Happy Earth Day! Today we celebrated by exploring the breathtaking island of São Jorge, one of the three so-called “triangle islands” of the Azores. Our group split up this morning, with some going hiking and some going on a tour of the island. The tour stopped at several beautiful spots along the way; at some spots, we were in the clouds. Luckily, the tour also included a cheese tasting at one of the island’s queijarias, or cheeseries. All the islands of the Azores have a unique style of cheese, but the cheese from São Jorge is arguably the most well-known and the most delicious. The hike descended from one of the highest points of the island down to Fajã dos Cubres, an almost six-mile adventure through fog and rain and incredible scenery. This afternoon, we left from the port of Velas to explore the north side of the island aboard National Geographic Endurance, always keeping an eye out for cetaceans. We spotted a sperm whale and several dolphins, as well as many Cory’s shearwaters flying out in front of the bow. For a very special Earth Day event, we listened as guest speaker Andrew Garling, one of the original Earth Day founders, told his story. We learned so much about the history of this important day. In the evening, we turned north from São Jorge towards the island of Graciosa, arriving in the port of Praia to spend the evening and gear up for tomorrow’s adventures!
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