Azores Day: 3

We had breakfast at the hotel, broke from the norm, and supplemented with some of our own groceries. Very rogue of us.

We headed to the meeting spot for canyoning and were greeted by four guides. They mentioned that in peak season there are 25 people per tour — today it was just us, and they were actually using our trip to train two new guides: one very quiet, and one who was the most stereotypical looking Spanish man we have ever seen in our lives. Everyone was really friendly and chatty — young Azoreans, all of them, plus the Spaniard. We drove up to the trail, got fitted and squeezed into our wetsuits, boots, and gear. Getting the wetsuits on was a full workout in itself for both of us.

We headed onto the trail for a safety briefing while the rest of the guides played with the GoPro and took photos of us. The Spanish guide in training was posing as a "client" for the day, which means he is in essentially all of our photos.

The canyoning was in Ribeira Grande and was absolutely stunning — lush and green the entire way down. What starts as a hike quickly turns into a natural amusement park: rappelling, ziplining, jumping, and sliding wherever possible. We left wanting more. It was genuinely so fun to just splash around, the rappelling was easier than expected, and the whole thing felt like pure joy. There were also geothermal spots along the trail where the water and rocks were extremely hot and steaming. Fern practiced her juggling skills with the hot rocks. I tripped and slipped at least five times and was soaked the entire time, but honestly felt incredible. Fern missed multiple of my face plants despite me announcing them in advance — and yet somehow she heard everything else perfectly. Unlike the horseback riding, apparently her selective hearing is very much still intact.

Men update: we asked our female guide about the phenomenon and she was genuinely, completely shocked. Said she had never noticed it and didn't know what to say. We didn't really know what to say either. She told us she'd start paying attention. We have opened her eyes. You're welcome.

Attached are photos and videos from the experience — we loved it so much we are already considering booking a second one.

After canyoning we headed to a picnic at Miradouro dos Barreiros, a scenic overlook above the farms along the coastline. The sandwiches were pretty good given that we had to work around not wanting meat or cheese. It was very windy and very beautiful and we sat outside anyway because we committed to the bit.

Then it was hot springs time. First up: Terra Nostra Gardens and thermal pools — a lush and stunning botanical garden with very warm pools. The water color left something to be desired (muddy is a generous description) and it was fairly touristy, but it was more enjoyable than expected and genuinely lovely to relax in. The gardens themselves were beautiful enough that we might go back just to walk through them. Also: we have been on a frog hunt this entire trip, and we finally found some here. Very exciting. Very important update. Pictures below.

One observation from Terra Nostra that we were not prepared for: men can, apparently, get extraordinarily hairy and large. We're talking carrying-triplets territory. In a Speedo. It was a lot.

Next we went to Poça da Dona Beija hot springs, which was the most built-up of the bunch — beautiful scenery, the clearest water we'd seen so far, and warm ish and relaxing. The pools felt a little small and very manicured (all rectangles, very modern), and it was crowded, but still a lovely way to end the hot springs portion of the day.

We drove back to the hotel, did some much needed laundry, stopped at a local bakery for decent pastries, and went grocery shopping again since we genuinely could not face a restaurant. I got a variety of cup noodles to sample. Fern got canned quinoa and cold jarred soup, which she declared was the best meal she's had on the trip so far. We're not sure what that says about the island, but we are choosing not to think about it too hard.

Canyoning was an absolute highlight — I would jump off cliffs any day and this was honestly a very mild version of what we're capable of. We are skull & bones for life now, death brigade forever (Fern told me to write this — I don't fully know what it means but I support it). Very excited for coasteering and more cliff jumping tomorrow…?

♡ Ink