They graze away peacefully and happily. Every island is different, and people are proud of coming from pico, from faial, from sao jorge or terceira. But mostly, theyre proud of being azoreans. The azoreans have massively emigrated to canada and the United States, but they still hold a very strong attachment to these islands. And many, many of them come back in the summertime. It goes to show you the love and the true attachment they have to their islands. We can understand why. Pedro Escobar the azores is an archipelago set between the european continent and the american continent. It consists of nine islands, very different from each other. The centre group is composed of five islands faial, pico, sao jorge, terceira and graciosa. The Western Group is composed of flores and corvo, and the Eastern Group is composed of santa maria and sao miguel. Its almost as if we were three different archipelagos, because the distance between faial and santa maria is about 200 nautical miles. I am a faialense, i am azorean and i am portuguese. My island comes first, of course. Sophie FouronPedro Escobar. Born on the island of fajal, he is deeply attached to the azores culture, traditions and natural setting. And these are his islands. Pedro Escobar the azores is an autonomous region of portugal, which means that we share many laws with portugal. The government of the azores has a parliament as well, and has the autonomy to create its own budget. Even though we are autonomous, we are quite dependent on portugal. In terms of survival, yes, we could be totally autonomous in terms of growing food and all the fishing, but we wouldnt have the infrastructures that we have. Sao jorge is a very particular island. Its very long, very narrow and its very steep. In sao jorge, you will find a lot of fajas. A faja is a plateau almost at sea level created by the lava flow that flows until it meets the sea. And you have the faja culture. Its like going back in time to the azorean way of living, when the culture of sharing and reusing everything was really notorious. I mean, since its so difficult to get stuff there, they really value what they have. It is a very important part of a faja, that spirit. Sophie Fouron do you know what you have to get . You come here before you go to the faja, because down there you dont have a grocery store. Rodrigo Borba yes, because on a faja, we just have a small village, but the supermarket is here, about 10 kilometers away. So we shop here, and then we drive the jeep to cubres and the quad to caldeira. Sophie Fouron and this, youre getting for your neighbours. Yes. Some people live there all year long. Yes. This family. Mrs. Fatima, mr. Baltazar, they live there. In the 1980s, there was an earthquake, a big one. And after the earthquake, all the people left the faja. And only mrs. Fatima and mr. Baltazar have returned. In the last 35 years, only three or four families have lived there. A hundred years ago, it was very difficult to live here. What people did in the summer is theyd come here, to the top of the island because the cows, the goats and all the animals could eat here. And we have a lot of greenery here. But in the winter, its impossible to do anything here, so they go closer to the sea and move everything to the faja. They move everything . Everything, yeah. Theres like a microclimate. Yes. They have cows, they have fish, they have potatoes, vegetables. They can have everything there, because the land is very strong. You can have everything. Because its volcanic soil. Yes. How many fajas are there on sao jorge . About 70. 70 . Yeah, yeah, yeah. Its a lot, a lot of earthquakes and volcanoes. Imagine if there was an earthquake right now, we would be part of a future faja. When the surf is good, i spend some days or weekends there. I take my winter holidays there and i spend some days there. O. K. So, its a summerhouse, lets say, for you. Yeah. All the fajas normally have electricity and they can have access to internet. Only santo cristo doesnt have access to it. I see. We dont have all the modern things, so people are closer to the land. So i think its a good energy down here. Sophie Fouron o. K. So thats the first step, because then, we cant go by car. Rodrigo Borba we have our quads here. This is like a donkey, yeah. A donkey . You like the fact that its far and that its a little complicated. Yes, because its far, its protected. How long on the quad . About 25 minutes. Another 25 minutes . Yes. 25 minutes. And well be there. Do you want to drive . No, its o. K. No problem. Then, wed get there in an hour. O. K. Im going to hold on to you. Not on the belly. The belly . No, here. Like this. O. K. How are you . Everythings good . Be careful do you know them . Its the family. Yes, i know everyone. You know everyone. Yeah. Wow look at that and to think people lived here a hundred years ago. Yeah. Carrying everything. Without shoes. Everything that they had, they needed to produce all of it. Not only the azores are, you know, in the middle of nowhere, lets say, the fajas are islands within the island. The island, yeah, yeah. Its like a step further of isolation. Yeah, yeah. How many houses . Here, about 50. We have to bring this to fatima. Yes. O. K. The food and the fish. Its a present. O. K. Now, you rent your house sometimes. Yes. Ive seen a lot of tourists. Is it an issue here . You know, to make sure that there arent too many tourists, that your faja stays authentic . Here, i think its very sustainable, because we dont have too many houses. Hi, good to see you. Onto fatimas. Yes. Is she expecting us . Yes. Fatima, this is sophie. fatima you brought me some fish. Rodrigo Borba yes, but it isnt cleaned out yet. And this. Thank you. I brought you all of this as well. Thank you. Fatima, shes been living here for a long time. How long have you been living here. In this faja . My whole life. All her life. All her life. When did you come back after the earthquake . I came back two months later. She came back two months after the earthquake. All the people here with kids, they needed to stay in the south for the schools. Because of the earthquake, everything was destroyed. Menta. Menta. Let me see. I think so. Yes, its mint. My god. Its so strong. She prefers cinnamon whiskey. And is it easier than it was, living here . Was life easier when there were more People Living here . Yes, it was livelier. 