Thank you all! The Azores are a terrific destination for unspoiled scenery and quaint towns.
Unspoiled... not really...
Men came around 1400 to the Islands and practically all the vegetation you find on the islands are now men made.
From Indonesia to Australia to Japan they have imported the plants they needed and liked.
Hydrangea/ Hortensia- you see everywhere on the island, is imported from Europe.
Some of the beautiful plants are locally considered as a kind of weed. A lot of the original forrest is taken down for pasture- it is the milkcow for Portugal.
The only original mammal on the island - a kind of chicken, was extinct already before 1600 because men brought hungry rats to the islands...
I think this island shows how only few men can change the environment in just a few hundred years..
-
more information here
http://www.globalislands.net/greenislands/index.php?region=8&c=13since it is a photo forum i will add two photo's taken 100m apart for the contrast..
It is just what you want to see
and yes it is a lovely island...
PK