It was a sunny day today and we set off from Furnas to walk the Lagoa das Furnas walk, (9.5km) It was a pleasant walk, mainly around the lake and passing some interesting wooden sculptures and a pretty church on the water’s edge. Pleasant but not so exciting compared to our jungle / tunnel walk.

The highlight was passing by the hot springs where they cook the traditional ‘Cozida a Portuguesa’ a stew type dish cooked using the internal heat of the Furnas volcano. Pools of water bubbled away, steam rising all around and a strong smell of sulphur in the air. Mounds of sand pinpointed where the stews were simmering away and we were told at the information centre that these dishes were transported daily to Tony’s restaurant in town where you could order and try this local delicacy! We are too addicted to pancakes at the moment to bother but maybe next time…

As we neared home the rain started to fall and the temperature with it so we made ourselves a lovely fire back at the ranch and enjoyed a cosy night in,obviously with many pancakes, sugar,lemon and fried bananas!