I discovered a website giving good hiking trail information for Sao Miguel, so we decided to go on one that is nearby in João Bom and billed as 5,3 km – which would be very doable even if we had steep climbs and descents.
Off we went! Firstly, we made the mistake of walking downhill into the village instead of making an immediate left by the mini-market! A 3km mistake, by the time we walked down and back!
The trail meandered through fields with grazing cattle; then we came across stunning views of the cliffs and ocean. From there we descended into a ravine with small stream. At this point the trail was more challenging. We continued, enjoying the flora and views along the way.
We came across this water cachement area with the beautiful grassy path, but before long we were climbing again and, as one can see from the second photo, the white buildings are far off in the distance!
After a while we came out on a dirt road and the trail post read “5” (5km) and we were feeling pretty good and accomplished! We continued on and on, up and down hills along the dirt road. We never saw a soul, no other hikers, no houses, and the numbers on the trail posts got higher and higher. FINALLY, after seeing “10”, and after climbing a particularly steep hill that took our breath away, we saw a house and the road where the car was parked!
The following is for the actual hike only – does not include any activity beforehand!
Our treat was dinner at Cafe Canto do Cais in Capelas, a restaurant we visited two years ago, and fell in love with!
keep that up and you will be absolutely svelte when you return.
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Spectacular! Congratulations on seeing it through to the end.