Sao Miguel - East island car tour & Tea Plantation

        Faro do Arnel (Nordeste)

        Day 6 was about setting off to the farthest point on the island so far. Nordeste is a town situated, by no surprise, in the "Northeast" of the Sao Miguel island. We visited here the Lighthouse of Arnel or Faro do Arnel which is the oldest lighthouse in Azores, operating since 26 November 1876. Here we met the clearest and bluest water on the island, and also the hottest air. 

        To go to the lighthouse you need to go down on a winding and steep paved road. There is a parking lot where you can leave your car since going down by car "is not recommended". My boyfriend was not scared by this sign and accepted the challenge. I was too slow to stop him and once he entered the road there was no going back. The road was so steep that it was enough space in A SINGLE CURVE to build up a house. At one point we were heading to a curve where I could see straight to the ocean and guess what he decided to do here: TURN BACK. With a rental car. On a steep road. Which ends directly in the ocean. I wanted to get out of the car. But I got scared that he might tip over when placed perpendicular to the slope, so I remained here just to balance the car and not roll over straight into the ocean. At least we die together, right? How romantic... Once he turned the car over, I think I blacked out because I have no idea how we arrived back in the parking lot. 

        Jesus Christ...please just leave the car and go by foot if you come here. That's exactly what we did next: walk on the same road where we previously freaked out. Once we reached the lighthouse, we continued the road down until we reached a small port and a waterfall. Unfortunately, the waterfall had very little water flowing and could barely be seen. The way up was pure torture. Make sure you are fit enough to go back on this road because there is no other way. There is no shadow and the asphalt burns underneeth the feet. Even though the path is less than 700m long, we made several stops to catch our breaths and rehidrate. It took us almost half an hour to climb it back.

        Parque Natural da Ribeira dos Caldeiroes

        Leaving the torture behind and jumping back into the car with AC on, we headed to Parque da Ribeira dos Caldeiroes. It is a free entry park where you can walk around and admire a beautiful waterfall and learn more about the island. There are various rooms with photos and informations on the walls about island's flora, fauna, geology and many other fields.

        Miraduro do Salto da Farinha Queda de Agua

        Tea plantation

        This is the day we planned the visit to one of the most important features of Sao Miguel island, the tea plantation. Cha Gorreana is the oldest and the only tea plantation in Europe. It is a family business with a very long history. The factory is producing tea since 1883 until today.

        We were able to visit the factory and see all the processes that the tea leaves go through before being put on the shelf. Near the factory they have a shop with a terrace where people can enjoy a cup of tea or their pastries with a view over the plantation. There are two dispensers, one with black tea and one with green tea, and people can taste them for free. They have various blends, out of which we chose to buy Lemongrass and Pineapple. These blends are a bit expensive, but once we arrived home and tried them out, we can really admit they are worth it. We also bought many boxes with green and black tea for us and as souvenirs for our families. I am not a fan of green/black tea but this tastes totally different than the ones I am buying from the shop in my country. 

        We ended the visit here with a walk through the tea plantation. The whole experience is free which I find very nice of them. You only pay if you want to get some tea to bring back home.

        Miraduro de Santa Iria

        On our way to get lunch, we stopped at Miraduro de Santa Iria which offers beautiful views from a clifftop over the Atlantic coastline. We spent some time on this beautiful clifftop. There were some trees here that provided shade and the wind was blowing lightly so there were perfect conditions.

        Ribeira Grande

        We took the lunch in Ribeira Grande and we had a small walk through the town.

        Capelas

        In Capelas, there is a viewpoint named Miraduro das Pedras Negras where you can see a rocky formation in the shape of an elephant, named Tomba do Elephant.