Location: Azores
Today we made our way off Vela just after breakfast to meet two local biologists who would be our hiking guides. We had breathtaking views throughout the half-hour bus ride, winding across the island past massive hydrangeas as we entered the first forest Id seen in well over a month. By the time the bus slowed to a halt, we were surrounded by clouds dense enough there was no way to know we were standing next to the youngest caldera of the Azores, just over 1000 years old. We spent several hours hiking through the mist and making our way halfway around the caldera until we started a slow descent into the cloud forest. Shortly after entering the forest, we came across the first of many clear views of Pico, a nearby island that holds the highest mountain in Portugal. After a full morning of hiking, we stopped for a lunch break (thanks to our chefs staying up late last night to get everything ready for us:) It was then the remainder of the trail that covered us in mud a few slips in and the tally was started, who would fall the most? By the end of our adventure, there were no white sneakers remaining, but getting covered in mud was one of the days many highlights in my book. Once we came off the narrow trail through the woods and across a gravel road, we were in the home stretch. In merely a few minutes, we went from forest to a hydrangea-covered hillside, leading down to the road where our bus would meet us. We made it! Blissful yet exhausted, we had a moment to catch our breath and chat with friends as well as learn about some more local plant species from our guides as we awaited the bus. Suddenly a truck pulls past us at a fork in the road and starts honking up a storm. Naturally, we all turn to see what could possibly be the cause of this chaos when there’s not another car in sight. In the distance, you can hear a faint mooooooo, and several cows appear around the bend. The man who had driven the truck approached us and signaled to ask if we could block off the fork in the road. As we eagerly agreed, he returned to his truck and honked again, which immediately resulted in the cows picking up their pace as more and more appeared around a bend in the road. In case you were wondering, we can now confirm that Vela’s crew is not only an epic sailing team but a seamless barrier to cows.