Day 14: North-east direction to Salto do Prego Waterfall

18th July 2020

The weather is once again very changeable today. The mountains are cloudy, but along the coast towards the east, it looks quite good.

Therefore, we will drive along the coast to Nordeste today, and in the afternoon, we will hike to the waterfall Salto do Prego.

Shortly after we start driving, it starts raining lightly, and just one bay away, the clouds hang right on the coast. Damn...

Our first stop is the viewpoint Miradouro da Pedra dos Estorninhos.

Once again, rain clouds appear above us and bless us with refreshing sprays of rain.

We skip the next viewpoints and continue to Parque Natural da Ribeira dos Cadeiroes, where the canyoning tours also start.

From a distance, we can already see the waterfall right next to the road.

The beautifully landscaped park with waterfall, flowers, and fern trees continues on the other side of the road, where there are picnic areas, additional waterfalls, goldfish ponds, a classic souvenir shop, and a cafe.

We take a look at the garden with the waterfall and cross the road when it starts to rain. We can take shelter at the souvenir shop and wait out the rain shower.

On the road, we hear cows, and in the distance, I spot an 'animal transporter' - something different from what we know in Germany. Unfortunately, it's very far away, so it's blurry...

The rain stops as quickly as it came.

As we drive to the next viewpoint, the whale watching viewpoint 'Freguesia de Algarvia' - Miradouro da Vigia Baleias, the sun is already shining again.

Again, there are picnic areas and toilets at this viewpoint, where a local family is currently grilling. The Azoreans really know how to do it - the picnic spots are really great and almost always have a magnificent view!

By chance, we drive to Miradouro da Boca da Ribeira and catch a glimpse of a swimming pool in the distance by the sea, the Piscina Natural de Boca Ribeira near Nordeste.

The tide is high, and we can see the waves breaking over the swimming pool. It looks incredibly exciting, so we have to go down there immediately!

We reach the parking lot near the pool, including a picnic area, through traffic lights and one-way streets. Here, too, the local families are grilling, and it seems that the kids have been playing in the wavy pool until just now.... brrrrrrrr.... swimming weather isn't ideal right now.

The waves crash into the swimming pool with full force.

During low tide, it seems possible to swim in the sea outside the pool (see red ladder), but it's definitely not something to think about now.

The lifeguards sit in their chairs under the parasol and watch our every move, but we don't want to go swimming now anyway!

Instead, we prefer to watch the waves - we find it incredibly exciting and could probably do it for hours!

We can see the lighthouse Farol do Arnel along the coast. We also plan to visit it later today.

Just before we leave, 3 couples arrive at the pool, definitely Portuguese, maybe Azoreans!?

Anyway, the men don't seem to have any problems with the tide, the waves, or the temperatures.

1-2-3, the T-shirts are off, and with a headfirst jump, they plunge into the cool water.

It's already freezing just looking at it....

We continue driving towards the lighthouse, and after a fierce debate about whether we can or should drive down this extremely steep, narrow, and winding road with our Peugeot 308 station wagon, I lose the argument and freeze in the passenger seat!

Not for the faint-hearted....

Some of the curves are so tight and steep that I feel like I'm driving directly over a cliff into the sea. I can only advise everyone NOT to drive down here with a car!

My husband says he needs a little adventure - I could strangle him for that - right now - on the spot (but who would drive the car up again...!? )

We park directly at the lighthouse, the parking lot has space for exactly 2 vehicles - small vehicles - because we are alone here, and it is impossible to turn around in 3 moves.

That's going to be fun.

Theoretically, you can continue down to the sea, where the fishermen launch their boats. But I forbid my husband to go there, as there is definitely no space for our wagon.

We turn around with the handbrake pulled up to the stop and I say three prayers as we drive up this steep mountain again.

Of course, the car stalls when starting on the extreme incline... I'm a nervous wreck and soaked in sweat when we reach the top again.

That's enough driving on small winding roads for today!

A few kilometers further, at Miradouro da Vista dos Barcos, you have an excellent view of the lighthouse and the road down to the bottom.

You can skip the way to the lighthouse, the view is 100 times better!

We drive past Nordeste to Miradouro da Ponta do Sossego.

This park-like area also has picnic areas with barbecue facilities, and here too, the local families are grilling.

Already at the entrance, I see the bus parking spaces and car parking spaces and secretly rejoice that we are almost alone on the road again today and can enjoy all these great places on the island exclusively!

