Tag Archives: hiking

São Miguel – Sete Cidades and West Coast

Posted on by
Reply

We were hoping for some blue sky today but it turned out to be pretty cloudy. It is still warm and humid so we still didn’t need to worry about a jacket. We made our way to Sete Cidades which is probably the most visited spot on the island. There is a very small town located near the center of a volcanic crater. The volcanic crater is almost 3 miles across.

The park contains a lot of volcanoes and many lakes. We did a couple of hikes to see the two main lakes. One hike was a lot easier than the other hike. We hiked around one of the main lakes. It starts out nice and flat for a long time before the trail turns into a steep up and down terrain. We were already well into the hike when we started to wonder how much harder it could get. There weren’t a lot of people on the hike which is probably one sign. And the people that passed us the other way would tell us it is very difficult where they came from. But we kept thinking it couldn’t be more difficult than what we just did. I think we made the right call to keep going and not back track because it seemed easier than what we had already done. We did have to climb some large rocks but at least they had ropes to help us. One of the rocks was almost my height. And then there were a lot of trees branches down in the area that you had to climb through. It was a good challenge but I think the view was better from up top instead of close to the lake.

Once back to the car, we drove to the west coast of the island. It was still pretty cloudy but the ocean is so calm and blue. And the rocks were very black. They don’t have the normal sandy beaches here and I’m sure the water is still probably pretty cold. One more full day on the island before heading back to LIsbon.

Setti Fadma Hike

Posted on by
Reply

Our tour guide arranged for a hike in the Atlas Mountains on Tuesday.  The driver picked us up and drove a little over an hour into the mountains so we could meet our guide for the hike.  It was a beautiful drive through the mountains but also very touristy. 

We also stopped at a typical Berber house that is still used by a family.  A guy from the house gave us a little tour to explain how the family lives and everything is really still done manually.  It was interesting to see each room and even a lady making bread.  By the way, they have amazing bread in Morocco and it is always fresh tasting.  The bedroom is shared by the parents and kids under the age of 5.  After the age of 5, the kids are split into separate rooms with girls and boys having separate lbedrooms.

  • Bread mill
  • the kitchen
  • Making bread
  • Bedroom
  • living room
  • making a new way for water

From there we made it to our starting place for the hike.  The road pretty much comes to an end for motor vehicles.  After that, the only vehicles allowed are 4×4 and mules.  Our guide was a nice kid who is from the region.  He self taught himself English by watching different videos and movies online.  He said learning languages is way for him to connect himself to the world because he will never be able to travel.  Many people know 4 languages here (Berber, Arabic, French and English).  

The hike started by crossing a bridge over the river.  It isn’t that full right now because a lot of the snow has already melted but in the winter, people can kayak down the river.  The hike is mainly uphill to the waterfall.  It was a rocky hike but also plenty of shade on the way up.  There are also a lot of stands to buy souvenirs or things to drink on the way up.  They keep the beverages cool by utilizing the water from the river.  I did finally buy one thing at one of the stops because the guy sold me on the fact that it helps the local villages.  And I’m not good at bargaining so I really hope I did help the locals out.  There were a lot of tourists on the hike.  Most of the people do a day trip from Marrakech.  The waterfall was pretty and full of visitors.  Our guide took us a little up past the main part so we could take a different route down.  It was beautiful to see the mountains in the distance even if it was less shady.

One the hike was done, we had lunch along the river.  There are so many restaurants along the river.  It is very charming and the food is all so good.  You sit on pillows on the ground next to little tables along the river.  You take your shoes and socks off to eat but you can also cool your feet off in the river.   A very fun experience.  Some of the restaurants actually set the table and chairs up in the river so you just eat in the river.  It was a fun day and I’m always going to love a hike and exploring a new part of the world.