5. The sea bouncer and the little car!

My first full day on Santa Maria ended up being a full day boat trip out to a place called Formigas, which is a little bank of uninhabited rocky outcroppings which is roughly half way between Santa Maria and San Miguel (the main island!). Formigas is Portuguese for ants … because apparently the islands look like scattered ants?

Anyway, the boats they use to get there are RIBs (rigid inflatable (speed) boats) so you get into your wetsuit and ready prior to getting on the boat for the 2hour ride out there. The firet few minutes (when the photo was taken) in the protection of the harbour was a delight then first half an hour was slightly bumpy but along the side of the island so protected … once out past the island and in the open ocean, it was another story! Although not terrible conditions (so it was ok to go), the sea was far from flat and the direction of the swell and the wind was the worst it could have been for the direction we were going in and the side of the boat I’d ended up sitting on. We bounced along the waves with a crashing kind of approach where each swell we went up and over, we were all air born for a second before bumping back down onto the sides of the rib that we were sitting on while holding on to what ever ropes and rails there were close by to try and keep balance. With each impactful bump back onto the water came what varied between some sea spray and just a crashing wave of water that soaked you. It was like being on a bouncy castle, in an earthquake with a gale blowing with someone repeatedly throwing buckets of salt water at you, for an hour. And you couldn’t just close your eyes and let the water wash over you because you needed to keep an eye on the waves and boat to make sure you judged the bounce and also to avoid seaksicknesses. I actually felt fine (I’d taken proper diving anti-seasickness) but was far from thrilled about the sea conditions. At one point we stopped to watch some dolphins, which was a blessed relief from the relentless sea bouncing. For the final half an hour I stood up, behind where the driver was and leant against the standing rail and found that much better for responding to the bounce and just bending my knees to absorb the impact.

Once we’d arrived at the Formigas and slowed down to drop an anchor and positioned on the sheltered side of the rock, it was fine and we warmed back up a little in the sun before gearing up, rolling backwards into the water and descending into the other world.

The main attraction of the Formigas are a group of dusky groupers (massive starey eyed fish that are around 1m long) who are are very curious and if you stay fairly still, will swim right up to you and have a good look … they don’t keep their distance at all so are actually annoyingly difficult to photograph because they swim too close and often right into you! I had to employ all my swimming backwards skills to try and keep them in shot (it’s really a skill I’ve had to practice and learn (and still work on) as my original attempts years ago were dreadful - I mainly just scissored my whole body in half, looked like I was having a minor fit and didn’t really move anywhere. Now, I can more effectively swim backwards - bear in mind that it is with your feet only as both hands re are holding the camera steady. And you should never really use your hands at all to swim when diving. They are either holding a camera or maybe a torch, possibly operating buttons on your BCD for bouyancy or unused. Divers not holding anything will often just have their arms folded or hands clasped in some way and not use them. It’s much better for air consumption and your feet and fins are far more effective for propelling and controlling direction, once you’ve learnt how!). A few failed attempts at photographing them to show how unconcerned and close the groupers came are here:

As part of the day trip, we also got lunch. I was a little concerned after out choppy trip out how that would be but in between the two dives while we ‘off-gassed’ for our surface interval, it was lunch time. The tiny rail surface was cleared, a flask was place on top and we were asked who wanted tea. I was ever so excited so lit my hand straight up! I was obviously then teased for being British and I was served a ‘proper cup of tea’ by the captain in his best cockney British impression. I accepted it gratefully although chose not to tell him that there is absolutely nothing British about a luke warm black tea without milk that tasted slightly sweet. I’m told it’s local tea from the Santa Maria tea plantataion. It was hot and tea-ish so I drank it all up. There was also a Tupperware of carved up slabs of a kind of thick focaccia bread and lots of biscuits, which I’d have been more than happy with. They then produced a little wheel of cheese (also local), and a massive knife and cut it into big cubes and put them out. It was delicious - after the brutal boat ride and dive, I was hungry anyway but this w@s particularly excellent. I was very happy with that but then a massive cob loaf came out and again, was cut into slabs and a jar of tuna was produced and the tuna sandwiches were made and handed out. Oh it was yum. We then elected to wait for after the second dive for pudding (which turned out to be little-ish melons (grown on the island), cut in half and given to you with spoon. So sweet and juicy and delicious! The boat ride back on the sea bouncer, I stood the entire time which was quite hard work but still better than the bouncing and bumping and constantly impact on my back and neck! Although it was still bumpy we were going with the swell so less water to the face too, which was nice!

*****

Today, I decided, since I have got my little car, and it’s the most expensive rental car in the history of rental cars, that I’d better use it and go out exploring. I googled what to see and asked the people at the dive shop too so off I went with my little plan. The roads are mercifully ok and the island is fairly flat (no driving up and over volcanoes or along roads carved into the side of mountains with sheers drops instead of pavements) and my phone signal is pretty good so provided me sat nav to make my way. I first headed to some waterfalls called Cascata de Aveiro stopping off at various viewpoints and places along the way - the Azorians are very good at signposting them and making them into nice little places with plants and even the odd picnic bench! I also drove through a cool pine forest on my way to the waterfalls. Although it turns out that at this time of year (the dry season) the falls are more of a water trickle and a duck pond. Still a sheer cliff face and very pretty scenery. They are just close to a little town at the base of the hills called Maia, where they had a lovely sea pool that I stopped at for a swim and to drink my flask of (proper) tea before heading back up the windy road, for a brief stop at a view point and walk to another view point to see the lighthouse at Ponta do Castelo (we’d gone past that part of the island on the sea bouncer the day before and it looked pretty from the water so I was pleased to explore it further).

After that, I went back onto the little car and we went over the island to a town and bay called Sao

Lourenço, a pretty beach with a walk all along it, which I did. They also have the second best restaurant on the the island, according to Trip Advisor reviews and ratings (which is how I’ve decided to plan my eating here) so I’ve booked lunch there for my last day. After the drive back to my town, I had early dinner in the island’s number 1 restaurant, which I agree is lovely and I will likely go back to. I asked for some garlic bread to go with my tuna steak and they brought me a basket with what seemed like an entire baguette of bread sliced into it!

Tomorrow is likely another day of exploring and relaxing then my final day or diving is on Tuesday! I will be sure to take my little car out somewhere to ensure I’m getting my money’s worth and to make sure it has a lovely time and isn’t just sitting in the hotel car park with all the giant cars around it as apparently, everyone else seems to have big vans and 4x4. I think it’s the Americans - they go big where cars are concerned!