I can't even imagine how crowded it would be here if all the parking spaces were full.

In addition to the view of the coast, there are countless colorful flowers here, as well as.... cats!

Many, many cats!

Although we have learned that the Azores have a great animal welfare program where cats are captured and neutered/spayed (recognizable by the cats with a half ear missing - these have already been neutered!), it seems that some little tomcats have been active here.

The family grilling in the middle of the park feeds the cats with bread. We count at least 15 cats, including many kittens, a few weeks or months old.

They are shy and run away immediately when we approach. Since we recognize some of them with cropped ears, we assume that they associate humans with a bad experience.

Even though the kittens are so cute, we have to continue and take a look at the many colorful flowers on our way back to the car.

We continue along the coast to Miradouro da Ponta da Madrugada.

And then the husband gets the itch again and takes the detour to the 'supposedly most beautiful sandy beach on Sao Miguel' (at least that's what our travel guide says) and drives down another small steep and winding road to the sea.

The road ends at a small parking lot. From here, we have to continue on foot.

There are steep stairs and steps leading down to the sea.

The first look at the sea reveals: stones!

Where on earth is the most beautiful SANDY BEACH on the island!?

The travel guide also writes that it's a matter of luck whether the beach is sandy or stony. Everything is possible in the Azores - in some years, the sea brings forth a fantastic sandy beach, while in other years, it washes away the sand and leaves only stones - just like in the summer of 2020.

Although the weather today is not particularly great, we can see that Praia do Lombo Gordo contains more stones than sand this year.

But apart from that, it is certainly a very lonely beach - probably because it is not easy to reach.

For this realization, we now have to climb up all the stairs again...

We gasp for breath as we reach the top. The 20 km of walking a few days ago is still in our bones.

My daughter and I imagine a delicious ice cream in a cafe, but my husband has other plans:

we are going to do a (quote from the travel guide): 'easy & short, varied and impressive hike' to the Salto do Prego waterfall!

Okay, that sounds acceptable, and the trail is only 2 km long. We should be able to handle that!

We drive through the village of Faial da Terra and follow the description from the travel guide to the end of the village.

The trail starts right at the edge of the forest.

After just a few meters, it becomes clear that this is by no means an 'easy' path.

Due to the rain, the many rocks and roots that we have to climb over are as slippery as soap.

After the first climbing sections over streams and slippery rocks, the path improves slightly, but now it changes from 'slightly uphill and slippery' to 'very steep and slippery'.

Oh man, I can still handle the first two climbs, but my legs are just not capable of carrying me anymore. My daughter has been complaining about trembling knees for 2 hours and has already been allowed to take a break during the descent to Praia do Lombo Gordo, but my husband pushes us on - 'just one more climb', 'almost there', etc.

Well, the mood doesn't improve when I, after a continuous climb, am the first to stand in front of the sign 'Salto do Prego - 600 meters'.

I feel like I've already walked more than 2 km, and now there's another 600 m uphill!?

I'm exhausted!

Today, we are definitely not a hiking-loving exemplary family. Everyone is complaining, and Dad is annoyed!

Hopefully, swimming under the waterfall will compensate for all this effort!

After a short but steep and rocky descent, we actually reach the waterfall. Hooray!

A couple is just coming towards us, now we are all alone here! Great!

I scramble over the rocks and stones down to the water and put on my bathing clothes, but as soon as I put one foot in the water, it becomes clear: I'm definitely NOT going to swim here!

It's so cold! It hurts my legs.

Too bad, I was so determined, but if I go swimming here, I'll come out with a bladder infection.

I settle for cooling my feet while my husband jumps in briefly, screaming from the cold, and immediately climbs out of the water - show-off :-)

After a short rest, we make our way back.

A few chickens come across us, this time even with little chicks, who are very happy about our cookie crumbs.

By now, we are all exhausted and reach the car with our last strength.

Just before, we have to deal with a needy rooster. I have no idea who this little guy is so fond of, but he follows us for at least 200 m - sometimes in front of us, sometimes behind us.

At 6 pm, we reach the car and drive back towards Ribeira Grande.

One more quick photo stop, then I can't get out of the car anymore to take photos.

Back at the resort, the jacuzzi has never felt better than today. Pure relaxation!

The fantastic starry sky sweetens the end of the day with a shooting star!