In the Azores: Earth, Water, Fire and Air, Sometimes All at Once

It was 6 a.m. — 2 a.m. to my raddled East Coast mind — and my husband, daughter and I have been staggering by customs within the Ponta Delgada Airport, on the island of São Miguel, the biggest of the 9 islands that make up Portugal’s Azores archipelago.

Despite the fog inside my head, my power was excessive. A fellow mother who had been on our Boston redeye marveled on the attractive climate forecast, which elicited a chuckle from the guard. “Gorgeous, I don’t know,” he stated. “But you will experience all four seasons every day.”

He was proper. During our weeklong go to, we skilled regular rains and brilliant sunshine, donned bathing fits and layers of fleece. But by no means thoughts the climate; it was the pure theater of the 4 parts — earth, water, hearth and air — that made São Miguel an journey in contrast to every other.

Around 36 million years in the past, the Azores Plateau was fashioned within the Atlantic Ocean the place the North American, Eurasian and African tectonic plates meet. As these plates pulled aside on the ocean mattress, molten volcanic materials rose and fashioned new oceanic crust. The chain of islands fashioned from the higher sections of the volcanoes that rose from this plateau. In different phrases, the Azores are volcanic islands, and their distinctive geology creates a vivid panorama and setting.

Carpets of inexperienced and effervescent fumaroles

Our adventures by the weather started with the early morning drive from the airport to our first lodge, Furnas Lake Forest Living, within the Furnas Valley, a dormant crater that has excessive geothermal exercise within the southeast of São Miguel. Refamiliarizing ourselves with the adrenaline rush of a stick shift in a hilly setting, we drove previous expansive, inexperienced, nearly glowing pastures that have been crisscrossed with darker inexperienced traces, the place volcanic rock partitions had been lined over with moss and vegetation.

As we descended towards the valley, these huge inexperienced carpets — dotted with the black-and-white dairy cows which might be so necessary to the native economic system — grew to become obscured by thick aircraft bushes and pink azaleas. The hydrangeas the island is understood for have been nonetheless two months from blooming. The proximity of the foliage to the highway created tunnels that appeared to be transporting us to a magical vacation spot.

When we pulled into Furnas Lake Forest Living by a grove of Japanese cedars, the storybook enchantment was full. Manuel Gago da Câmara, who owns the resort along with his spouse, Helena, and who had planted these imported cedars, traces his household roots again to the late fifteenth century, about 50 years after the island is believed to have been settled by the Portuguese explorer Gonçalo Velho Cabral. When Mr. Gago da Camara took over the household property in 1984, the 270 acres have been overgrown with weeds. He has spent almost 40 years remodeling them right into a sustainable forest surrounding the 14-villa resort, which opened in 2004. (Rates begin at 320 euros, or about $349.)

“My dream is to turn it into a place where people can also learn how to farm and have quality food in an easy way,” Mr. Gago da Camara stated. The couple makes their very own honey and have backyard beds and fruit bushes that offer the on-premises restaurant. “Nature gives you everything if you take good care of it,” Mr. Gago da Camara stated, a perspective that appeared to be shared by many on the island the place delight in and safety of the land has created an inherently eco-friendly journey expertise.

We spent our first days within the lush, gurgling, typically sulfurous-smelling area, admiring its alternating magnificence and otherworldliness. The massive lake, Lagoa das Furnas, appeared prefer it may have been in Switzerland with its aqua water surrounded by a tree-covered rim. But on its north shore was a roiling patch of land: the Caldeiras das Furnas.

As we watched the effervescent fumaroles and plumes of steam rising by the air, a small van rolled up. Two males hopped out and sauntered over to one in every of a few dozen mini-mounds of earth that have been marked by a small signal with a restaurant title. They uncovered the deep holes and yanked two cauldrons out of them with lengthy steel hooks. Inside every pot was the coveted cozido: a meat-and-vegetable Portuguese stew that consists of every part from chorizo and hen to cabbage and carrots. The stew had been cooking within the earth for six or seven hours earlier than the boys hoisted the cauldrons out, positioned them within the van and sped again to their restaurant.

We headed over to the lakeside cafe about 50 steps from the boiling floor to pattern the cozido there. The meat was tender, the greens, mushy, and its style was, unsurprisingly, earthy.

Just past the gray-and-taupe floor surrounding the caldeiras, the panorama turned steep and verdant. Grená Park, a forested space with mountain climbing trails, was as soon as a non-public dwelling within the 1800s. Over the years, it modified possession and was finally bought by the Portuguese authorities in 1987 as a spot to accommodate touring officers, after which transferred to the native Azorean authorities in 2009. Despite all of the motion, it remained largely deserted till it was lastly bought again to non-public homeowners who remodeled the property into its present state.

After paying a charge and coming into by a steel turnstile, we selected one of many three trails and began ascending by towering bushes, previous waterfalls and thru fecund air. It felt nearly like we have been taking part in in a life-size board recreation product of bushes: Paths have been marked by slices of tree trunks, miniature rubbish cans have been constructed from logs, and wood ladders guided us to totally different ranges of the park. A dense cover and moss crawling in all places created a timeless ambiance, although the park solely opened in 2019.

