My alarm went off at 4:45AM. The plan was to shoot sunrise about 30 minutes away, then pick up my friend at the airport as he was flying in for the day from JFK. The plan for the remainder of the day was to explore the east side of the island as much as possible, then head back out to the west side for sunset.



The light was fantastic during sunrise, though not exactly where I needed it. I chose the Coal Peak Viewpoint for sunrise.





Coal Peak Viewpoint sunrise.





Back at the airport to meet the 3rd Delta flight into PDL.





We made another stop at Miradouro da Lagoa do Fogo as my friend hadn’t seen it yet.





We then stopped at the hot springs for about thirty minutes. We had the place to ourselves as we happened to roll up two minutes after they opened.





The next destination was the first of three waterfalls we’d see today. Salto do Cabrito.





We then hopped over to Parque Natural da Ribeira dos Caldeiroes. Waterfalls #2.





We then stopped at Miradouro da Vista dos Barcos which provides a great view of the lighthouse.





Flowers.





I can’t seem to find where this was, but it wasn’t a planned stop. I saw a sign for a viewpoint which led to a viewpoint on a dirt road.





The dirt road on the way down from the viewpoint.





We stopped in Furnas for lunch. A rather nice cheese plate for only a few Euro.





Pork tenderloin for the main.





Geothermal springs in Furnas.





Geothermal springs in Furnas.





The next stop was the Jose do Canto Forest Garden, where’d we’d see our 3rd waterfall. Below if from the 25 minute hike to the falls.





Salto do Rosal waterfalls. We had to place to ourselves.





We then drove all the way back to the west side of the island and stopped at Ponta do Ferraria again. I did remember my 10 stop screw on ND filter, which meant I could get some long exposures but I had to use a rock to hold the camera.





The final stop was Mosteiros Beach for sunset.





Sunset, Mosteiros Beach.





Quick steak and mushrooms for dinner at 10:30PM.





Technically day 4, but this is the only picture I took from that day. Ended up in economy on the way back to JFK, but not a huge deal as I slept nearly the entire flight.







Overall, this was a fantastic trip with some stunning scenery. For those of you that haven’t considered traveling to the Azores, I would highly recommend it. Not only is the scenery stunning, but the food is great and the island is cheap as well. I look forward to returning and next time I hope to visit one of the other islands.



This was also the retirement trip for my Canon 60D. Pictures from my new camera and lens, the Canon 6D Mk II 24-105mm, will either come up in the Grand Canyon trip report (if I write one for that) and if not, will appear in Nigeria. Now that’ll be an interesting one…