Month: April 2019

Partnership with Azores Geopark

Posted on by Our Island

A Geopark is a UNESCO supervised distinction (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization) assigned to sites of special geological interest, co-existing with sustainable human presence.

Our island established a partnership with the Azores Geopark (site). Our goal is to develop environmental education and geological landscape conservation. Geologically, the Azores are nine volcanic islands, whose formation was originated by different types of eruptive activity and, therefore, have a variety of volcanic landscapes. It is extraordinary to be able to read the landscape and understand how the islands emerged from the depths of the planet; by observing the rocks and landscape we can tell if certain volcanic eruption was catastrophically explosive or extremely slow and effusive. In some volcanic landscapes, the feeling is as if we entered a time machine, as we come to understand what happened millions, thousands, hundreds, or tens of years ago.

castelo branco

The Natural Monument Gruta das Torres, on Pico island, a volcanic cavity that owes its origin to basaltic pahoehoe lava flows, is the largest lava tunnel known in the region, with about 5150 m in total length and a maximum height 15 m.

The Natural Reserve of Pico Mountain, the highest mountain of Portugal and the third highest in the North Atlantic, is an impressive stratovolcano, which exercises its dominion over the landscape of the island of Pico.
The Natural Reserve of Faial Caldeira, once, it was also a stratovolcano very similar to what the Pico Mountain is today, but about 16,000 years ago the volcanic cone started to collapse.

A process that came associated with an explosive volcanism, creating the geological depression we know today at Faial Caldeira, offering a set of natural habitats that represent 65% of Azorean endemic flora.
The Natural Reserve of Morro de Castelo Branco, a traquitic dome that forms a peninsula on the south coast of Faial, is also one of the most unique Geosite in the Azores. This is an important site for seabirds nesting and, therefore, a great place to experience the night singing of Shearwaters.

The Partial Natural Reserve of Lagoa da Fajã da Caldeira de Santo Cristo, in São Jorge island, is a wetland of high biodiversity, whose formation is linked to the origin of the fajã, which occurred due to a massive landslide after an earthquake in the 18th century. Its morphology associated with a very particular sociocultural history, due to the difficult access of the fajã, makes it one of the most impressive sites of the Azores.

These are just some of the Geosites with high value for nature conservation in the islands of Faial, Pico and São Jorge. However, all other Geosites of the Azores Geopark are a diverse and marvelous set of volcanic landscape, it is most important to preserve and understand.

Our island undertakes to carry out and promote sustainable tourism in the Triangle islands, giving great importance to the development of nature tourism and geological tourism, recognizing the value of natural and cultural heritage of the islands.

Living in the Azores

Posted on by Our Island

The Azores is a region that faithfully respects its culture and its language.

I’ve been trying to figure out what is so special about these islands that once you step on them you wish to stay. After 18 months living in the Azores, I think I finally have the answer. 

I grew up in a village in the east coast of Spain. From my window, you can spot the sea. I spent my childhood playing on the countryside, running after the chickens, stealing peaches and figs, swimming in the river, sleeping under shady trees. 

By living in the Azores, I realised how much it resembles my homeland.

In the first place, being surrounded by nature we feel committed to care for it and conserve its richness. Nature is one of the main treasures of the islands. People from all over the globe came to hike through the mountains and swim in the Atlantic crystal clear water. 

living in the azores

Azoreans are kind and friendly, always willing to offer a seat at the table and a good story to tell.

On July 20, 1997, a Spanish magazine publish an article titled “Azores, hidden by the ocean“. The article focuses on the experience of a journalist and a photographer as they travel the islands. What amazes me about this article is that it could have been written today. 21 years later, you can still smell the tender grass of the fields, see the clouds running at lightning speed and cryptomerias dancing with the wind. 

Although uncontrolled human intrusion is damaging the ecosystem, there is people concerned and willing to protect it. Not an easy task, that’s for sure, but a necessary one in order to preserve the biodiversity of the islands for those who come.

Travel around the archipelago has not only given me the opportunity to learn about the relationship between people and the environment but also about the way of living. Azoreans are kind and friendly, always willing to offer a seat at the table and a good story to tell. I’ve been lucky to be surrounded by wonderful people. People who work for a better future of the islands, to achieve a sustainable economic and environmental development. 

The Azores is also a region that faithfully respects its culture and its language. Where I come from, expressing our identity as a region is often confused with nationalism. I haven’t met people as passionate as the Azoreans for their heritage and their traditions. Doesn’t matter if it’s about sailing the sea on a whaleboat or walking down to the chapel in procession. I admire the way they come together, whether to celebrate or to help each other when needed.

