Ilhas Pico y Faial, Azores

 April 28

Today we visited two of the smaller islands in the central cluster of the Azores: Pico and Faial.

Pico is the youngest of the Azores (270,000-300,000 years old) and the second largest at 270 sq miles 450 sq km) with a population of 40,000 people. It also contains the highest peak in all of Portugal. We got a brief view of this peak at the top of the Pico volcano as we drive past this morning. The actual caldera is 500 meters across and still smokes, although the last eruption from one of its side craters was in the late 18th century.

Pico is called the “gray island” because there is so much exposed basalt and lava. This made supporting a local colony a real challenge in the 15th century. It was discovered that wine grapes can grow well in the volcanic soil, but first you have to remove the surface rocks. Near the ocean, the solution was to build small rock walled enclosures to provide wind protection and plant the vines within them. Much of the island is carpeted with these enclosures. The magnitude of the manual labor this would require is staggering. The vineyards have been declared a UNESCO world heritage site. The peak of wine production was in the mid-18th century, employing one quarter of the residents, and then phylloxera arrived and killed most of the vines. There was a mass exodus from the island, which recovered somewhat after the local whaling industry developed. Wine production has started to increase again, as well as tourism . 

Faial is a very different island although only 2 km away. It is much smaller (173 sq km and 40,300 people), and is known as the Blue Island from the rampant hydrangeas. It is as green and lush as Pico is harsh and rocky, except on the western end. Faial was where the wealthy Pico vineyard owners lived and where all the export and import businesses were located, as it has a large natural harbor. Faial was developed as an orange growing center as well, in part to avoid scurvy in the ship crews. 

Faial, like its neighbor Pico, became a large whaling center, particularly connected to American whaling companies. Azorean sailors are specifically mentioned for their bravery in Moby Dick. Then in September 1957 a submarine volcano off the west coast started spewing steam and ash. It erupted for 13 months in several phases including a dramatic lava stage at the end. When it was finished, whaling villages had been destroyed, ash covered the farm fields, and new land had been added to the island. 35% of the island population emigrated, much of them to the United States.

The island economy has shifted to dairy and beef cattle (there are currently 3 cows per resident), whale watching and other tourism. The parliament of the Azores meets in Faial although the president is hard on São Miguel. 

Tonight, as we left to cruise to São Miguel, we enjoyed a Philippine banquet and a performance by some amazingly talented musicians from our crew. 

Pictured: Pico peak and vineyard walls, 1957 label on Faial, ship band