Thermal swimming pools and lava flows

In close by Furnas village, Terra Nostra Garden was a completely totally different convergence of pure and human-made parts. The celebrated botanic backyard dates again to 1776, when the American orange service provider Thomas Hickling constructed a modest dwelling and surrounded it with bushes principally from North America. In the nineteenth century, the property was enlarged by the Visconde da Praia and, later, his son, who continued including land and planting imported bushes. Today it’s 30 acres of gardens and groves spanning specimens from New Zealand, China, South Africa and different international locations. There are palms intersecting with eucalyptus bushes, which give method to sequoias, and an in depth camellia assortment. It was a stunning place to get misplaced — regardless of having a map, we did — and take a soothing dip within the naturally heat, iron-rich thermal pool that’s fashionable with locals and vacationers.

After a number of days exploring agency, albeit typically molten, floor, we have been able to journey the seas. The ocean surrounding São Miguel is dwelling to many cetaceans and various tour firms that may deliver you near them in low-riding Zodiacs and bigger catamarans. Definitely not a seafaring household, we opted for a journey within the latter, supplied by a tour firm referred to as Futurismo.

About quarter-hour after heading out from Ponta Delgada, the island’s essential port, we noticed our first dolphins gliding by the water, their smooth backs and dorsal fins triggering gleeful gasps from everybody aboard. For the subsequent three hours, our boat’s captain adopted the route of Futurismo’s level individual, who was perched at a lookout on the island, relaying the seen marine exercise. The end result was a profitable expedition: pods of bottlenose and customary dolphins and several other sperm whales, together with a mom and calf, elegantly breaching the water earlier than diving again into the ocean’s depths with a wave of their tails.

The subsequent day was additionally crammed with dramatic ocean views, this time from the heights of the western coast. We took one other meandering highway lined with aircraft bushes and grass banks to one of the crucial photographed factors on the island: Miradouro da Ponta do Escalvado. A spectacularly sunny day, the sloping inexperienced inland contrasting with precipitous sea cliffs, blue skies and white billowy clouds may have been ripped from a journey company poster.

Down on the water’s edge, within the city of Mosteiros, the inexperienced grass gave method to black lava flows, frozen into craggy formations. It was a foreboding however irresistible sight, and we scaled their pointy peaks, poked by clear tidal swimming pools and saved a watch on the Atlantic, right here a elegant turquoise, because it pummeled the shore and despatched salty spray by the air.

After our fill of scampering, we went to close by Ponta da Ferraria to soak. A effervescent scorching spring beneath the lava cliffs creates a heated cove proper throughout the ocean. We adopted the path of sunbathers and journey seekers previous the indoor spa to the black, typically jagged, rocks the place scores of individuals lay. We paused to contemplate the knowledge of becoming a member of others within the slender channel the place chilly ocean waves rolled by, mixing with the new water to create the proper tepid temperature, but in addition smashed in opposition to the rocks earlier than returning to the ocean.

Maybe emboldened by the epic waterfalls and actually gaping and burning elements of the island we’d seen, we have been compelled to descend into the fray. Warm and churning, invigorating and intimidating, the water bounced us between the rocky edges and a rope strewn throughout the waterway for safe-holding. For a second, I felt one with the island’s historical past, geology and wonder.

Wild winds and low clouds

On our final day, we visited one in every of our favourite spots: Lagoa do Fogo, Lake of Fire, a more-than-1,200-acre protected area within the heart of the island. Wending ever upward on one other winding highway to get there, we watched because the blue skies disappeared and we have been enveloped in an entire new local weather. The greater we went, the denser the fog. Or, have been they clouds? As the guard had promised, we had skilled each season — each panorama, local weather and aspect — over the previous week throughout São Miguel’s 290 sq. miles.

We parked and walked to the trailhead, the wind whipping in opposition to us, stirring whitecaps on the volcanic lake hundreds of toes beneath. We once more briefly questioned whether or not we have been taking up slightly an excessive amount of journey, however determined we’d no less than begin the hike. There was a pumice seaside alongside one of many lake’s edges that we wished to see.

The farther we descended into the caldera, the extra safety its steep rims supplied. Gulls and terns screeched their welcome. The air was purifying.

Down on the water, the clouds nonetheless floated shut sufficient to seemingly contact. We tramped by ferns and laurel, eager to delay the journey to this lush however fiery island, although the wind, and distance to the seaside, was lastly persistent sufficient to compel us to show round.

We didn’t make it to the pumice seaside, however we had already absorbed so many sights and experiences. We left to catch our flight, understanding São Miguel had an incomparable place on the planet, and now, in our minds.

Follow New York Times Travel on Instagram and join our weekly Travel Dispatch e-newsletter to get skilled tips about touring smarter and inspiration to your subsequent trip. Dreaming up a future getaway or simply armchair touring? Check out our 52 Places to Go in 2023.