Canyoning / Coastering or Coasteering / Guided Hikes / Taxi services
and even locally produced Coffee and handicrafts including the costly bed covers with traditional patterns from Sao Jorge - all can be found in Faja dos Vimes or in nearby Calheta with Dina Nunes and her friend Jorge Santos. They are your number one Tourist Guides on the island if it comes to adventures.
www.discoverexperienceazores.com / geral@discoverexperienceazores.com, also on Facebook.
Faja dos Vimes: Café Nunes (the home of Dina) or at their office in Calheta.
Tel. +351 967 552 354 Dina and +351 926 360 041 Jorge. Café Nunes (Dina’s Mom): +351 295 416 717
I went with them on a 2 1/2h Coastering tour and it was big fun. We went to the coast of Ribeiro do Nabo but they have various other places from where to start with their tours.
As the weather was a bit unstable it wasn’t the time to go with a group of tourists but the sea conditions still allowed for some jumps of up to 10m in altitude, exploring a cave and a natural lava bridge but the suck-up hole was impossible to experience.
You’ll get professionally equipped with premium material: A 5mm neoprene, Coastering boots, life vest, helmet and gloves…if only they had some bigger swimming shorts :).
Jorge your responsible and experienced tour guide and Rui a sympathetic young trainee will get you a security briefing and once you are outfitted – you can’t wait to get wet.
Following an easy trail through a lava field you’ll access the sea on a cliff and jump in. The good thing about Coastering is that you can decide the height of your jumps. So if you don’t want to begin with a head down 30m jump, you don’t need to (ha, ha). The highest jumps we did were about 10m, the lowest probably around 3m. While swimming along the wild and rough coast you’ll see a lava cave, let yourself be poured in by a wave as it’s much easier than crawl on all four. Back outside you will climb out of the water and onto some rocks without any paths; however fear not there is sufficient grips for your hands and feet to climb. I’m not going to tell you here any further details about the jump-contest go and see for yourself and think about superheroes – it’s a lot of fun. At a nearby spot there is a large natural arc where in suitable water conditions you can swim through and climb on a 10m rock inside to jump back into the water. I thoroughly enjoyed my time.
Bring a spare set of socks and underwear, a towel, a water bottle and some sandwiches plus a string to fix your glasses in case you wear any. They’ll bring the rest including a power bar and a small bottle of water at the end of the trip.
Jorge has a waterproofed Nikon camera and will shoot pictures and videos during the trip which you’ll get for free if I remember correctly. Dina was in the safety kayak having a relaxed time and the only thing missing would be that she presses you an espresso from her home grown coffee beans with a trekking coffee machine once you have swam to her kayak; hopefully next time :)

I haven’t done any Canyoning with them unfortunately as the weather became worse. In general they visit 3 canyons. One is for the very experienced / professionals with 3 waterfalls of 30m – 35m and 2 for beginners with drops of 12 – 20m (abseiling). The easier ones are both at the southern end of the island near Santo Antao.

For the Pros amongst you – there is even a Canyoning Guidebook “Among water trails in the Azores” ISBN 978 989 98432-5-7, 2014

Hikes:

Morro das Velas: 1.5h, walk in good weather, preferably end at the far side for viewing a spectacular sunset over Cabeco Gordo, the main volcano of Faial across the sea.
There is no official trail so it’s kind of a secret for foreigners. To access the trail walk down the Chapel of the Emida Nossa Senhora do Livramento. Climb the stairs to the church (closed) walk behind it and find the trail at the backside. Follow the trail on the grass, after around 150m turn left to follow a path climbing towards the top of the hill and keep on that track until you meet a round structure, possible a windmill or a lookout tower built a long time ago. 15 min.
From here you have 3 options for 3 different viewpoints.
Follow the path straight ahead of you, it will descent slowly until it comes to a sudden end. On this trail you’ll have beautiful views over the town of Velas. 15 min return.
Back at the round structure walk the trail (level) to the end of the hill to access the first view point. From there you have a beautiful view down to the ocean and to the 2nd hill. Sunset from here is great. 15 min return.
Finally take the path slightly descending which will stop near the highest cliff. Keep on walking until you are below the highest cliff (easy) and climb the rocks directly to the highest cliff If the stone is dry – the traction is great. There is a geocache up there right at the top and a fantastic view over to Faial and straight down to the endless blue of the ocean. To the other side you’ll see Portugal’s highest mountain, Mt. Pico. This is truly a great place to relax. Enjoy!

