Here are some books and videos to aid you in your travels.

Twice Round the Loggerhead: The Culture of Whaling in the Azores
Buy from U.S

Eyewitness Travel Guides: Portugal
Buy from U.S

US Travel Company
specialising in walking and bicycling itineraries www.easyridertours.com

UK Travel Company
www.azoreschoice.com

Yacht Charter Company
Penelope Kellie Worldwide Yacht Charter and Tours.
Tel. +44 (0) 1962 779317
Fax. +44 (0) 1962 77458
pkellie@yachtors.u-net.com

Portuguese Travel Company www.rrtur.com/en/index.htm

Whale Watching Tours on Pico www.ciberacores.pt/talassa

Tomato Soup with Poached Eggs
Take 1 kilo tomatoes, chop, seed and peel. Slice an onion and sweat with butter or margarine. Add tomatoes and fry a little. Add 1/2 a litre of water and boil for a few minutes. Blend and return to pan adding salt to taste. Bring to the boil and break one egg per person into the mixture. When eggs are done to your taste serve with croutons and chopped coriander.
courtesy of Anna Taveira

The fertile, volcanic archipelago of the Azores is pest, predator and relatively tourist free. Each of the nine islands of the Azores has a personality of its own - a different landscape and even a slightly different climate. Peppered with hundreds of churches, steeped in local custom and Catholicism, and despite intensive farming - beef and dairy products, pineapple, passion fruit, sugar beet, tea, wine - these lush islands feel wild and mysterious. Each one can be explored by boat, car, bicycle, or on foot.

There are one or two luxury hotels, the smaller guests houses are good and it is ideal for yacht charters. The scenery is heavenly, the air is fresh and the produce is pesticide free. These islands are a kind of paradise.

Sao Miguel
The landscape ranges from undulating fields pricked with hydrangea hedges, calm lake-filled volcanic craters, botanical gardens and pretty villages with mandatory church spires, to craggy coastlines, towering pine forests, smoking sulphur springs and boiling mud cauldrons.
It is worth spending a day or two at Furnas. A very pleasant hotel overlooks lush botanical gardens with a natural sulphur lake. The village health spa offers treatments for rheumatism and arthritis. I didn't get a chance to inspect the facilities, but it would certainly be worth investigating. Here too you can savour the wonderful 'codizo' - layers of beef, pork, chicken, two types of sausage and vegetables hermetically sealed and placed in the steaming ground near the hot springs and bubbling mud cauldrons.

There is good scuba-diving off Sao Miguel and the Caloura Hotel on the South Coast has an extremely pretty aspect and a fully equipped scuba-diving centre.

Pico
Dominated by its towering volcano, this island has a north coast edged with coal-black lava, littered with pocket-handkerchief vineyards whose dark walls reflect heat onto the grapes. The hilly interior is characterised by swathes of stunted cedar, giant heather and blueberry bushes.

On the gentler south coast, passing pods of whales and schools of dolphins have made Lajes do Pico an important whale-watching location. (I cruised with whales and three types of dolphins in only one outing). At the simple harbour cafe I enjoyed one of the best meals in the Azores fresh fried fish and salad. I stayed at the nearby Aldeia da Fonte hotel. The owners have grafted this hotel into the landscape building comfortable apartments out of local stones amidst groves of ancient trees. Despite the drama of its surroundings - a spectacular volcano on one side and high cliffs above the Atlantic on the other, this hotel is imbued with sublime peace. Ideal for writers and artists, as well as walkers and whale watchers.

Faial
This island plays host to trans-atlantic and round-the-world yachtsmen because of its sheltered harbour at Horta. Yachts people gather at world-famous Peter's Cafe Sport for a yarn and a jar or two.

At Capelinhos, site of the 1950's volcanic eruption, branches of burnt trees and chimney are beginning to poke through the layers of ash that covered the village at the time. The lighthouse now stands inland as the volcano rose up from the sea, creating a new coastline. As we started our ascent of the volcano nesting rose terns 'buzzed' us indignantly. The slope above was littered with lava 'bombs', resembling the helmeted heads of ancient warriors and waves of heat emanated from the ground, toasting our trainers. The top soil crunched underfoot changing from ochre, to red to black. An alien planetscape. At the summit we gazed down at the gaping crater which faced out to sea while gulls and gannets dipped and screamed.

Faial's 'Caldeira', a defunct volcanic crater, has a sweeter atmosphere. The lush, green amphitheatre, acting as an amplifier, tinkles with birdsong and it is possible to pick one's way down the mossy slopes through wildflowers and the occasional passing cloud.

Positives
Unspoilt, easy to negotiate, relatively tourist free, breathtakingly varied scenery.
Charming guest houses. Fresh, organic produce.

Negatives
The food can be boring. The larger hotels tend to be concrete boxes and don't live up to their star ratings.

Activities
Sailing, Walking, Whale Watching, Scuba Diving, Mountain Biking

Best time to travel
May to September

Clothing
Light clothing. Sweaters for cooler days and nights. Raincoat.

Food
Wonderful fresh produce for self catering. Food in restaurant tends to be heavy and unseasoned. No salt and pepper on the table.

Shopping
Local pottery, crafts.