Adventures in the Azores-Part II - Sunshine & Pineapples

This is part II of my time in the Azores, you can check out part I here.

Another day, another sunrise. It's really really nice to get to see the sun rise up over the mountain and the ocean. This place is perfect :).

Ah~~~~~

We decided to do another tour to check out the other side of the island. The first stop of the day is Lagoa do Fogo , one of the craters on the island. The fresh waters are a clear, crystal blue and you can go canoeing in the lake. This was also one of the first days where the sun is finally shining through the clouds.

You can see for miles and miles across the island from this point.

Here's another view of the lake from further down, sorry for the warped angle, it was an odd place to take a picture.

Such pretty waters~~~

Our next stop of the day was at Caldeira Velha, where you can take a dip in the thermal pools.

This is where the water comes out, too hot to bathe in though.

You can see people taking a nice dip in the pool, seems like fun.

Our next stop was another waterfall. Really really quiet and serene. :)

Our tour guide Jose showed us a local moss that captures some of the misty water.

It's super spongy too!!

We then stopped off at Sete Cidades,  a village at the bottom of another volcanic crater, Do you notice how the two lakes are a different colour? The one closer to us is a more green colour, reflecting the green nearby while the further away one is a blue-ish hue,  a reflection of the sky. A guide said that the local legend tells the tale of a princess and her lover, a young shepherd, who  had to part from each other. The tears they shed at their farewell became the two lakes, with the water coloured like their eyes. As an engineer, and also a girly-girl at heart, I'm not sure which version of the explanation I prefer more... 

Love, love, love

As we drive down the hills, you can see how different the landscape can be around the island. You can have steep cliffs with the rolling farm hills all over the island.

Pineapple Plantation

One of the things the Azores is famous for is growing pineapples,. This was also one of the reasons why I decided to visit the islands in the first place, because I love pineapples so much! According to the local guide, they can half the growth time for pineapples here because they are grown in green houses.

We got to see pineapples throughout their growth stages. They start out as little bushes.

You then get a flower on the plant which eventually becomes the pineapple fruit.

Such a pretty flower!

Here's a baby pineapple...

So cute!

They smoke the plant after it flowers with CO2 to make it think it's in danger so that the fruit is produced faster.

After about 1.5 years of growing, you get this beautiful, delicious, pineapple! Notice how the top stem is much shorter than the pineapples we get at home?

Overall, this was an amazing day to see the island in the sun. The weather was still unpredictable but it was just so awesome to be able to see the pineapples growing! I hope you have enjoyed part II of my adventures. Stayed tune next week for part III and have a great week!