Flores and Corvo are the two most easterly islands in the Azores, roughly 140 miles north-west of Faial. The little airport at Santa Cruz is a sign of what to expect from these remote outposts of European civilization. There is no terminal at all, merely a tiny tumbledown shack where passengers check in with their baggage, no facilities at all, yet the natural friendliness of the islanders immediately welcomes the traveller.
Flores island is one of the prettiest of islands. The name means ‘Flowers’, and that is what there area – profusion of wild flowers spilling out of every hedgerow and craggy nook, but most of all hydrangeas, the most typical plant of the Azores. At 55 square miles in area, neither one of the largest nor one of the smallest islands, in some ways Flores could be considered typical of all the islands. The 5,000 inhabitants work mostly in the fields, growing cereals, fruit, vegetables and vines, or derive their livelihood from the sea.
Santa Cruz is Flores’ main town, lying immediately below the airstrip on a rocky ledge beside the sea, its colourful collection of white cottages interspersed with small plots of cultivated land and watched over by a surprisingly large and grandiose church for such a small community – the Igreja Matriz de Nossa Senhora da Conceicdo, dating from the late 18th century.
Between Santa Cruz and the airport ‘terminal’, is the French meteorological base, a large complex of orderly houses and gardens surrounding the Cercle-Messe otherwise known as the ‘Hotel de Santa Cruz’, since it offers about the only prospect of accommodation in town.
North of Santa Cruz one enjoyable excursion follows the magnificent fertile north-east coast round to Ponta Delgada, a small fishing port on an isolated spit of land below steep hills. Among these hills are two or three eye-catching white structures, geodesic domes belonging to the French meteorological station. The French arrived in Flores in the mid-sixties, having signed an agreement with the Portuguese to build various installations in the island, and their presence has brought enormous benefits — from the building of the airport itself to much improved road communications.
South of Santa Cruz, another lovely route makes for Lajes, sometimes still spelt in the old-fashioned way, Lagens. It’s the second most important town in the island but basically just a small port dominated by a tall lighthouse to warn mariners of the dangerous rocky coastline around here. Narrow cobbled streets wind down to the sea past simple white fishermen’s cottages and dark stone walls, with only the seabirds’ cries to disturb the characteristic tranquillity.
There are two or three small villages round the west coast, notably Fajã Grande with excellent swimming off its small quay, but the attraction of Flores lies more in the fabulous scenery – waterfalls cascading over cliff-tops, tumbling streams watering the lower pastures, wild flowers and terraced hillsides where vines, figs, apples and a variety of other crops are cultivated. Of all the natural attractions in the island, the most astonishing is Rochas dos Bordoes, Organpipe Rocks, a craggy bare hillside with vertical ‘pipes’ rising above the road. The best place to view them is from a miradouro to the north, towards Fajã Grande.
In the mountains there are more delights in store. Half a dozen small ‘lagoons’ (lagoas), tiny in comparison with those of São Miguel but very nearly as beautiful, amid a peaceful landscape of hills and valleys and the ubiquitous hydrangea bushes. Perhaps the most impressive is Lagoa Funda or Verde (Deep Green) in the southern hills, but a group of smaller lakes lie to the north of the transverse route below the island’s highest peak Morro Alto (3,085 ft), surrounded by gentle moorlands that could almost be part of Scotland.
