No, no bom dia today, says hostess Gisela as she walks by, fresh sheets under her arm. The otherwise good-humored islander looks at our hiking backpacks with a skeptical look that leaves no doubt: She considers us unreasonable, in the worst case, crazy.
Over the lush green Azorean island of São Jorge finally hangs deep into the valleys a thick fog bell. A fresh wind fiddles with the windows of the high-lying holiday home in the coastal town of Velas, it drizzles. Even the volcanic cone of the neighboring island of Pico, which is still visible the previous day, is Portugal's highest elevation, at an altitude of 2,351 meters, and is covered by clouds.
But we want to find out why São Jorge, which belongs to the central archipelago of the Azores, about 1500 kilometers west of the mainland, is an insider tip for hikers.
Azores
"Ilha do Dragão" (Dragon Island) is also called the island of volcanic origin. After her patron saint, St. George, who allegedly killed a dragon. The unusual topography of the island, first populated in 1470, is reminiscent of mythical creatures: it resembles the carapace of a sea monster, which stretches 56 kilometers long, eight kilometers wide and at its highest point about 1000 meters high out of the sea.
With T-Rex in the fog
That a little bit of madness sometimes pays off, at least with rainproof equipment, shows up an hour later. Although transformed into a hiking trail, the former donkey trail that winds its way from the highlands of the Serra do Topo in the southeast to the seashore, has turned into a mud piste.
But in front of the nebulous object the island nature shimmers in the deepest shades of green. "Immediately T-Rex comes out of the fog," jokes a fellow immigrant, and indeed the landscape here seems so bewitched, as if dinosaurs stomp straight from the undergrowth.
But the only thing that really breaks out of the thicket here are white cattle that make themselves comfortable on the trails and deliver the milk for the famous spicy island cheese Queijo de São Jorge next to Holstein cows, which is still produced in three cheese factories. Twice as many cows as inhabitants - this is about 8500 - are said to live on the island, which, at 234 square kilometers, is about one third larger than the Baltic Sea island of Fehmarn.
photo gallery
15 pictures
Azores island São Jorge: We fajã groupiesAs the fog clears, it releases a landscape whose sight lets us understand why São Jorge is considered one of the most beautiful migratory islands in the Azores. Over lush hydrangea bushes along the way we look through the valley Caldeira da Cima down to the deep blue of the Atlantic Ocean.
Creeks and small waterfalls cross our path until we reach one of the most beautiful trail markers of the path: From here you can see for the first time the headland Fajã da Caldeira de Santo Cristo.
There are more than 40 of these small peninsulas upstream of São Jorge. They were created over millennia by the slippage of boulders, rock walls or lava, on them are almost all villages. Since many Fajãs are accessible only on foot or over steep roads, they are particularly suitable as a hiking destination.
Scene meeting place for surfers
Once down the Fajã, we stroll past basalt stone cottages and vegetable patches. The year-round mild microclimate of the Fajãs and their fertile volcanic soil not only provide ideal conditions for the cultivation of potatoes and lettuce heads, but also for banana trees or orange trees. But the houses are mostly deserted. Since the devastating earthquake in 1980 only 200 of the once 200 inhabitants live in seclusion and resist the forces of nature.
Here and there, however, you can see restored houses - the Fajã has developed with its up to 500 meters long waves for surfing scene meeting young Festlandportugsiesen. You can cool off not only in the surf, but also the wave-protected seawater lagoon. The Lagoa is also known for its criss-cross carpet shells - a delicacy on the island that can only be harvested in small quantities.
When a taxi finally collects us at the end of the hike in Fajã dos Cubres at the local chapel to bring us back to Velas on the southwestern tip, it has long since happened to us: we are fajã groupies.
A hike to the headlands follows the next. In the Fajã dos Vimes for example, a small settlement with only about 70 inhabitants, leads along the coast a pretty path that starts in Portal. A strong coffee at Café Nunes brings us back to the end of the tour. The coffee beans to build the Nunes family on their property itself. The tiny plantation with around 700 Brazilian plants is one of the few growing areas in Europe.
Tuba, trumpets and drums
If you want to quietly end the evening after a hike, you will not know the festive mood of the islanders. Almost every week between May and September there is a religious or traditional reason for a celebration for the Portuguese. And then in the coastal town of Velas, small processions with tuba, trumpets and drums run through the streets to the church, DJs play on stage, tuna fish sizzle on the grill. On long-drawn boards with food stalls, everyone is served free, children and young people jump in the middle of the lane on high blazing fire pits.
Little by little, São Jorge feels familiar like an old friend. At dawn, on every steep bend in Velas, the same dogs reliably sound behind garden fences. Yellow-billed Shear Diver circling above us and chattering wildly in the dusk.
Hiking on the Azores island São Jorge
The tour described
From the highlands of the Serra do Topo in the southeast downhill to Fajã da Caldeira de Santo Cristo to Fajã dos Cubres . About 10 kilometers is the easy route long, the pure walking time is depending on condition at 3.5 to 4 hours. With photo bathing and Brotzeitstopps the trip takes about six hours. Since buses rarely and irregularly drive, a taxi transfer is recommended on this tour (cost: round trip from Velas about 60 euros).
Further tours
Another beautiful circuit - partly on steep mountain slopes - leads from the chapel of the Ermida de Santo António on the north coast in the lonely Fajã de Além , in today only holiday houses or ruins are (take food!). Finally, go for a swim on Fajã do Ouvidor next door. After a five-minute walk you will see the most beautiful natural pool on the island: the turquoise-blue Poça Simão Dias with its rugged black rocky landscapes that invite you to engage in a fight.
information
A visitor center informs about history, geology, flora and fauna in the Fajã da Caldeira de Santo Cristo. A detailed overview of all hiking routes with maps is provided by the travel guide of Michael Bussmann in the Azores, published by Michael Müller Verlag.
In the restaurant opposite the church Igreja Matriz we meet our landlady Gisela with her family, also the enterprising car rental company eats fish here. The village with its well-kept houses with about 2000 inhabitants is manageable - also in its culinary offer. Gourmets do not get their money's worth with the simply prepared meat and fish dishes. And also bathing fans are likely to long for other beaches at the sight of the barren lava bay.
But we hikers are happy. Although the island is booked out fast in the main season between July and August and in some ways, rattling quads transport visitors and goods to lonely fajãs. Nevertheless, São Jorge is far from a tourist highway with cruise ship landing as the flagship island of the Azores, São Miguel.
The fresh smell of wild mint on the roadside, the frog concerts, the boisterous and unruly nature you have here almost all to yourself.