Visiting Furnas on Sao Miguel, was not on my Azores itinerary, but sometimes you compromise 🙂 Already having been to a couple of geothermal areas, in Rotorua, New Zealand, and on Iceland, I figured this wasn’t a must-do for me. To be fair, there is said to be a lot more to the place than what we saw, but what we did come across wasn’t too interesting, in my opinion. We spotted a lot of steam, coming from the fumaroles, small pools of water, and water fountains, both for drinking and not. And of course the familiar smell of sulfur. The fountains I liked. Those you could drink from, each tasted different, and, supposedly, has its own healing properties. I’ve read there are several scattered across town. Cool to have a sip, but not what I’d choose to quench my thirst with. The ones giving off hot mineral water, ranged from luke warm to scorching. Our guide suggested we should come back and spend a whole day, to enjoy what else this dormant volcanic crater has to offer, thermal pools, a lake, parks and gardens, bubbling calderas, geysers, and Cozido stew cooked in the ground. We didn’t…
PS! Just learned that the minerals will turn green tea purple. Bummer! That I’d love to experience!
This was a stop on a tour with Sao Miguel Azores Tours. Highly recommended company! Roberto will tailor to your needs.