Ponta do Rosais – The abandoned Lighthouse and the wild end of Sao Jorge: 12km / min. 3h incl. exploring…
No official trail, you can actually drive down all the way to the lighthouse but as I didn’t have a car – I hitched and walked :). After the small town of Rosais you’ll find a right turn. After a couple of meters you see a local museum in a tiny house “Nucleo Museulogico dos Rosais”. Follow the dirt road upwards, at the crossing turn left. It’s a straight 5km walk down to the lighthouse. Before exploring the lighthouse climb up to the old whale look-out now a bit in ruin from the recent hurricane where you have a good view of the lighthouse area. Once in front of the lighthouse there is no fence, the gates are open but various signs tell you not to enter and if you do so it’s on your own responsibility. Enter if you like… If you do… turn left after the first low concrete building on your left hand side (long before you actually reach the lighthouse) and climb a low wall – again with warning signs of instable cliffs and the danger of falling (which is by the way very real). On the other side of the wall there is a viewing spot from where you can see down the sharp and colourful rocks to the end of Sao Jorge. One couldn’t imagine a wilder one. Not for the faint-hearted. There is a trail along the cliffs through the bushes with even more viewpoints and a geocache but take extra care on this trail. Finally sadly to say the lighthouse is closed and it’s impossible to enter and climb. Apparently it still belongs to the military but got destroyed in an earthquake decades ago.
Back at the crossroad where you walked left followed by the 5km’s down to the lighthouse (now it would be right and down to the main road) you could also opt to walk straight ahead and reach Parque Florestal das Sete Fontes. It’s a small park with beautiful plants including giant ferns; however the park has been damaged by recent hurricane. There are BBQ places and even some sorry looking deer in an enclosure waiting patiently until I arrived with bunch of fresh green leaves which they can see but not access. Nearby there is another view point from where to see the northern side of the island (direction south but the good views are far away and difficult to see without binoculars.

Nearby is also Faja do Joao Dias which I wanted to hike down one day but due to the weather this plan didn’t work. From the beginning of the trail, directly above the Faja it would take you around 40 min down and about the same amount back up.

As of June 2019, in the UK you can only apply for a (60 day) Thai tourist visa by using the new online system. Presumably this will be rolled out worldwide. How have your experiences been doing this?

Here are a couple of observations from my SETV application in London recently:

There is a new list of visa requirements on the embassy website. These tally with the upload checklist on the online system and the system won't let you proceed unless you make an upload under each section:

• A current passport with validity not less than 6 months and at least 2 blank pages.
• Travel booking confirmation
• Proof of accommodation in Thailand e.g. hotel booking, invitation letter from family or friend in Thailand
• Financial evidence e.g. bank statements, proof of earnings, sponsorship letter

• Confirmation of legal residence in the UK or Ireland (if applicants are not nationals of these countries)

• • Specifics:

-You need to set up a user-id (and supply an email address) to use the online visa system

-The system crashed on me several times. You can save and resume part-completed applications, so press 'Save' often

-The online system only accepts .jpg format* files. No pdfs. You might have to get acquainted with screenshotting and photoshop/photoediting software

-Your attachments (flight tickets, etc) must be smaller than 500 KiloBytes (each) in size - again, you might have to do some tap dancing with image editing software to achieve this

-You'll also have to upload an image of your passport datapage and a passport-compliant photo of your face (they have a clever online checker to see whether your face-photo is compliant). The application process grinds to a halt until you supply a compliant photo.

-One of the requirements (for applications made to the London embassy, anyway) is "Confirmation of legal residence in the UK or Ireland (if applicants are not nationals of these countries)". If you ARE a national of the UK, then your passport is your proof of residence, but the system will still expect you attach a .jpg of SOMETHING under that section. How about a nice picture of some kittens?

-The system supplies a declaration page which you are supposed to (a) download; (b) print; (c) sign; (d) scan; (e) upload (which makes things tedious if you don't have a printer!). Tip, you can probably do a screenshot and scribble a signature on that on-screen).

-Bank statements need to have a postal address on (the list of requirements doesn't mention this). My online statement (with no address) was rejected.

