Tag Archives: Ponta Delgada

São Miguel Island, Azores — Ribeira Grande and Salto do Cabrito


The next two stops on our tour of São Miguel Island were the town of Ribeira Grande and the waterfall at Salto do Cabrito. Since we’re discussing the tour in chronological order, I’ll begin today’s article with Ribeira Grande. And we’ll begin with the charming and ornate façade of the Church of Espirito Santo:

Igreja do Divino Espírito Santo (Church of the Holy Spirit)

How about a quick gander at a wonderful liquor store specializing in some of the local spirits? This is A Mulher de Capote (The Woman in the Cloak) factory store at 11 Rua de Goncalo Bezerra (not to be confused with actual distillery located to the south of downtown):

A Mulher de Capote (11 R. de Goncalo Bezerra)

Of course, no Portuguese destination would be complete without at least one colorful balcony image. This is an outside view of Mulher de Capote:

Time to head out of this wonderful little town and into the countryside for a neat waterfall located about 5.2 kilometers/3.2 miles driving distance to the southeast of this store. Next stop: Cascato do Salto do Cabrito:

The hiking trail to Salto do Cabrito Waterfall

So, what exactly does Cascato do Salto do Cabrito translate to in English? As best I can tell, it’s something like Waterfall (or Cascade) of the Leaping (Salto) Kid (as in baby goat—Cabrito). Whatever it means, it always translates to beautiful and worth the trek:

Cascato do Salto do Cabrito

The vegetation is this area is lush, green, and altogether wonderful. The flower at the top of this article was photographed here, as is this image:

Cascato do Salto do Cabrito

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Fun Photo Friday — São Miguel Island Random Favorites 1


I am going to try something a little different on today’s Fun Photo Friday. Usually, Fun Photo Fridays feature pictures of locations featured on the preceding Monday and Wednesday. For for today and the rest of this series on the Azores, I’ll be featuring random selections from the entire collection of shots. Here is today’s gallery/slide show of São Miguel Island favorites, which will give you a preview of what’s coming in the weeks ahead as well:

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São Miguel Island, Azores — Lagoa do Fogo (Fire Lake)


We left Ponta Delgada behind, and as you’ll recall from Monday’s article, our van began some serious uphill climbing. We were headed into the clouds for a look at Lagoa do Fogo, which translates from Portuguese as “Lagoon of Fire”. Most English-speaking people call it “Fire Lake.” But before we would arrive there, we would be treated by some great vistas:

São Miguel Island

Fire Lake is a volcanic crater lake atop Água de Pau Massif, which is a stratovolcano complex running through the central region of the island. The elevation of the lake is 1,886 feet/575 meters, but the overlook is considerably higher as you can see:

Lagoa do Fogo (Fire Lake)

Looking down, one is reminded to not take any unconsidered steps, lest one take a long, long tumble:

Lagoa do Fogo (Fire Lake)

Now let us enjoy views of both the lake and the rim of the surrounding volcanic crater:

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