40 years ago, there were two Grocery Stores, there was a primary school. There was a post office. It was well developed. So it was a vibrant community before. Yes. More vibrant. More populated. Right now, imagine, in winter, 10 people are living here. But 40 years ago, 300. Wow because its hard for the people to stay here, because of work, because of school,. Yeah. Because of the lack of electricity, all these things. I think someday, there will be electricity. Yes. There will be enough pressure from the people here. Yes. Or from the tourism industry, or you know. The people that come visit, they dont want anything here. Yeah, thats the problem. They want the minimum. Yes. And the People Living here want everything to be normal. Now that we know each other, they can tell me if they want more or less tourists. More. More. More. More. Mrs. Fatima is thinking. Not what theyre saying. Shes saying that there are enough. Its o. K. Pedro Escobar the azores was colonized in the 15th century. And people would have a big patch of land, but they would divide it between their children. So the land has been systematically been cut in little pieces, and recut, and cut again. And its something that has been happening for hundreds of years. This is kind of the main reason why you may find an intricate patchwork of small fields throughout the islands. In sao jorge, the top part of the island, it is very good, especially for the cows. The farmer will have different patches of land on different parts of their parish, or even in another parish, which means that they have to commute their cows from one patch of land to another patch of land. Sophie Fouron good morning good morning sandy ramos how are you . Bright and early we already have the machine. Everythings ready for the cows. Theyre just finishing washing it, and then the cows will leave in a minute or two. Because youve milked them already. Exactly. You start milking them at. 5h30 or 5h45. Today is the day that the cows are moving to another land. They have been here for 15 days. We have 86 cows. They start eating from there to down there, where the land is bigger. Its like 10 hectares. I dont know really know how to say it. Yes. You have a very strict routine in the morning. Yes, exactly. Its always the same thing, because the cows, if you change their routine, they act strange and the milk wont have the same quality. Really . Everything affects them if theyre nervous. Theyre like us. If we get nervous about something, it seams like work doesnt go as well. The cheese here is made with raw milk, and our milk has to have quality. We need very calm cows and happy cows. Hes finishing washing the machine, because the machines that we put on the cows have to be very, very clean. Thats why sometimes it takes longer to clean the machine than milking the cows. I notice that you carry the milking machine. Yeah, yeah, we do. Its a portable milking machine. Yes. Yes it is. Its a big portable machine. Like now, were going to take them down to another land, because here, they dont have anything else to eat. O. K. So how is the moving of the cows . Now, hes going to start calling them, my brotherinlaw. We should go a little back. O. K. They dont like seeing strangers. O. K. And then my husband is going to go behind with the milking machine, after the cows, so they can take them to the other land. Cows crossing theres every kind of cow. Its like people. There are the lazy ones, the more athletic ones, and theres always the cow that likes to stay behind. Its like a procession. Exactly. The saints. Yeah. You have a lot of processions. Yeah, exactly. O. K. This view, sandy. Yeah. It is very beautiful. Theres something magical about it. Exactly. Every day, every morning, seeing the sun rising, its always different. Its always magical. You can see the whole village. Usually, lots of people move the cows near houses and people are going to work. And your cows are so used to cars. Yeah, they are. The cars can go through. They know the side where they should go. They usually go to the right side when the cars are coming by. O. K, so traffic jams here. Exactly because of the cows. Because of the cows. Not because of the cars. No, not because of the cars, not at all. We have more cows than people on the island. Why do you have to move the cows around . We have to move them because we dont have enough lands in one specific place for them to eat grass, because the cows here they eat grass where there arent any chemicals. Theyre not enclosed in barns where we give them food. They know exactly where they are going. We didnt have to say anything. You can see that land over there isnt ours, and then the other one is. And this one down here. Its so interesting and typical