Day 4 (August 8, 2021): Good-bye, Faial! Hello, Pico!

This was the day to move to our second island - Pico. After breakfast, we left the hotel at 9:45 AM, filled the car with gas and returned it to the rental car agency at the ferry terminal in Horta. The ferry terminals on these islands are sleek and modern, and they feature a check-in service just like you’d find in an airport. We checked in just after 10 AM for our 10:45 crossing. The passengers kept coming and coming and coming. Ferries in the Azores are operated by a company called AtlanticoLine. Safety is clearly paramount, and everything is professionally run. The ship was the most modern and sleek ferry we’ve ever taken. And wow, are they ever a relied-upon service from one island to the next. 

The 30-minute crossing to Madalena, Pico’s largest town, provided excellent views of Faial Island, which we were leaving behind, and Pico Island, stretching out before us. Suitcases were delivered via a carousel in the terminal, and our rental car agency host met us with a sign. She was very friendly, but it took 45 minutes to get the paperwork and car inspection completed. Every scratch and nick the size of a dot was documented, even underneath the bumper.

At noon, we pulled out of the ferry terminal in Madalena to start our six-hour exploration.  Let me share a few key facts about the island to get started. Pico:

- is the second largest of the nine Azorean islands;

- has a population of just under 14,000 people;

- is home to Mount Pico, the highest point in Portugal; 

- is known for its black volcanic soil, which nourishes its UNESCO-designated vineyards that once fuelled the development of the island’s economy.

Every place has a couple of things for which it is best known. Besides towering Mount Pico, the UNESCO vineyards are definitely the most stunning feature. We had no idea how extensive they were. And while 2439 acres are covered by the UNESCO designation, the entire island boasts never-ending lava rock walls which divide the land into small sections for agriculture.

We stumbled upon the UNESCO-designated vineyards by happenstance, just as we were leaving Madalena, and their beauty really overwhelmed us. After exploring them, we set out to drive to the very eastern tip of the island and then to work our way back to Madalena, where we are staying. Lunch and a visit to the whaling museum in the second largest town on the island, Lajes do Pico, formed the focal point of the afternoon. The island has a wonderful network of miradouro, or look-out points, and we stopped at most of these to take in the sweeping views.

We are staying in a very unique eco-conscious development in the forest just outside Madalena. An Italian couple had a vision for this place 10 years ago and have built a truly amazing lodge and 15 chalets.

So that’s a wrap on our first day on Pico Island. Lots more to come tomorrow.

The giant Horta sign, and our AtlanticoLine modern ferry to Pico Island.

Boarding the ferry to Madalena. 

I have never seen suitcases being loaded onto a ferry. It felt like we were taking a flight!

One last view of the old town of Horta. 

The cliffs just to the west of Horta, being saluted by the Portuguese flag of our ferry. 

Pico Island is about 48-kilometres long. We are staying near Madalena (blue dot). The 2351-metre Mount Pico is where you see the green dot.  

Igreja de Santa María Madalena Church in the old town of Madalena. 

We stumbled upon the UNESCO-designated vineyards just east of Madalena. Nothing has prepared us for the magnitude of them, and the decades (if not centuries) represented by the backbreaking work of building the lava rock walls. 

The UNESCO vineyards, with Faial Island in the background. 

A vineyard hand, carrying a box of grapes.  

Barney the cow was here. Emphasis on was!

The vineyards of Pico, which fall under the UNESCO designation, comprise over 3000 acres.

Grapes do exceptionally well in the rich volcanic soil of Pico. The small divisions of the fields, using walls made from lava rock, provide excellent protection from the Atlantic winds. 

 Pico has been producing wine since the 15th century, starting about 10 years after the first settlers came around 1439.


Vineyard lava rock walls. 

And historic vineyard operation headquarters within the UNESCO-designated site. 

A lava rock home set a mid the UNESCO designated Vineyard area. 

Ilheu Deitado (left) and Ilheu em Pe (right) are the first to greet visitors to Pico. 

2020 reproduction of a vineyard windmill in Monte, Pico Island. 



Church in Monte, Pico Island - typical of the style found all over the Azores. 

The clouds finally cleared and permitted a view of 2351-metre Mount Pico. 

Tiny chapels, like this one in San Mateus dating from 1763, dot the tiny villages on Pico. 

The typical red terracotta roofs of Lajes do Pico, the second largest town on Pico. 


The sea wall in Lajes.

Tall grasses on the saltwater flats at Lajes. 

We continue to be amazed at the way people here stretch out towels on lava rock and concrete surfaces , like piers. This is the “natural pool” on the Lajes waterfront. 


The Whaling Museum in Lajes tells the story of how whaling was vital to the life of Lajes, until it was finally banned here in the 1980s. The mighty sperm whale was hunted and harvested here.  Fun fact: did you know the sperm whale has the biggest and heaviest brain of any mammal?

A typical open whaling boat at the Lajes Whaling Museum, used until the 1980s. 

The museum has an amazing display of scrimshaw art,

(scrimshaw used whale bone for carvings). This nativity scene is made from whale bone. 

Santa Barbara

Ribeiras

Prainha de Baixo on Pico’s north coast. Notice mountainous Sao Jorge Island - the Azores’ largest - in the distance. 

Deer at the Prainha Forest Park. 

After completing the western and southern coasts and having rounded the bend at the eastern end, we started working out way back towards Madalena. But halfway up the north coast, we turned inland and up to the heights of the inner section of the island. The rich vegetation was impressive. Including these prolific yellow flowers… and these tall pines. 



And suddenly, a cow appeared on the highway. Back home, we worry about moose. Here, it’s cows!

And if it’s not cows on the highway, the farmers take over. This crew stopped traffic to load jelly rolls of hay, right in the middle of the road. 

Earlier today, we saw Ilheu Deitado (left) and Ilheu em Pe (right) as we arrived in Pico.  Here they are again this evening, as the sun streamed through a rain shower over Faial Island in the distance.