Day one in the Azores Portugal. Sao Miguel island. Town of Furnas. Terra Nostra Park. Hot Springs and Botanical Garden.
We were on the road bright and early on day one of our trip. We didn't have a lot planned for the day but we actually felt pretty fresh and alert despite not really getting any sleep the night before. Trip adrenaline is a wonderful thing I suppose.
After driving to a cloud covered look out and not being able to see anything we decided to abandon the idea of hiking the mountains that day and to head over to the town of Furnas to enjoy its hot spring and botanical garden.
It was meant to be our day three activity but sometimes you have to throw the plan out the window and be spontaneous to make the most out of a vacation.
After spending 5+ hours on a cramped plane maybe the best idea would be to spend an hour or two soaking in a hot pool anyway?
The hot spring was located in a really beautiful botanical garden called Terra Nostra Park. The site opened up at 10:30am and cost us €17 per person. We probably spent about three hours in there so in my mind the price tag was well worth it.
They had change rooms on site to put on our bathing suits and lockers to hold our stuff, but we didn't have a European phone plan so we weren't actually able to connect our phone to the lockers. A lot of people just left their stuff on the benches and grass located around the hot spring so we did the same.
The hot spring was a striking brownish orange color that is created from a high concentration of iron suspended in the water. When the sun hit it the color really popped and was more on the orange side than brown. In the photos above you can actually see the difference in how the water looked orange in the direct sunlight and much more brown in the shadows. It was a really neat effect in my opinion.
There was a lot of sediment in the water that clung to our feet and bathing suits and even after rinsing off in the outdoor showers surrounding the pool there was still an orange tint to my shorts.
I had to wash out our suits in the shower of our hotel room that night to get it all out of there. Something to keep in mind would be to not wear a white bathing suit in the pool because it might come out permanently stained. Just a suggestion.
We were among the first to arrive on site so it wasn't too busy, but people continued to stream in and it began to fill up quite a bit as the day went on. The hot spring was large enough to accommodate a lot of people though, so it didn't feel overly crowded at any point. We did the hot spring first while it was less crowded and then walked around the park afterwards.
The park was quite large and it had a few mini attractions to see inside. One of our favorite spots was the area with stone animal statues that were slowly being overtaken by the surrounding vegetation. I think that it was called the animorphic park.
The statues had a beautiful sort of eerie vibe about them.
Another cool spot was a small island located in a pond that was only accessible by a stone walkway.
The various streams and water features all around were a nice touch really. They added to the peaceful nature of the garden.
One spot had a lot of frogs that were croaking and calling one another. They were making so much noise that a part of me wondered if it was sounds being broadcast over a speaker system. Another much larger pool had a school of koi fish.
The fish seemed to be trailing the visitors going by, presumably looking for a handout of food.
The plants and vegetation in the garden were very tropical. There were palms and ferns decorating both the natural as well as the tailored landscapes.
There were several varieties of trees as well, some of which were very unique and beautiful.
I really like the one in the photos above and below in particular.
The weather though was actually quite similar to that of Canada where we were coming from.
We could tell that the island was just entering into its early to mid spring cycle.
Many of the trees had leaves on them but just as many were bare or only just starting to bud.
There were some early blooming flowers that added a nice pop of color but we didn't see a whole lot of variety when we were there.
This one particular pathway looked like the entrance to a tropical 5 star resort.
Wouldn't you agree?
The islands are known for their blue hydrangeas and we saw a tons of hydrangea plants throughout our vacation but almost none of them had any flowers on them. There were a few but only the odd plant here and there.
After walking through the park for a while we eventually hit the road to make our way to our next destination. It was the islands tea plantation. That will be a story for another day though. So until then, thanks for reading!