Save your energy for all fab ‘green’ islands have to offer, says Saffron Otter
Nature is our postcard,” declared tour guide Hugo, as he led a hike around the bubbling geysers and steaming sulphurous vents of Furnas Lake.
With its bright blue-green waters fringed by forested hillsides, this crater lake is just one of the many natural wonders of the Azores islands, which are part of Portugal but feel like a world away.
It was here I’d eaten a lunch of cozido, a local stew, which had been slow-cooked, not in the traditional way, but by the hissing geothermal heat. Burying meats and vegetables in the volcanic soil is just one of the ways the Azoreans make use of their unique and energetic landscape.
I was on Sao Miguel – the largest of nine islands in the Atlantic that make up the world’s first archipelago to be certified as a sustainable destination.
Half of the islands’ energy comes from renewable sources, with the aim of reaching 60% by 2025 and the ultimate goal being 100%.
Keen to sample the full “green” experience, I booked into the Santa Barbara Eco-Beach resort near the town of Ribeira Grande.
Built to blend in with the surrounding pastures and mountains, it’s the Azores’ first eco-friendly beach resort and prides itself on its energy-saving measures, such as rainwater harvesting, recycling and upcycled furniture.
A large kitchen garden supplies organic produce to the restaurant and there is a choice of 14 low-level, minimalist studios and villas, some with direct deck access to a stunning lap pool.
Known as the “Hawaii of Portugal”, the Azores offer the allure of an exotic destination, but one that is just a five-hour flight away on new British Airways direct services, with a one-hour time difference.
I just loved its storybook landscape, much of it a patchwork of fields divided by stone walls that are home to hundreds of black and white cows.
Their milk goes into producing the island’s own cheeses. Queijo fresco, a soft fresh cheese, is often served with red pepper sauce and bread at the beginning of a meal.
This fertile land also provides ideal growing conditions for its signature hydrangeas which have taken over the roadsides, forming wild hedgerows of bright pinks and blues.
They were introduced to the region centuries ago by Portuguese explorers and have since become a symbol of national pride.
Another acid-loving plant to look out for is the azalea, which has a dedicated home to bloom in the Terra Nostra Garden.
The tranquil oasis was founded in 1775 by Bostonian merchant Thomas Hickling, who made it his summer residence before it was expanded to create trails lined with orange trees with the help of British gardening experts.
In the late 1930s, it was significantly developed by Scottish gardener John McInroy, and later by English horticulturist David Sayers.
You can while away the hours in the garden exploring countless species of trees and wildlife, but be sure to finish off with a dip in the golden, mineral-rich, geothermal pool. The waters are a bath-like 35C, perfect for unwinding.
This geothermal energy, which powers much of the island, creates numerous hot springs and you’ll find the warming waters of Caldeira Velha, in a beautiful, jungle-like setting with a cascading waterfall.
You can pay around £6 to relax for two hours in the iron-laden waters of the four pools, which range in
temperature, surrounded by acacias and bamboo.
For more natural wonders, press on to the stunning crater lake of
Lagoa do Fogo.
What’s more striking than the fumarole-fuelled water here is the blanket of fern trees towering over them, contrasted by an eerie mist weaving its way through branches, like a scene from Jurassic World.
As I continued to make my way across the western side of the island, I stopped off at another small lagoon, Lagoa do Canario, with a whimsical forest hiking trail where visitors can have picnics on toadstool-like benches.
However, just when I thought I’d seen it all, Sete Cidades – the enormous caldera with its fairytale twin lakes – stopped me in my tracks.
Known as one of the natural wonders of Portugal, legend has it that the contrasting blue and green lakes are the tears of a princess and pastor who were forbidden to be together. Take one of the walking trails through the thickly forested cliffs, several of which lead down to the water’s edge.
Hopping between the Azores’ nine major islands is easy with Azores Airlines. I flew to Terceira, the third-largest island, 20% of which is protected natural park to preserve the last remaining laurisilva and juniper forests. If you reach the vantage point of Serra do Cume you will be rewarded with a cinematic view out all the way to the coast.
The countryside here is also criss-crossed with lava flows and cave systems, most famously the Algar do Carvao, a 3,000-year-old lava tube inside the caldera of the Guilherme Moniz volcano. Observing the geological features, the ferrous deposits and silicate stalactites on a walking tour is like journeying through another world.
While its landscape is something to be marvelled at, Terceira, dubbed the “island of amusement” is also packed full of festivity and culture.
Its historic city of Angra do Heroismo, on the south coast, was discovered in the 15th century and became a key trading port in the Atlantic
Ocean, serving Europe, the Americas and the Indies.
The network of streets in its centre, is a marvel in Renaissance planning, with rows and rows of Flemish-inspired houses decorated with rainbow shutters and doors, as well as the candy-coloured churches and chapels dotted about.
The Azores is also protective of its traditions and I experienced a taste of this over lunch at Quinta do Martelo, a farm three miles from the city centre. Recreating life as it was five centuries ago, it has a shop and lodgings, and the restaurant is set up like a family dining room, where a main course of alcatra, a stew slow-cooked in a clay pot, was served.
Visiting the Azores feels like stepping back into a place frozen in time and it is reassuring to know the islanders go to great lengths to protect the wild beauty of their homeland.
Legend has it the blue and green lakes are the tears of a princess and pastor