-The bank balance required isn't stated on the website, but it is widely accepted to be 20,000 THB equivalent. I didn't test this, myself.

-Proof of accommodation doesn't need to be for your full stay. I booked a hotel online for a week's stay, which was sufficient to meet the embassy's requirements. I cancelled my hotel booking afterwards. The embassy wouldn't accept any protestations about guesthouses without online booking.

-The website doesn't say anything about the requirements of the flight (return etc). I showed a one-way flight only, which was fine

-You will need to transport your actual passport to the embassy (!). If you are taking it there in person, you have to book an appointment date on the embassy's online system. You need to choose a date which is more than two working days away. The embassy's online calendar/booking system will allow you to pick inappropriate dates (e.g. weekends (when they are closed); or dates earlier than the 2 day leadtime). You have to use your own brain to pick a suitable date

-If you are taking your passport to the embassy in person, you have to print out all your evidence (bank statements etc), despite already having uploaded it. Postal applicants don't need to print/send the evidence, but have to printout the supplied sheet with their application number/barcode. Postal applicants also have to slip-in a tenner in cash to cover the postage back

-If any of your evidence is deemed unsatisfactory when a human reviews it, the embassy will email you and tell you what is missing/wrong. You then have to email it to them at an email address they supply. Responses to emails are quite speedy.

-They will give you a date when you can collect your passport again. In person, in London, this is done via a cloakroom-ticket number and collection number barcode. The blurb says you have to bring a 'identity card' with you, but you don't. Apparently, postal applications take 3-5 working days

The above is only for full 60 day Tourist Visas. for 30 day visa exemptions on arrival, there is no change.

The worst experience, I do not recommend then!

I would like to share my disappointment about the agency Galaxia Expeditions which was hired to organize a tour to Laguna 69, one of the most beautiful lagoon of Latin America and for the reason I included Huaraz on my tour when I was planning to come to Peru. I did this tour after three days in this city to feel myself in good condition about the altitude.

Well, on March 9th, me and my boyfriend were waiting for the bus at 5am and we only go out from Huaraz towards Huascaran National Park at 6:30 am because many people were late and we had to wait for them. When the guide (I can not remember the name) started to make some avoids about the trip. He recomended not stopping on the way and even walking slower was better than stopping and he advised not to sit down because the high altitude pressure. When we started, me and my boyfriend followed all the instructions and how the rarefied air impact was so hard, we kept walking slowly to maintain a breathing rhythm, because se were going up from 3900m to 4600m. Some people was going up the montain in a easy way and they were ahead because I believe they are used with hight altitude. I was not care about the rhythm, because I was respecting the condiction of my body, although we practiced sports in Brazil frequently. But the altitude was the great reason for a slower pace. The right altitude causes a lot of pressure on the head, mainly who lives in a coast region, like us from Brazil. We did everything to recover ourselves during the trip, whether chewing coca leaves, drinking water and even consuming gel used by athletes that helps then to work on a better performer. I use it in the long runnings too. During all the trekking, people were walking extremely independent, each one by himself, with no one guide. That’s why sometimes I was in doubt about the way to follow because the signaling was not so well. But as there were always other people on the road it was easy to identify the right way.

So, we started the trail at 9:30am and when we were about 500 meters from the lagoon at 12pm. Suddendly, the guide appeared and said that unfortunately we could not continue because we had not more any time to finish the climb and come back just in time. He said we were very slowly and we could not delay the rest of the group. We didn’t understand the recommendation because it was at noon yet and it was early yet. All the researchs that I made about this trip it was most of people went up about 3 hours along and we also had go out during 2 hours and a half. For us, we were going well, because we had already walked 6km and a half in hight altitude, the trip was being a kind of overcoming and challenge and we were so happy being there. It was a dream. But that was interruped for a guide did not give us any feedback about our pace in the moments we cross each other along the road. I think as I good guide, he could accelerate and coach us to get success, but it did not happen.

So many people are coming after us and I had no idea why the reason for the rush. Me and my boyfriend felt very embarrassing because we were 500m from the lagoon and we wont not give up. We had a goal to get there and take several nice photos (because we are photographers) and the guide did not have the slightest empathy, he was only worried about fulfilling the time of departure of the bus.