Although I’m not a child anymore, I feel like I’ve grown somehow. Living in the Azores has taught me to be grateful for the day-to-day and to value life through its little things.

Here every day is worth celebrating. This is, in essence, what made me feel like home, even being thousands of miles away. 

I’m sure lots of things change since 97, but most still the same. The truth is people keep coming and they always find a reason to stay. Whoever I ask, the answer is the same: “because life is better around here”.

by Maria Vicent (from Valencia)
– media manager at Our island

living in the azores

Canyoning in Faial island waterlines

Posted on by Our Island

Our island had a partnership with Tobogã Azores, company that provides Canyoning experiences in Faial island. We loved to take our guests on these incredible adventures with the amazing Tobogã Guides that always made us feel very comfortable and safe.

Bruno, the owner of the company, is also a local guide whom we always like to work with. He’s a great professional that looks out for our customers safety and well being. Besides his professionalism, Bruno is someone with who is always fun to explore the island and whiling to offer us incredible experiences.

Canyoning provides a unique way to explore the Azorean forest. During the activity we can see different endemic species, such has Azores juniper (Juniperus Brevifolia) White wood (Picconia Azorica), Azores blueberry (Vaccinium Cylindraceum) and Azorean holly (Ilex Perado). The waterlines that we cross during the activity are in most part places inaccessible in any other way.

Canyoning in the Azores means to enjoy the true contact with the nature of the islands.

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your shoes in our steps

On our way to Caldeira de Santo Cristo

Posted on by Our Island

During one of our Hiking trips we’ve cover almost 100km of hiking trails across the triangle islands. On the peculiar island of São Jorge we walked down the trail that takes us through incredible landscapes before we reach Caldeira de Santo Cristo.

The Fajã da Caldeira de Santo Cristo is a very special place. It has become incrinsing popular in recent years and, although the Fajã changed a bit with the pressure of local tourism, it continues to be “a must do” activity: to hike our way there.

After the Caldeira de Santo Cristo we’ve continued to end the day at Fajã dos Cubres. It’s rewarding to finish the activity on a classified Wetland of International Importance (Ramsar). The amazing ocean lagoon that we can find there is of great importance to sea birds like the Cory’s shearwater (Calonectris diomedea), Common Tern (Sterna hirundo), Roseate Tern (Sterna dougallii), Sooty tern (Sterna fuscata), Euroasian woodcock (Scolopax rusticola), Red-billed tropicbird (Phaethon aethereus), Common snipe (Gallinago gallinago), etc.

São Jorge is one of the few privileged Azores islands that have permanent flows of pure water creeks, so we’ve decided to take a swim on one of the waterfalls. Depending on the time of the year this water can be really cold but it will always be a comforting experience.

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your shoes in our steps

Trail running up and down “fajãs”

Posted on by Our Island

In the 53km long and 8km wide island of São Jorge we can find about 80 “fajãs” along its coast. We call “fajãs” to small sea level flat areas located at the feet of the island’s high cliffs. These “fajãs” may be the result of lava flows caused by volcanic eruptions or the result of accumulation of debris caused by landslides.

Trail running is a sport practiced more and more on the islands. It has seen the number of races and athletes grow year over year and today we can see many locals practicing it in the middle of the azorean Nature. In the triangle islands there are two important events where both local and foreign people participate. The Azores Trail Run is a race on the island of Faial that integrates 4 distinct events (70km, 48km, 22km, 10km) and results in an excellent experience because besides crossing the island from one end to the other, it is a route with very different kinds of landscapes until you reach the amazing finish line in the west end of the island: the Capelinhos volcano. The Azores Triangle Adventure is a race held in the three islands of the triangle, 100km in 3 days of testing terrain, 1 day in each island.

The island of São Jorge presents excellent conditions for the practice of trail running, since there are several trails (some are marked) that pass through several “fajãs”, where you can run with incredible views: from one side you have the mountain, on the other the sea.

Timeless port of call

Posted on by Our Island

I was born on Faial Island, from the central Azores. The American whalers used to call here the “western islands”. Horta has always been a port city, sailors call for the azores since men dominated the wind, their endeavours though have change along the centuries: discovery and exploration; whaling and fisheries; piracy and war; trade and commerce; communication and tourism; or the simple pleasure of sailing. A lot of change happen on more than 500 years of History, but some things are constant to this day, and one of that things is that now and then a sail is spotted on the horizon coming in to find shelter at Horta’s bay. It’s like “Fado”, the sailor changes his reasons, alternates his ship but he is always called or pushed by the wind towards here.

