After walking around town in the morning we got into our car around noon to drive north to Ribeira Grande to join
I had booked this in advance through booking.com as a half day tour, mostly off-road with several stops along the way.
To get from Ponta Delgado to Ribeira Grande we needed to cross the mountains and when we made it to the top we were blown away by the sight. We had a few minutes so I pulled over and we got out to enjoy the view and snap a few pics, like this one. Just look at this nature - no edit needed.
We made it to the meeting point in a residential area with a bit of time. Which was good because we needed to present our driver license as well as sign a waiver. While we were reading and signing the other participants arrived, a group of four couples, also from the US.
Everything went pretty quick, we each got a personal intro to our vehicle and within ten, fifteen minutes we were on our way. The group consisted of five ATVs and one buggy. We were in the buggy following the ATVs which enabled me to shoot some videos with them in the picture as well as photos while hubby was driving. In hindsight we would have preferred to be on an ATV for the driving experience, however, it would have been harder to take all the photos and videos.
First things first - this was our buggy, with and without us, before the tour and at our first stop.
We rather quickly left the residential area and paved roads behind us and hit a dirt road leading through the fields and up the mountain. While hubby got used to the buggy and its quirks, constantly pulling to the right, manual breaks etc. I was enjoying the wind in my hair and watching the beautiful landscape pass by.
As you can see in the above photo the buggy had a roof of sorts but otherwise was open on all sides - fresh air all around. Hubby wasn’t quite as thrilled because the ATVs were whirling up quite some dust, hence we kept some distance and were glad to wear our sun glasses.
The landscape is really something else. The island is basically steep hills and mountains covered by farmland which is divided by these low stone walls that I only knew from England. There are cows just about everywhere. You look up a mountain - you see cows grazing and wonder how they got there. Dairy industry and tourism are the biggest sources of income.
Our first stop was at an old overgrown aqueduct which was used to carry water from the mountains to the coastal towns.
Our guide Bruno gave us a little information and then let us roam around for a few minutes to explore and take photos, while he did a visual check of our vehicles.
And then we continued. Up and up and further up to the peak of
the highest point of Sao Miguel island. It doesn't look that steep but trust me - it was!
By this time or I should say altitude it had gotten quite a bit colder and we were very close to the clouds that we had been seeing up on the mountain right from our starting point.
From here we could also see the Lagoa Azul (and Verde), two connected akes which came with a little tale of lost love and shed tears courtesy of our guide. The view from the mountain was simply spectacular, made even better by the moving clouds. It was beautiful and spooky at the same time.
While hubby was driving I took the occasional video and photo of the surrounding landscape and the ATVs ahead of us. You can’t quite make out how steep some of these uphills and downhills were. Uphill we were cheering our buggy on as it was howling away with its engine in high gear revving along and downhill we prayed for the brakes to not give up on us.
We took quite a few photos and also videos, trying to catch the clouds’ movement. Almost too soon it was time to move on because we were to circumference the whole volcano crater with its lake at the bottome. This is only possible in an off-road vehicle and possibly only with a tour but I’m not sure. What I’m sure of is that we were happy campers being on this tour. In the pictures you can also see a town by the lake shore - that was to be our step after the next one.
Next we stopped at a view point closer to and overlooking the lakes even better. It made for some beautiful photos together with the hydrangeas which you can find blooming everywhere (!) on the island. Hydrangeas in different colors seem to be lining each and every wall and road - it is real pretty.
Then it was time to move on down the mountain and to the lakeshore city of
For our group it meant a break of maybe half an hour and time to get a coffee or in our case - ice cream!! We enjoyed it while sitting on the cafe’s terrace and then taking a stroll to the lake shore. The little break went really quick and soon enough we were on the road again. For the next few minutes it was paved road until we took a turn to go off road again.
Unfortunately, this is also when the weather took a turn. For the worse. The occasional clouds which had been drizzling on us finally turned into real rain. Being wet paired with the wind from driving i- t was getting somewhat chilly and I was very happy that I brought my rain jacket which all of a sudden functioned as a wind and rain breaker. Hubby had no such luck but he doesn’t get cold as easily as I do.
Since the buggy didn’t have a windshield we continued wearing our snd glasses for protection from the rain. It made it even spookier. Downside was that they don’t come with automatic wipers, so every few minutes I functioned as the manual wiper - LOL.
Eventually, we made it down the mountain and with that out of the clouds and out of the rain. It was once again sunny and way to warm to wear rain jackets. We had one last stop right at the ocean overlooking some of the volcanic rock formations.
From here it was only another few minutes back to our starting point. Those had been four somewhat adventurous hours off the beaten track riding a buggy.
In summary - we had a ton of fun doing this tour and I'm glad I booked it. I’m sure we saw things that otherwise we might not have seen, definitely not from this angle, after all you cannot take a rental car off road (maybe you can but it might be costly).
We opted for the buggy/ATV to be able to get closer to nature and have fun doing so. Having said that, I love the silence on a mountain or in a forest but the ATVs and the buggy are extremely loud. So much so that my ears were ringing each time we stopped. Maybe, if there is a next time, I’ll bring ear plugs for protection. I also can't help but think of the poor residents living with this noise daily, well, I guess it's always only for a very short period of time. So - no regrets!
Till next time!
Have a great rest of your day!
Cheers,
(Ocean)Bee
Unless otherwise noted, copyright for all photos, dividers, and gifs ©Oceanbee|ImagesByCW
99.9% of photos taken with my Fuji X-T5 and iPhone
