Tag: Vulcão dos Capelinhos

Por Caminho: Vulcão dos Capelinhos

Vulcão dos Capelinhos was the most impressive site I visited on Faial Island.

I spent all day here walking up and down the volcanic landscape, checking out the museum and catching the end of day’s light from the highest point.

Walking from Horta to the lighthouse pictured below was a fantastic achievement. I celebrated by giving my complete and undivided attention to my surroundings and the Atlantic beyond.

Photos taken mid November, 2019.

Volcanic cone warping into the blue sky

The Capelinhos lighthouse withstood the eruption of 1957-58 and now stands as a landmark of the Island of Faial.

“At this whale lookout wreckage, destroyed by the eruption of the volcano, it was seen the first volcanic manifestations of the Capelinhos. On September 27, at about seven o’clock in the morning, the whale watcher on duty Mr Jose Soares da Cunha observed at less than 1km away on the sea, at least four points that hurled effervescent volcanic rocks and water vapour. It was the beginning of a submarine volcano that lasted 13 months until it stopped at 24 October of 1958. Faial Island lost about 35% of its population, mostly to the US and Canada and also opened a new page in the understanding this this type of volcanic activity.”
Farol do Vulcão dos Capelinhos
Most of the surrounding landscape is barren with the exception of shrubs and small flowers. Nature always finds a way.
Two birds prepare for flight
The last photo I took before hiking back

Check out the previous blog posts of my backpacking trip around Faial Island!

Por Caminho: Salão, Cedros, and The Road to Praia do Norte

From Praia Do Almoxarife I hiked 10.6km(6.5 miles) to Salão. If you plan on backpacking Faial I recommend stopping here. I stayed at the campsite which had fireplace cabana and a direct path to a natural swimming pool. This set of photos is part of a larger collection named Por Caminho that I created during my backpacking … Continue reading Por Caminho: Salão, Cedros, and The Road to Praia do Norte

by Ryan Quaresma

Praia Do Norte & Capelo Photo Collection

The hike from Salão to Praia do Norte proved to be the hardest part of my week long trip around Faial Island.

The road to Praia do Norte inclined steadily with each curve. Though it helped me in the long run, trekking uphill in the cold, grey hills was challenging. The worst part by far was feeling water in the soles of my boots soak into my socks.

As the sky cleared towards the end of the day the sun reached out to the surrounding landscape. By then I had reached Praia do Norte and my goal for the day was complete. My reward was a complete sunset overview of the youngest part of Faial.

This set of photos is part of a larger collection named Por Caminho that I created during my backpacking trip around Faial Island.

Photos taken mid November, 2019

Miradouro da Ribeira Funda
The owner of Lamborghini originally owned a tractor company
Miradouro da Ribeira das Cabras

“The Ribeira das Cabras Viewpoint shows the complete landscape of the youngest area of Faial Island, the peninsula of Capelo being 10,000 years old. In here are the most recent volcanic cones of the island. On the right, it’s possible to see the Fajã, a portion of land created by lava flow that cooled down on contact with the water. The two historic eruptions of Faial happened in here: Cabeço do Fogo in 1672 who’s lava flows formed the Misteiros and finished the formation of the Fajã causing a great destruction in the parishes of Praia do Norte and Capelo and the emigration of several families to Brazil. The Capelinhos Volcano eruption in 1958 devastated and caused a large emigration flow of almost all the population of Praia do Norte parish to the United States.”

-Tourism board

Capelo

The next morning I packed up camp and headed to Capelo where I planned to spend the entire afternoon at the famous Vulcão dos Capelinhos (Capelinhos Volcano.)

I enjoyed every step of the way through the little town of Capelo. There were numerous traditional-styled homes (pictured below) and the view of the ocean was always to my left.

Along the way I noticed how far I had already come. I was more than halfway around the Island of Faial and I was about to gaze upon what all the Azores travel magazines advertised as the “Mars-like landscape of the Azores.”

Green field farm house and Cabeço do Fogo in the background.
Boa tarde!
Ponta de Castelo Branco
Traditional Azorean home
Backpacking grants you the time to think about life in symbolic terms.
Casal do Vulcão- Hostel
Sign to Vulcão dos Capelinhos: a natural reserve and Azores GeoPark
The lighthouse at Vulcão Dos Capelinhos now acts as an interactive science museum. You can walk around the exhibit or climb to the top for a 360 view of the surrounding landscape. More on this in the next blog post.

Previous:

  1. Horta
  2. Horta’s Marina
  3. Praia Do Almoxarife
  4. Salão, Cedros, and The Road to Praia do Norte

Next: Vulcão dos Capelinhos