Ponto delgado, Azores

This was our first day off the ship. The weather cooperated, again. Linda and Bill arranged for a tour guide, Ricardo Amorim, to meet us at the ship. He was there on time and the 8 of us, plus Ricardo, were off for a tour of this island, the largest of 9 islands in the archipelago that belongs to Portugal. The island is small, not much bigger than Manhattan, with 150,000 residents. It is plush, green and tropical. The wildest animal is the rabbit. No snakes, no rats or mice, no spiders even. Fishing, agriculture, and tourism are the principle industries.

It is easy to believe that the US is at the forefront of the environmental wars, if you haven’t traveled elsewhere. Nearly half of the electricity on the island comes from geothermal sources. They expect to have 70% of their electricity from geothermal sources within the next few years. They also use water to generate electricity, drive small cars, have public transportation, and solar and wind energy under development.

The islands are volcanic and date to around 4700 BC, about the same time as the pyramids in Egypt. During our tour we saw crater lakes, nothing as blue as the one in Oregon, but all have fresh water and lush green surroundings.

Ricardo was rather a unique tour guide. Born on the island, and married without children, he’s quite the entrepreneur. His blue tooth was in use throughout the day as he arranged tours for his other drivers and himself. He has traveled away from the island, but this is home where his parents still live, his father operates a grocery store, and his nieces and nephews thrive. Ricardo is also a joke teller. His material comes from the many tourists he drives about the island. With his wonderful ability to mimic their actions and exchanges, he kept us in stitches for hours. I didn’t learn much about the island’s history, but I did learn about his Japanese tourists, the revenge of the tourist on the fly, (ask me about that one after I’ve had at least one drink), and many slightly off color stories. Carol, one of the group, was a fabulous audience. Her laughter filled the van and we couldn’t help but laugh along with her.

Back to the ship in time for a late lunch, another rehearsal for me before the night’s performance, and then rest time until dinner. What a life!

Adrienne and Stu