The terraced slopes of a volcanic island

We decided to do some more exploring of the island.  We headed first further down the south coast to the picturesque town of Camara de Lobos.  Churchill famously feel in love with town and painted it.

Agricultural slopes

We were fascinated by the precariously terraced agricultural slopes of the island.  They grow a lot of their own fruit and vegetables and are famous for their banana liqueur.

The fishing port of Camara de Lobos

It was a rough day, even in the protected harbour, so all the fishing boats were pulled up on shore

This is what is looked like on the other side of the harbours natural walls.

Would not like to be out in that

Drying fish aboard a boat

Rough weather means the fisherman can get jobs done aboard, including drying their catch.

We followed the south coast a ways and enjoyed ascending the incredible rocky cliffs and outcrops.  Then we crossed over the island through a deep ravine that reminded me of something out of Jurassic Park.  Jungle covered cliffs boarded us on both sides as we followed a deep river bed through to the sea on the north side.  We came out at the town of Sao Vicente and followed the coast north east to the entertaining town of Porto Moniz.

The rocky north coast

View of Porto Moniz

There were two ‘cool’ things about Porto Moniz.  The first is the rock pools.

The rock pools of Porto Moniz

The second was the grilled limpets.  I never knew you could eat them.  And they are GREAT!

Yum yum

We decided to follow the north coast back to the Marina, which was not a good idea.

The roads were so windy and steep that it took us hours to get home well after dark.

We have learned that taking the express ways and the mountain tunnels is the way to travel on this island.

A little hiking in the mountains is over due.