I figured out that he only was considering on a good performing were people lives or used to higher altitudes, such as Peruvians and Europeans. I consider a great disregard and I want to report here my indignation of having walked 6.5km from the bottom of the rain, in a steep climb, I did everything to not stop and we keep a constant rhythm to reach the lagoon. After the interruption of the guide, I honestly did not understand his attitude, because for me a real guide should encourage people, not kill their dreams. We were totally in a good condition for it and the guide did give us any support, he only was conserned about the schedule. He mencioned if we continues we would delay the rest of the group. So, he said if we wanted to go at the pace we were supposed to hire a private service. We paid dearly to go and still had to listen to that. He even said that it would be our choice to keep going up, but he would not be responsible for the return. We were in a place that had no mobile signal and was three hours from our Hostal. A tremendous lack of respect for us consumers! I was very annoyed, but I was coerced to return because he used blackmail saying that we will disrespect the schedule of people who were fast.
Now I ask you from the Galaxy Expeditions agency, do you just care about people who are running up? And those who came from far away and are there to overcome and do everything to climb? You are not prepare to attend people in a correct way. The guide was not human and he did not care about us and others two girls who were going up too. We were commom people who was walking consistently and we only had to come there. But now unfortunately we can not go back in time. t was our last day in Huaraz and we could not try again to go with another agency or even hire a private service as he suggested to.

This was a deep disrespect to the consumer who came from a long way, worked all year round to be able to make the trip. The guide seamed to have no one empathy. Embarrassing, shame! We came back very frustrated and when we came to the base we were waiting for the bus along almost 1 hour. Was this not a disrespect?

If we had climbed to the top it would be come back just in time or in a few minutes later, but this pleasure had stolen from us by a guide who was not able to understand our side, he was worried more about schedule than with people. So I do not recommend this agency. I spent 60 soles to go, I still had pay for breakfast the part (because it was not included) and walked in total 13km to SEE ANYTHING, ANT LAGOON. A DISRESPECT! Look for an agency that cares about people and will offer you all the support, even if you have to pay a little extra. Honestly, it was a terrible service for me. Do not hire this agency, be careful! I could have the pleasure to glimpse the lagoon.

Just wanted to share my experience since I hadn't found clear information on this:

I traveled by bus from Odessa to Chisinau via Transnistria and, as expected, did not get a Moldovan entry stamp while exiting at the Bender border.

I wanted to register my immigration in Chisinau, due to a public holiday, the ministry however was closed.

I went straight to Chisinau airport and got my Moldova exit stamp without any problem. They just checked my Ukraine exit stamp and the Transnistria migration card (which I could keep while exiting Transnistria). Important to note that the stay in Moldova has to be less than 72 hours.

In summary, no problem doing the trip from Ukraine to Moldova via Transnistria.

Just some longer wait (1 hour in total) at the Ukraine-Transnistria border at Kuchurgan as the luggage of all bus passengers was scanned both by the Ukrainian and Transnistrian officers.

Lava Cave: Gruta do Carvao: www.grutadocarvao.com
Tel. +351 296 284 155 or 961 397 080
This is a large lava cave right on the outskirts of Ponta Delgada with its tunnels actually running into town. Best to call ahead and make a reservation as even in late October they were booked out on the following tour and I had to drive back there an hour later.
Open daily for tours at 10.30 / 11.30 / 14.30 / 15.30 & 16.30 – for the 30min standart tour.
Adults: E 5 / Students: E 3 and Kids: E 1.50. The standart tour brings you inside the cave for about 30 min and you’ll get a helmet. Inside the lava tunnel there is some artificial lighting and the guide has an additional torch.
Larger tours, costing E 20 per person, are done only once weekly and encompass about 1km of the lava tunnels. Here you get equipped with protection clothing, helmet and a light. Call ahead for the day and time of departure.

Museums: 3 museums encompass the Museu Carlos Machado
It’s main museum in the former nun convent of Santo Andre was closed for at least 7 years but has reopened this year. It’s a fascinating place to visit with a strange combination of the hard life of the nuns in the convent (visiting chambers without view to the visitors or the turn-around-wheels to exchange goods, the church and a more recent section with hundreds of stuffed animals from an impressive Great White at the entry to a very sorry looking Manta Rey, birds, cats inclusive lions and so on. It’s well worth visiting.
The Igrecia do Colegio holds the largest piece of wood produced in Portugal (it’s a giant, probably around 10m high altar. However these angels are just too chubby for me. Surely by the look of the angels, everyone in the colegio was well fed.
Finally there is the Nucleo de Santa Barbara which holds changing exhibitions.
All 3 museums are just steps from each other’s and are open Tue – Sun from 09.30 – 5pm in winter and Tue – Sun from 10am – 05.30 in summer. Entry prices are E 5 for all 3 museums and E 2 for each one separately.

