Sete Ciadades -Mosteiros

Day 4
Today we planned to hike around Sete Ciadades, "Lagoon of the Seven Cities," near Mosteiros. We drove to the town down narrow winding roads following city signs. There were several times we thought we were going the wrong way, or might collide in a head on collision, but we somehow made it to main road that takes you into town. In the town below there are WC's (water closets) where you can go to the washroom before taking the hike. We have been impressed with the availability and cleanliness of washrooms on the island. We drove up a road that led us to a hiking trail. We found this by chance. We didn't notice any trail markers in the city, so we drove through and on a dirt road where a child was herding cattle, we noticed a sign so we followed it. Some people opted to drive the trail instead of walk it as it is up hill. We opted to park and walk towards Vista Do Rei. The way up took longer, being up hill, and the fact that we stopped to take many pictures of vistas and cows roaming the fields at extreme angles.

Sete Ciadades from a winding road above

Enjoying the view from a look out

 These signs are everywhere on the island. You can drive to the end of most streets and signs such as this one will lead you in the right direction. There are many roundabouts in Sao Miguel, and they are well labeled. All you really need to know is the city you want to get to. The streets are not well named, but signs will let you know where natural pools, beaches, restaurants etc., are located.

This was one of the signs we saw off the main road that let us know to look for a trail marker.

Views from the hiking trail, way up in the clouds

Cows soaking up the sun high up on the mountain

A milking station in one of the many pastures

A hydrangea fence

After making it about a third of the way around, we decided to head back down so we could visit a beach in Mosteiros to cool off. When we drove to Mosteiros, we followed signs leading us to the natural pools before heading to the beach. These natural pools were made from rock formations that filled up with sea water, and sea life! Locals would climb the dark rough rocks and dive head first into these little pools, it was very entertaining.

Water collects in these pools naturally. Many of the bottoms are very deep.

After a quick dip, we drove down to the beach in Mosteiros. It was very nice. This town had a very beachy atmosphere. There were ice cream stands on the beach that sold beer for a dollar and chips and ice cream. There were showers and bathrooms here as well. The sand is very dark, and a little coarser than in Vila Campo Do Franca. There are rocks at the bottom of the water, but they are quite large, and the water gets deep very quickly so they really only caused trouble when entering or exiting. The views were spectacular. Sunsets are beautiful here.

The sand is very dark. It gets hot! We headed through town and followed signs that said "restaurants." That led us to a narrow street, and at the end sat Restaurante Brisa do Mar. It wasn't bad. I had fried chicken, Becky the Salmon, Jarvis the squid and shrimp and Shay the tuna. We tried some traditional desserts, a pastry-like cookie and a lemon-custard like pie.

We wanted to head home to catch the sunset on the corner by our villa but a small road closure halted our progress. We thought we could make it through, but decided against it. Follow the Desvio signs.

It was like out of a movie.

We thought maybe we could jump it