The Azores is a place of strong traditions, and this doesn’t mean we are somewhat stuck in the past, it’s much the opposite, there’s no tradition without modification. We are people of strong identity, for most of our 500 years of history we were autosuficient sustainable farmers and fisherman. Isolated in the middle of the north atlantic ocean, stuck between mountains and the sea. The azorean always have this paradox view of the ocean: it is at the same time what inprison us and also an opportunity to escape.

It’s maybe because all of these that some of us feel that the Azorean Whaling culture is one of the biggest identity traces of our culture. this might sound horrific for “save the whale” enthusiasts or activists, but see, there’s no simple narrative about this kind of whaling: There is no more whaling here since 1984, but until then, the sperm whale was hunt using open wooden boats with hand thrown harpoons. An activity that lasted in the islands for almost 150 years and that marked so much the social and economical scene.

We see our whaler ancestors has heroes, for the risk they’ve take for such and endeavour, to hunt the giant sperm whale with the same technics used on Melville’s Moby Dick. And the boats were launched from the land, so you see, this men weren’t only whalers, they were farmers, fishermans, stonemasons, etc, the whole community and family was involved. The activity embraced the live here in so many ways, inspired so many people, how many people were born because of Azores whaling? how many love stories, books, poetry, films? in the hand to hand fight to the death with the sperm whale, our community learned a lot about humanity.

Whale watching now kind of replaces the whale hunt, the first whale watchers here learned with whalers, the look outs are still of paramount importance to spot the whales from the distance, the boats are different, the reasons are others, but sailors and sea dynamics are the same. Skippers still compete to see which is the more sea worthy, look outs still work to be the first to see whales each day

And this is yet only one more example of how our heritage perpetuate. We don’t hunt whales any more, but still sail the beautiful Azores Whaleboat, for pleasure and sport, during the the summer regatta season. A boat unique of it’s kind, and I can’t stop to shiver when I sail it or when I see it sailing, it’s like I’m seeing my ancestors. Like I’m seeing my young grandfather, a whaler, a hunter that was born after his father met his mother during a whaling season of on another island.

In a world that keeps telling us the importance of the instant, of the moment, The Azores is a place where that notion is left in pause. Here I feel the weigh of the centuries, the relative impression of time. there’s a very thin line between now and then.

by Luís Bicudo – Our island Guide
for the Azores Trade Winds blog

Recycled Christmas

Posted on by Our Island

Knowing that the 8th Waste Week of the Azores is here, and that Christmas is coming, we want to keep in mind how important it is to reuse, decreasing our waste production.

During our childhood, the first weekend of December was dedicated to make the long-awaited Christmas tree. We would spent the day putting the tree together, putting the decorations on it and at the end came our favorite part: putting the lights all around the tree. It was undoubtedly a very joyful day and we, as children, loved this time together with our parents.

The only drawback , which at the time we didn’t think of and our parents did not either, was the tree itself. Either it was a pine tree or a japanese cedar chopped out from the land or a plastic tree from any store. Also the colored balls were plastic and every year we wanted new balls to have something different.

Given the times of plastic abuse that our society lives in, why not to raise awareness for this issue and offer alternatives to this consumerism Christmas?!

We know that tradition is sometimes difficult to break, but in this particular case, we are sure that it is worth pursuing a more sustainable alternative.

Any child would love to spend the day building their own Christmas tree from scratch. It would be quality time spent as a family and while reusing old pieces and materials in a beautiful Christmas tree. Also the tree decoration would be fun, different and unique – there will be no other wooden star just like the one they did with such enthusiasm!

So we launch the challenge for this Christmas, and we post some inspiring images in the hope that families will adopt this idea in the following years.

We are already thinking about our Christmas tree too!
– Our island team

Summer family time

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Summer is the best time of the year

When I was a child it meant endless hours spent by the sea. Fishing, swimming and exploring sea bottom with the help of the dive mask my grandparents had offered me.

I learned how to swim at the Fajã beach, Eira harbor and at the natural pools of Varadouro. Always with my head under water, hopping from a tidal pool to another, contemplating the sea life in all its variety and splendor. That is how I came to know fish as Caboz or Peixe Rei.

Throughout my childhood, I learned how to fish, to catch limpets and edible algae and to appreciate life.

I grew up with a cut here, a bruise there and many falls from my bike, in the never ending summer days.

Now that I am not a child anymore, I like to share my experiences with the families that visit us. This way we can show to children how it is to grow up in the Azores.

Pedro Escobar – Our island guide