The Arruda Pineapple Plantation was interesting in the way of learning how they cultivate pineapples but the shop seems a bit of a rip-off with stuff brought in from everywhere with a key point on all things pineapple. Count on 30 min for your visit. It’s badly signed.

Pineapples from the Azores are among the best ones, if not the sweetest and softest I have ever eaten. You can buy them also in supermarkets or shops selling fruits for around E 2 the piece.

Barbershop / Hairdresser for men:
Should you need one, you’ll find a fancy and inexpensive hairdresser for man at
Barbearia JESUS, Rua Dr. Joao Francisco Sousa, 29 (town center), Tel. +351 966 525 821.

Hike: Rocha da Relva (near Ponta Delgada, just behind the airport) PRC 20 – 3h / 5.5km return / rating medium. This time allows for plenty of stops.

Hike: Lagoa do Fogo:
If you check on the live cam images for the lake, you’ll find it mostly in dense fog, the picture revealing nothing but a grey image. This however doesn’t mean that it is like this. Why? The camera sits on the highest point, far above the lagoa where the antennas are located. Below at the lower viewpoint the weather was clear and the full lake beautifully lay out below us.
A quick but not an easy walk brought us in about max. 30 min down to the shore of the lake and another 30 min around the first two fjords to the large straight shore from where we turned back the same way. Back at the viewpoint we decided to use the last sunlight in the crater to make it to a beautiful viewpoint (no official walking trail) but quite an easy path to a view point on the crater rim where you could see down to the lake. Roughly 500 – 600m (moving further away from the antennas).

Caldeira Velha: Thermal Pool and Gardens.
Before getting to Lagoa do Fogo as it was still supposed to be covered in fog we went to check out the Thermal Pool and Gardens here. The price has tripled in recent years and it cost now also E 8 for adults to visit. If you only want to visit the park without getting wet it’s E 3 per adult. Kids aged 7-14 pay half price. This place with its fern trees has a special ambience but the pools are much smaller. At the highest one, the water is colder but the pool is fed by a warm thermal water fall which makes this place unique. There were quite many people in early November in there so I can’t imagine how that place must look like in summer. If you can choose only one pool – head for the Terra Nostra Garden as the area is much bigger.

Hike: Sete Cidades.
There are at least 2 hikes (one to each side) but due to bad weather we couldn’t do any of them.

Best view point: Lago do Canario in Sete Cidades. Drive through the gates (watch the closing times carefully) to the car park and walk for around 5-10min.

Hike: There is a steep trail down to the Lagoa do Santiago from its viewpoint.
Count at least an hour for the return walk.

Abandoned Hotel exploration at Miradouro do Rey view point (the main view point).
Even in the off-season we found people in there on a foggy day. Officially it’s prohibited to enter, signs will tell you but on the side of the hotel there are 2 ways of entering via a low wall of about 70cm. All responsibility is declined by the authorities but they seem to tolerate visits and you have to think well if you want to do this. In case you do, come well equipped with good shoes and a torch and watch the ground and the ceiling carefully and constantly as there are holes and shafts plus electric installations and cables hanging from the top were a broken ankle would be not the worst to expect.

Ponta da Ferraria:
Hot pool to pay including a Spa and thermal sea water pools for free if weather and tide conditions allow for a bath there. From the large parking area you can follow a trail past the Spa building which leads down to the sea. There you’ll find the thermal pools, free of charge. This is really an amazing place, unfortunately when we visited it was high tide and stormy – so no chance to get inside. On the contrary there was another phenomenon, straight behind the pool at the rocks above the roaring see. The waves that came crashing in made an easy 15m high spray but because the wind was towards the sea, it was dangerous to stand on the edge of the rock but no drop of the sea water would reach your body standing on the edge. On pictures it looked like you were orchestrating the waves :)