Hi there my Steemian friends and followers!
After providing you with a little sneak peek into the renowned natural beauties of the Azore Islands in this post last week, I am really happy and excited to come up with the first fully-fledged episode of the series today.
Now I don´t want to disrupt the continuity and smoothness of the photo flow below so let me first put the write-up here and then, the entire photo collection will follow.
I will start out with a little introduction of the Azore Archipelago. Located some 1,360 km (850 mi) west of continental Portugal in the North Atlantic Ocean, the Azores conists of nine remote volcanic islands: Flores, Corvo, Graciosa, Terceira, Sao Jorge, Pico, Faial, Sao Miguel and Santa Maria (ordered from the west to the east).
We are currently based on Sao Miguel, the largest and most populous island of the archipelago. The island occupies a total area of approximately 760 sq km (290 sq mi) and it is home to some 140,000 people, almost a half of which live in the capital city of Ponta Delgada.
At the moment, we are staying in the north-western part of the island, in a remote rural area near the little coastal town of Bretanha. This region is far from the capital city or the touristy town of Ribeira Grande, which means you will not meet a lot of people here (and that´s exactly what I like). Another very important benefit of being in this part of the island for me is the incredible abundance of natural beauties and stunning landscapes (and seascapes) all around you.
Our house is situated just a few kilometers outside of Lagoa Azul, one of the largest and most beautiful lakes on the island, so it comes as no surprise that we picked this lake as the destination of our first full-day hike.
Meaning the Blue Lake in English, Lagoa Azul is located in a huge crater of a dormant volcano and it actually has a little twin lake, Lagoa Verde (the Green Lake). The lakes are connected by a strait that is crossed by a little bridge. There is also a tiny picturesque town called Sete Cidades located right on the bank of the two lakes, which is why they are sometimes referred to by the collective name Lagoa das Sete Cidades.
Since the lake lies on the bottom of a large volcanic crater, its edges are surrounded by massive, forest-covered cliffs that make for some breathtaking sceneries. Moreover, if you hike to the lake from the north (like we did), you can also enjoy some impressive views of the ocean from the other side. But it´s not just the lake and the ocean that makes this place so beautiful. All of the natural surroundings just blend into one magnificent spectacle and if you happen to have sunny weather up there (which is not as common as you might think though, weather on the Azores is known to be extremely changeable and unpredictable), hiking around the lake is an amazing and unforgettable experience.
Let me now show a bunch of photos that I took around Lagoa Azul to prove that I was not exaggerating when talking about the natural beauties of this place.
I hope you enjoyed the first episode of my Beauties of Azores series that was dedicated to Lagoa Azul and its astonishing landscapes. I will try to come up with at least one new episode of the series every week (probably on Tuesday) so if you want to learn more about these enchanting Portuguese islands, stay tuned ;)
This post was created by me for the Steem blockchain exclusively.
Thank you for visiting my blog. If you like posts about #nature, #animals, #ecology, #crypto, #traveling, #photography and discovering secrets and beauties of the #world, feel free to follow me as these are the topics I mostly write about. Have a wonderful day and keep on Steeming! :)