The Azores – Wednesday 21st June 2023

Another cloudy and damp start. Norberto has a trip booked, but Lisa is not sure if it will go ahead, If it doesn’t then this will become one of my “free days”.

Although it dries off and brightens up in Horta there is still a lot of low-lying cloud, and apparently it is quite windy out at sea. Norberto gets a call from one of the lookouts and we all kit up in waterproofs and lifejackets – but it seems he was a bit overeager and the decision is made to cancel the trip. I head for the Tourist Information bureau to pick up a map, with the intention of visiting one or more of the local museums, and then a little grocery store to get some drinks to stick in the fridge in my hotel room. I then return to the Hotel to change into “non-boating” mode and catch up on my diary before I forget what we saw when. I have the sandwiches that are provided for “boat days”, so my plan is to eat these on my balcony, then set out again this afternoon. I decide the Aquarium looks like an interesting choice, so after checking the map, I set off towards Monte da Guia.

There is an important rule which says that there is no point in having a map if you don’t look at it, and by turning left rather than right, I end up walking most of the way up the hill to the Chapel of Our Lady of Guia. The views are spectacular, but not what I had planned. Realising my mistake, I retrace my steps back down the hill, and see the path I should have taken (It is much clearer from this direction, it has to be said), but I can only get so far along it before the path is blocked by a wooden barrier, just past the Dabney House – a museum telling the story of the Dabney family, three generations of 19th Century businessmen and American consuls to the Azores. I ask a couple of staff members about the Aquarium, only to be told it is closed. Well, it seemed like a good idea at the time! I walk back across Porto Pim beach and stop off for a coffee at Peters and an ice cream from Atlantico to fortify myself for the walk up the hill to the hotel.

I had seen an advertisement on the hotel notice board for “Blue Tuk Tours”, so I investigate their website to pick a tour I fancy for tomorrow. Rather than risk trying to book in Portuguese over the phone, I go up to reception to ask them to arrange one for me. They phone up and say someone will call at the hotel in 5 minutes to arrange it with me – Rui will pick me up here at 9:30 tomorrow morning.

I eat in the hotel tonight (a buffet) then sit on my balcony watching the bats flying over the pool.