Sunday
26 January – Ponta Delgada
16°C
NW
Force 4
Caryll
and I were up on deck at 6.30 as we approached the island of San Miguel and the
bridge announced a school of dolphins. I opened the deck door just as a dolphin
leaped out of the water in front of me. There were many others too but too quick for me to get my camera out - as usual! We went up
to the forward observation deck in time to watch the pilot climb on board. The weather was bright and promised a nice
day. There was an eerie musical sound – presumably the wind whistling through
the mooring deck via the anchor hause pipes!
Our tour didn’t leave till 1pm so
after breakfast we went ashore to explore Ponta Delaga for a short time. It is a typical
Portuguese town of white and dark brown/grey buildings. There was a pretty
square with a beautiful church at one corner.
We found a craft/antique shop and bought a couple of souvenirs and tried
for free Wi-Fi, before heading back towards the ship. At midday I went back leaving Caryll to explore another church. On the ship I
grabbed my mac as some clouds were rolling in and went back ashore to board our coach.
Caryll joined me soon after. Our tour
took us through the lush green pasture land and small villages to the Crater
Lakes – two blue and green lakes in the crater of an extinct volcano. The views
were stunning but unfortunately the light wasn't good enough to show the difference in colour between the lakes.
Then we drove to a spot where you could see both north and south
shores of the island of San Miguel and some very volcanic-looking mounds and hollows.
Next was a Pineapple Plantation where the fruit are grown in glass houses. This method makes them very sweet apparently.
And lastly a botanic
garden. The guide was very hard to understand however, with heavy accent and not a lot of
information - not even telling us times to be back at the coach for example!
Back at the terminal we
headed to a café for free Wi-Fi and then hit some souvenir shops.
We
were on deck for our final sailaway after which we changed for casual night. Dinner
– singer Ben Makisi - bed.
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