Tuesday, August 24th, 2021 - Furnas....More like a Furnace!

 Furnas is a smallish town slap bang in the middle of a Caldera. Wikipedia has this to say about it, 'Owing to the existence of a population of several thousand people living within and around its caldera, it is considered one of the most dangerous volcanoes in the archipelago.' Yikes!

View From Paradise House at Furnas

Looking from the front door of our AirBNB, all looks fine, and it is just a few hundred yards to one of the most popular hot springs here, Poça da Dona Beija. Upon arrival I had checked it out.......long lines. The desk said at least an hour to wait, but that opening time was best. So off we went, first thing in the morning.

Line outside Poça da Dona Beija at 9:50 am

Even a few minutes before opening, I thought the line was long, but previous times I've seen it snake around the parking lot. Their website emphasizes 'relaxing'. I am sure by the time people have stood in line for an hour and a half they need the experience a lot more than when they arrived. I always feel sad for them when we go by it. At least at 10 a.m., they can let in a lot of people, until they reach capacity.  After that, they only let people in when someone leaves (maximum time 1.5 hours). Sometimes we hear the crowd cheering when someone comes out! They might be limiting numbers with Covid, which would account for the wait. They did require one to wear a mask when not in the pools and were quite strict about enforcing it.

Poça da Dona Beija

It was lovely! Although the red stain that builds up on the rocks is unattractive, it did not detract from the experience at all! There were a series of pools at a variety of temperatures along this canal. The water was constantly refreshing from the natural springs.

Poça da Dona Beija

I was entertained by the different ways the water was  delivered. This was my favorite and with the help of a French visitor, got this shot of me peeking out from behind the waterfall, pretending I was 'Foo'. It was warm and beautiful.

Poça da Dona Beija

I loved this plant with the airy 'burst' atop the stem. It looked like a variety of Equisetum, but I couldn't find any confirmation online. I love the brown and green florescence.

Furnas Street

As it was a work day for Robyn, I then set about to wander through this town. There were many houses lining the narrow streets similar to what we had seen in Mosteiros, along with many more cars. You can see our AirBNB in the background of this photo. It is the highest one top right, with a second story above the rest of the house.

Furnas 

Here there were also more larger properties. This one was attractive, but I noted that the upstairs windows were broken.

Bus shelter, Furnas

There is bus service here and the shelters all have elaborate, blue, traditional Portuguese tile work depicting different scenes. This one shows a scene of Terra Nostra, the big hotel and hot pool here - clearly from another era. I discovered that this traditional tile work is called azelujo and has Arabic origins. I thought it a great enhancement of public space.

Caldera surrounding Furnas

The clouds were still the boss of the caldera and as I walked I had to keep my trusty umbrella at hand. While I have a rain jacket, it does not protect my lens from getting wet, so I have a very light umbrella that I can hold while I take photos. The rain was light and intermittent, so it was all good.

Modern home on the Outskirts of Furnas

I was following a road on the outskirts of town where there were much larger homes - this was notable for it's modernity- very spare style! I hope they have a good view behind the home.

Caldeiras da Furnas

While the mountains remained cloudy, the 'clouds' ahead were too low - so I knew I was getting close to my real purpose - a visit to Caldeiras da Furnas. Although Google translate says 'Furnas' means caves, caldeiras does translate to cauldron. This is why Wikipedia says this is a dangerous spot, because in the middle of the city there is geothermal activity. The clouds are sulphurous fumes emitted from fumaroles and boiling pools. I was pretty excited to see this in person.

Caldeiras da Furnas

Up close, it does not present a lovely scenic view - more like a wasteland. There were many different holes around and each one was labeled. The smell was not as awful as I expected - definitely a sulfurous aroma, but it really was not intensely unpleasant. I wasn't sure if inhaling a lot of it was bad, but I put faith in the 'authorities' that determined we could be so close, and inhaled as usual. I felt no ill effects.

Caldeira do esguicho - translates to 'squirt pot'! LOL!

This was my favorite one - the yellow color next to the red rock gives it an unearthly connotation. I heard a guide nearby telling a group that when this place was first dsicovered, the Jesuits at the time believed it was the place that all the souls of evil-doers came to - their depiction of hell. 

While I can't share the smell with you, this short video gives you an idea of the activity and sounds that accompany all this geothermal action. It also helped me to see how minerals become concentrated along  veins and beautiful crystalline structures like geodes are made.

Unhappy vegetation

The immediate area was denuded of vegetation, but even the plants growing nearby showed the burning effects of the gases.

Houses near Caldeiras da Furnas

This photo of the houses was taken at almost the same spot as the one of the tree - just turned around 180 degrees, so you can see how close people live to this. Note the house with the red staining - I suspect from years of exposure to the fumes. The houses that remain white might have been painted more recently. There is constant monitoring by vulcanologists, so one hopes that early warnings of potential danger is reliable.

Jardim da Alameda

The walk home took me through a lovely public park that followed a stream toward town. It was beautifully laid out and included this cascading waterfall...... 

Outdoor Aquarium in Jardim da Alameda

.......some tanks of fish in an outdoor aquarium.......

Azelujo water fountain in Jardim da Alameda

........and a rather interesting water fountain in the blue and white tilework. I thought the woman looked a lot happier than the man. Although it looks quite old-fashioned, you can see it is dated 2006, so it's fairly recently built.

Church of Our Lady of Joy (Furnas)

I've discovered that when you see one church, you've seen them all, The distinctive white with black trim seems also universal and they come with either one or two towers.

Uh, oh! Did this house topple over?

I was entertained by this scene alongside my route - had to do a double take - was this house on its head? I finally decided it is a cooling structure for a nearby hotel. I don't know if it was designed with humor in mind, or if it is merely accidental. Gave me a chuckle.

Beatriz do Canto Park

As if to compensate for the ugliness of the caldeiras, my route included yet another lovely park - I though this water wheel at its entrance was charming.

Finally the road 'home'.

As I left the natural beauty, I was back in the narrow streets.

Water Fountain at Lomba das Barracas

Finally, this water fountain announces my corner, so all it takes is a hop, step and a 'oh my god, another hill' to get home. It was a lovely wander and crossed off my list one of the major reasons for coming here. I was very happy with all I had found.