Raging Bull?

In the Azores, bull fights take on a new interpretation. 

Bulls are brought out into the streets of the towns and the locals (after a few beers) will run up to the bull, taunt it, and then promptly be smashed by the bull! The locals take great joy in trying to cheat death as they run for their lives from a raging bull. They will taunt the bull with umbrellas to try and make the bull charge away from their bodies, but an angry bull is much smarter than a drunk human, and the bull usually knocks the drunk for a loop! 

I began to wonder, are the bull here always like this? Or are they only irritated by the constant taunting from the drunk locals? 

While hiking around, Maddie and I came across a field full of cows and one particularly large cow right by the low stone wall. We looked at each other and pet its head. It looked at us for a while as we smiled back, then it picked its nose with its tongue. 

We didn’t realize the situation we were in until the large cow walked away from the wall and revealed to us that it was in fact a bull!  

The bulls here are just as kind as the cows, and just like us, they don’t like to be taunted. If you do taunt the bulls, they are strong and will send you flying up into the sky before they fling your lifeless body into a stone wall!  

If you ever get bored, you should check out the Azores Bull Fight videos on YouTube (no bulls are injured in the fights, only the local humans). After the bull fights, the bulls go home to their field where they continue being a bull and grazing in the pastures. 

Heart Shaped Falls

One of the waterfalls on Flores had two falls that became one. As they cascaded down the cliff face, the white foaming water somewhat resembles a heart! 

Do you see it?  

The tip of the heart then pours its contents into the lake below which shortly thereafter drains into the ocean. 

Being so close to the beauty of nature makes you feel so removed from all the excuses that people list as to why they are unhappy. Happiness doesn’t come from material posessions; no, it comes from experiences! 

Flores Paths

The island of Flores seems to have more cows than people, and the majority of the island seems to be covered by fields instead of buildings. In these fields, there are no roads, but instead neat little walkways. Some are stone, some are red volcanic pebbles, some are grass. They will work their way through the fields and along old field houses that are in varying levels of condition. 

When you walk back through these fields, you will stumble across majestic views that your car could never reach! You will find streams, waterfalls, and forests that have grown around lakes that are deeper into the island. 

This one path follows a river up to the cliff where a thin and wispy waterfall coats the sides of the rocks with a thin mist.

Lava Breakwater

We spent a considerable amount of time in Terceira where all the breakwaters are man-made. Terceira is a rather old island, so the wind and waves have had about three million years to wear the volcanic rock away, thus necessitating the construction of man-made structures to protect the harbors and shores from the punishing onslaught of the waves. 

Flores, is about a million years younger than Terceira, and it shows! The volcanic rocks on the shore are very jagged and do just fine destroying the waves and dissipating their energy without the aid of mankind. 

Maddie and I often wonder if the locals look up at the magnificent cliffs and waterfalls as often as we do! To think that this view can be found right next to the public boat ramp!  

So much splendor in such a small space. 

Twin Lakes

These two lakes are actually the remnants of two volcanic craters that were responsible for forming this part of the island a few million years ago. The lake on the right is actually used as the water reservoir for the entire island.  

During the rainy season, the lake will fill up and carry the entire water needs of the whole island through the dry season, when little rain falls to replenish the supply.  

These two lakes are considered a prime hiking destination, and listed on travel sites as a priority to see when visiting Flores. Then they go on to say that the only way to access the two lakes is via a 7km hike (one way, then you have to turn around and walk home)! I had heard that one of the lakes was a water reservoir, and knew there was no way that a government worker was going to hike 14 kilometers just to check on the lake. There had to be a road somewhere! 

So, we looked at the map and found that the lakes are located right next to a major highway on the island (which is a two way street with a dashed line down the middle of it) and that there was a small “service road” that forked off of the highway and led straight to the lakes. 

We went for a little drive and figured that we would at least be a lot closer to the lakes if we drove than if we started from miles away!  

Well, the service road ends in a parking lot that has some steps next to it. Maddie and I walked up the steps, maybe 100 meters, and this was the view! We could not believe that the trail ends at a parking lot, so we went exploring a little.

We found where the trail ends and began hiking it a little to see where the trail would go, and what the trail looked like. We snaked our way through a field and along the edge of the lake on the right, only to come out to the highway. Yes, the trail flanks the highway and at many points the trail “is” the highway. 

By driving to the lakes and skipping the 3 hour hike (one way), we were able to visit many more beautiful attractions and sights that this island has to offer. We did hike a little that day, but no where near the 14 kilometers that would have been required to get to these lakes, only to see a parking lot right next to the view we had worked so hard to see.