, we wanted to keep exploring. We headed East towards one of the many lagoons that exist on the island, high in the volcanic mountain range. The road up was…dicey, but we made it. Unfortunately, we couldn’t get to the lagoon on foot because the ground was so saturated with water. We couldn’t even really see it because it was quite low from where we’d parked. Another day!

Off we headed to the eastern tip of the island, the village of Manhenha, which is the opposite end of the island from Madalena, where we are based. Since it was late in the afternoon, we didn’t explore much, but we did have a good look around from the car.

We took the quick road back home and Steve practiced for the next F1 race, channeling his inner Max Verstappen.

Tip of the Day:

Don’t be afraid to attempt to communicate, even if you don’t speak the same language. Today we met an elderly man outside his home. He said Portuguese words, we said English words. We all gesticulated wildly, and somehow, he knew we loved his house and his view, and we knew that he was appreciating the sunny day. A connection was made and it filled our hearts with joy.