DISCOVER WHALES, WINE & UNDERGROUND WALKS
ON THE AZORES ISLAND OF PICO

Story and photos by Barb & Ron Kroll

Where will you find the highest mountain in Portugal? Hint: It's not on the mainland of Europe. The cone-shaped peak is on Pico, one of nine mid-Atlantic Azores islands. Measuring 2,351 metres high, the dormant volcano is also named Pico.

Pico, viewed from the marina at Horta, Faial, is Portugal's highest peak, at 2,351 metres. Azores.

Photo © Barb & Ron Kroll

A 30-minute ferry ride brought us from Horta, the capital of Faial Island, to Pico. A bronze monument of a harpooner in a small boat heralds The Whaling Industry Museum, at Cais do Pico, on the north coast. Inside, whales were processed in massive boilers and vats into vitamins, oil, fertilizer and animal feed, from the 1940s until 1984, when whaling stopped.

“In 1000 years, Azorean whalers, with their rudimentary equipment, didn't kill what Japanese whalers killed in one season,” said Eva Goulart, our guide.

We saw the narrow, six-person canoes, at the Whaling Museum in Lajes do Pico, on the south coast of the 42- by 15-kilometre island. It wasn't surprising that many overturned. A 22-metre-long sperm whale's jaw, in the museum, was three times our height. Its teeth were as long as our hands. Nowadays, Azoreans bring tourists out to whale-watch between May and October.

Pico food and wine

At Hocus-Pocus Restaurant, in the bucolic Hotel Aldeia da Fonte, we dined on grilled fish and prawns and smoked Azorean sausage, marinated in white wine, garlic and spices. Two great but inexpensive wines, Terras de Lava and Curral Atlantis, depict Pico Volcano on their labels. The latter’s name recalled a legend claiming the Azores are remnants of Atlantis.

The former wine's name became apparent when we visited Pico's vineyards. To cultivate vines in land, covered with numerous volcanic eruptions, grape-growers cut the lava into chunks. They stacked them into walls, each enclosing three or four vines. Stretching for kilometres, the vineyards resemble a massive fishing net of black rock.

“The walls block the wind and salt spray, but allow the sun to enter,” explained Eva. “If dismantled and laid end-to-end, they'd go around the world more than once. They're a UNESCO World Heritage site.” The amount of work to construct them, over hundreds of years, boggled our minds.

Visitors and guide explore Gruta das Torres, a 5,150 metre-long lava tube. Pico, Azores.

Photo © Barb & Ron Kroll

Lava tube

Lava also predominates in buildings constructed from basalt, and along the coastline. Here, wheel ruts, cut into lava, mark routes taken by ancient ox-carts bringing grapes to wine presses.

Under the west end of Pico is Gruta das Torres, a 5,150-metre lava tube, just opened to visitors. Wearing bright red helmets, we followed the beam of light from our guide's flashlight on a 45-minute, 450-metre walk. We crunched over broken lava, observing 15-metre-high domes, smooth-as-asphalt lava, rough biscuit-shaped lava and tiny stalagmites.

It felt like a journey to the centre of the earth.

TRAVEL INFORMATION

Portuguese Trade and Tourism Commission: www.visitportugal.com

More things to see and do in the Azores:

Azores Island of Faial Has Volcanoes, Scrimshaw & Sailors' Art

Sao Miguel, Azores Has Tea Plantations, Pineapples, Gardens and Volcano-Cooked Stew

Terceira, Azores Has UNESCO World Heritage City, Holy Spirit Houses, Wine and Cheese