Terceira Island is one of the most beautiful and diverse islands in the Azores, a Portuguese archipelago located in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean.  We arrived around 7 am at a commercial port and were cleared a little before 8 am.  The area around the ship was an open area that was mostly empty.   While there wasn’t any prohibition about walking out of the port, the nearest town was Praia da Vitória, about 2.5 miles away without much in between.  The ship offered a free shuttle bus to Praia da Vitória.

Five of us from Table 89 booked an all-day excursion with Pro Island Tours called “Wines & Moonshines”  for €500 total (€100 pp).    More HERE

While Pro Island Tours uses 4-wheel drive Land Rover Defender “jeeps”, none of the places we traveled to today required 4-wheel drive.  The Land Rover has a total of 7 seats.  Two front seats (one for the driver/guide) , three spots on the bench seat behind the front seats, and two seats facing each other in the back.

Our guide and driver, Carolina, met us a little before 9 am, and we were on our way.  Born and raised on Terceira Island, Carolina was very friendly and knowledgeable.

Here is the description of our tour from their website:

Wines & Moonshines 

Taste local Wines and Moonshines

The trip is made comfortably in jeeps suitably equipped for the purpose and able to take you to places you did not even imagine existed. We personalize your tour to your likes; we bring you to the most important look-out places, go off-road to see some gorgeous sites, then we bring you to a beautiful location where you will have lunch in a relax atmosphere, you can walk around enjoying a glass of wine or beer if you like to, while we prepare your food, during lunch you always have wine or beer available to you, after lunch we do some tasting of our local homemade moonshines, then we continue seeing beautiful places in the Island where very few can bring you, you will get to see the Island on the outside and from the inside. We will bring you to as many places as possible to give you a very good idea of the Island of Terceira. On the wines and moonshines tour, we will bring you to see where the vines are grown the old fashion way and why this local white wine “verdelho” is so unique.

We headed off on a clockwise circumnavigation of the 18-mile-wide island and would make several stops before we arrived at our lunch stop around 1 pm.

MIRADOURO DA SERRA CUME

Our first stop was Miradouro da Serra do Cume, a viewpoint over 1700 feet above sea level that overlooks Terceira’s interior.  The wind was fierce, and the skies overcast, so the view wasn’t as spectacular as it would be on a nicer day, but it was still pretty good.

As we continued down the hill, we stopped to look at some Holstein cows munching on the grass near the road.

I didn’t expect to see bananas growing on Terceira, but we stopped and wandered thru a small banana farm.  We are used to seeing bananas in Central America, which is much hotter, so it was unexpected to see them growing in a much cooler climate.

SPLIT ROCK

Ilhéus das Cabras, or Goat Island, is about a mile south of the main island and is more commonly known as Split Island.  We stopped for a few minutes for pictures of the island, walked along a black sand beach, and enjoyed the excellent views.  The weather was improving, and the coast wasn’t as windy.

MONTE BRASIL PENINSULA

Our next stop was the Monte Brasil Peninsula, the viewpoint located about 1500 feet above the historic city of Angra do Heroísmo, which has been designated a UNESCO World Heritage site.  This charming city has picturesque streets lined with colorful buildings and stunning architecture.  The view of Angra do Heroísmo from Monte Brasil Peninsula is spectacular.  Near the viewpoint is a statue of Afonso VI, the second king of Portugal, who was exiled to Terceira for seven years after his brother had him declared incapable of ruling.

Once again, we turned inland, enjoying the countryside’s vibrant colors, lush green forests, and fields dotted with brightly colored houses and churches.  We stopped at Lagoa das Patas, or Duck Lake, for about 15 minutes and enjoyed the idyllic setting and, not surprisingly, watched ducks as they wandered to and fro.

LUNCH AT MATA DE SERRETA

Mata de Serreta is a Forest Recreation Reserve complete with covered picnic areas.  This is where we met other Pro Island Tours staff who had prepared our lunch.  We enjoyed local wine, cheese, meats, and bread as we discussed what we had seen and learned more about life in the Azores and Terceira.

Our main course was a delicious beef stew, chicken, pork and tongue, salad, and rice.

For dessert, we enjoyed a Queijada da Dona Amélia, which is quite literally fit for a queen. This hallmark dessert earned its name as a tribute to Queen Amélia, who was offered the sweets on her first royal visit to the island in 1901.  You can find the recipe HERE

Everything was delicious, and home-cooked food is always a treat.

CALHETA DOS BISCOITOS

After an hour, we moved on to our final stop: Calheta dos Biscoitos, a small pebbly beach in Biscoitos.  Biscoitos consists of pools surrounded by irregular configurations of black lava rocks resulting from volcanic eruptions, protected from the Atlantic Ocean by a rocky breakwater.

The beach was empty as it was cool, windy, and early in the season.  Based on the size of the parking lot, this place would get crowded with excellent weather.

WINE AND CHEESE SAIL AWAY

Back on the ship, we enjoyed our final SailAway around the Lido Pool, complete with complimentary wine and some fantastic cheeses.  The event was well attended, and the weather cooperated as we celebrated our departure from the Azores.

TOM CROSBIE

Tom Crosbie was the featured entertainer on the World Stage.   He displayed a fantastic talent for solving Rubiks cubes which was surprisingly entertaining, and we enjoyed his show.