Today was a work day, but since I start working mid-afternoon to align with my peers, we still have a solid morning into the early afternoon free. We decided to start with a short walk to an old abandoned windmill here in Várzea, the village we’re staying in. We can see it easily from around town as it’s on a small knoll, but the actual trail to get there is tricky despite a simple map provided by the place we’re staying. We figured it out and set off down the road. Once again the active farming in every direction reminded me of Vermont.

The cows were unimpressed by us but also unmoved. We were happy to get a long look. The dogs on the other hand.. were a bit too excited to see us. These were the least threatening ones so we got pictures. Around the corner we were met with a much larger pair of dogs, one chained and one very much not. The unchained dog was somewhere between a big pitbull and a small mastiff. He stood solidly in the middle of the small passage we had to go through to go up the hill. I took one test step closer and he widened his stance, bristled, and growled far too deeply. I stepped back and he stepped forward.. fortunately a delivery truck pulled through and the dog backed off as we hurried away. No pictures of that interaction but some clear memories. New walking plans!

We switched our destination to a viewpoint on the other wide of town that we had visited before (Miradouro Escalvado) and switched from flip-flops to hiking boots (better for longer distances and defending ourselves and/or running from unfriendly animals!).

This cute church is the central building in town, as is often the case. It’s very active based on all the references to it around town, and the arguably overactive bell..

As has happened several times on this trip, we found ourselves completely enamored with our little walk through a normal town instead of the amazing tourist destinations. It’s a different type of amazing to make a connection with what it’s really like to live in a place.

This is what the edge of a field looks like at a road. That’s soil cut into a vertical wall. It’s some sort of dense clay with lots of organic matter in it.. it’s hard and seems solid but you see these walls 10.. 20.. 30 feet high, towering over roads and trails and you have to wonder what might happen if it rains really hard. It’s also a lot like what we were standing on along the edge of the ~800 foot caldera wall..

This is one of my favorite pictures in its simplicity and reflection of everyday sights, colors, and textures around here.

The viewpoint is stunning of course. I’m not what I’d call an “ocean person” but man.. I am a cliffs-over-ocean person!

While taking in the giant scene around us I noticed a bird different from the others. It wasn’t colored, shaped, or behaving like the other birds in the area. More importantly, it wasn’t flying like anything else. It was almost perfectly still against the high winds. We were getting blown around more than it was.

I took a bunch of pictures and thought “I wish I had done video but too late now”, then decided I’d go for it. I just assumed it would fly off before I could start but it stayed for a while longer.. Anybody know what type of bird this is? Some sort of eagle or falcon?

We got distracted by the realization that this beautiful clifftop farm land surrounding the viewpoint is actually for sale! Not designated as buildable, but still..

Instead of returning the way we came, we looped around on farm roads along the cliffs, what a wonderland!

Wicked tall grass? Check.

Wrist-sized grass, Dagoba dirt clumps..

Just a farm road through a field.. with massive walls. Turn up the volume to hear the birds.

A peek through the grass at the valley and a peek at the abandoned windmill we’ve long since abandoned our quest to visit. Most of the old windmills have long since lost their sails so all we see left is the mill, which looks more like a silo.

For a late lunch we went to a recommended burger joint, Sunset Steve’s Bar in Mosteiros. It was exactly what we wanted, highly recommended. They have good, fresh burgers, fries, and onion rings. The drink selection was quite large (I tried and loved the local passionfruit soda, Kima). After all that, the prices were actually excellent. We knew it was a good sign when we saw lots of locals eating there too.

…and the view!