Furnas -Nordeste -Ribeira Grande

Day 3
So we learned that the midnight excursions along the shoreline were locals hunting for lippets or "lapas", a Portuguese delicacy. They came to our door to sell them to us in the morning, and our waiter at Ala Bote, explained. It is considered a sea snail, that creeps up onto shore very slowly at night. We ordered them at Ala Bote, and they tasted like a cross between a muscle and a clam.

The plan today was to go to Furnas. Furnas is a small town on the Eastern end of the island. It's considered a spa-town because of the caverns in the ground created by volcanic eruptions back in the 17th century. At the "site of many caldeiras" there are steaming geysers and hot bubbling springs. The waters are supposed to have many therapeutic uses, and there are spas in town that use mineral waters and mud for spa treatments.

This goat wanted all the attention. He put on quite a show. He enjoyed showing off his talent of urinating while drinking it at the same time. His audience was not impressed, and slowly, we backed away from the goat.

Exploring the town of Furnas

A hot bubbly pool. You won't want to step into this one.

If you were organized and ordered on time, you could plan to have a meal cooked in the ground using the heat from the volcanic pools. We were a little less organized, and ate at Caldeiras E Vulcoes Restaurante Bar. I had chicken in a mushroom sauce (or Lava Chicken), Becky ate a vegetarian concoction and the boys had the "Stromboli Eruption." It was pork with fried balls of mashed potato, cheese and chorizo. Everyone was satisfied.

The vegetarian dish

Lava Chicken

Stromboli Eruption

Caldeiras E Vulcoes

After lunch we drove to Poça da Dona Beija to try out the hot springs. Another option is to visit Parque Terra Nostra, which is a hotel in town with a hot springs lake to swim in. We opted for the former, as we had seen pictures in a brochure at our restaurant, and had met the guy who owns it when we bought our wooden ornaments in Ponta Delgada. Some of the minerals are orange, so I recommend wearing a dark swimsuit. There are bathrooms and showers here to rinse off in. It gets busy here in the afternoon so it is best to go in the morning. They are opened all year round, but the locals don't go in the winter.

Lounging in the hot springs

We took a long winding road to Nordeste. We were in the south, so the roads were windy and it took about two hours. If you drive from the north end, you can take the highway and get there in about 30 minutes. There are many scenic lookout points along the south end in Povoacao and Ponta du Madrugada which are nice to stop at. We had some clouds come in so it wasn't ideal for photos, but still beautiful to see in person.

One of the many lookouts along the south road from Furnas

The very narrow roads

These hydrangea flowers line all the roads in plentiful blooms. They grow in pink, white, blue and purple, in abundance. Every single road is manicured as though it is part of a royal estate.

Povoacao

 There was a fire, see the smoke above, as we drove through this town. Sirens wailed in the distance,

Windmills atop a mountain near Nordeste

The low clouds infringed on our picture taking

 There is a beautiful garden look out in Ponta Du Madrugada. The gardens are immaculately kept, and stone bbq's and picnic tables await your patronage.

Gardens in Ponta Du Madrugada

Ponta do Arnel near Nordeste

Natural swimming pool in Nordeste. It was a little too long of a hike for our liking after a long day.

Close up of the pool

 We settled on Ribeira Grande and drove into town for dinner. We found a restaurant on the coast called Ala Bote. Finally, a patio to eat on! Our waiter was great and explained the whole lippet fiasco to us. The boys had wreckfish, Becky the Curried Vegetables, and I cheaped out and ordered the Spaghetti Bolognese. I needed some comfort food. The local soup was good too, it had rice, lemon and chicken. Our waiter informed us that it was "hangover food"

Sunset in Ribeira Grande at Ala Bote

Enjoying the view

The spiders come out at night! Back at the villa we had several visitors on the patio. It was quite warm at night, and our only gripe with our beautiful residence would be the lack of fans in the un-airconditioned villa. Made it difficult to sleep.