of sao jorge, the fact. Theyre all divided. Theyre all divided. Like that one over there is ours. This ones ours. But then this land, here in the middle, isnt. Here is the milking machine. Yeah, exactly. O. K. So youve got this down to a science. Everything is so well organized. Very. It has to be. It has to be. It has to be. Other Dairy Farmers have that portable machine as well . Yes. This one, they made it the way that we wanted it. Oh its custommade for you. Yeah, so we can have the best quality of life too. Of life, yes. And how many farmers, Dairy Farmers are there on sao jorge . That are selling milk in our factory . Its 93, i think. Im hot now yeah, it was a long walk. These cows go slowly. We have other ones. They dont go slow yeah, they do some of them run they know that theyre going to come to new grass, fresh grass. Thats why you can see them eating happy. Eating happy. I like that. Pedro Escobar the azores is located in the middle of the atlantic ocean, between the old and the new world. You have the azorean trade winds and you also have the gulf stream that passes by the azores. Different forms of trades have come by. You had the slave trade passing by, you had the fine china porcelains coming in by boat. We had the first pan american commercial flight with the hydroplanes that would stop by horta. Horta is a city that was, for a big part of its history, very, very connected to the harbour. Its still a stopping point for sailors that are crossing the atlantic. Sophie Fouron bom dia duncan sweet im so happy youre here in the azores. Im enjoying this place, and im sorry i didnt come by boat. It takes two or three weeks to get here by boat though. Two or three weeks . Thats not much. I dont know. Two or three weeks in the middle of the ocean, no tv, no wifi, no phone . Its paradise. Thats how you got here in the first place. I did. 1979 on the way to greece. Really . Yeah. And you stopped . I stopped, went away, got a life, got a wife, came back. You have to say got a wife, got a life. Oh sorry yes. O. K. And came back. Yeah. And its been . 27 glorious years. Really . Yeah. This is such a great place to live. Sophie Fouron what is it that you do here . duncan sweet we do a lot of repair work to get boats to the next port of call. We dont have all the facilities here of a major shipyard, so we do the best we can to make a safe way for them to get to england or to get to france, or get to spain. Do you know which boats are coming in . Its planned in advance . Yes. A lot of boats will email us from the caribbean before they leave, and they will give us a heads up on when theyre going to arrive, what they need, how long they want to stay, and then a lot of boats will just show up with a lot of problems. And then we just work through their problems on a firstcome, firstserved basis. And then they take off on the next leg for normally gibraltar or the english channel, which is 1200 miles or 1400 miles away. It takes them another 10 or 12 days, 8 days if youre fast. Tell me why horta is such a mythical port. If you go back centuries, the people in the azores have had sailors, or adventurers or pirates, coal ships, steamships, visit for a very long time. Theyre used to seeing strangers on the street. I think the people are very open to helping. Is it the reason you stayed . Most definitely, yeah. Yeah. Yeah. The uncomplicated society here was very attractive. Fourth busiest transient yard harbour in the world was an attraction as well. How many boats pass through here . More or less 1200 a year. Thats a lot of boats. Thats a lot of broken boats. Sophie Fouron not only do they have everything here to repair boats, they also have a Book Exchange program. Hi guys woman hi im interrupting. No, dont worry about it. Did you bring books . man yeah. Yeah. We did. And you brought four, and youre taking four. Yes. Thats the plan. Wow duncan sweet thats one of the pillars, when we started Book Exchange, free coffee and a telephone booth. Because many years ago, it wasnt easy to call the boss or call the family. Sophie Fouron do you offer mail service as well . Yeah. People can send us packages or mail, and well hold it for the boats arrival. Normally, it arrives too late and theyre already gone. So we do mail service and we do Mail Forwarding to catch up with the boat. Its a real transit hub. Yeah. So whats the schedule for today . Well, we have a few jobs this morning that start around 10 oclock. All right. Nirvana arrives this afternoon around 2 pm. Double x is leaving first thing in the morning to the field dock for fuel at 8 am, and then immediate departure for palma or gibraltar. marisa this gooseneck is already. Its already done . Yeah. Yeah. And this autopilot is done . male employee yeah, the alternator, we need to check. We need to check in on pipe dream and the battery. How many boats in the marina right now . Good question. I dont know. 50 . Around . Yeah, probably. Its quite full. I think it has a huge impact. Culturally. Five, six or seven thousand tourists, all wanting to buy two or three weeks of food to provision for the next leg. There are repairs, there are hotels if they take a hotel, rent a car. The Economic Impact is significant. Hows your portuguese by now . Its horrible. Absolutely disgusting. After 25 years . 27. 27. I know enough portuguese to get into trouble, but dont know half enough to get out. marisa pipe dream is on j dock. O. K. On the outside. Can you bring the alternator to test it and bring it, so we can take it to. Ill test it. Ill test the battery thats there. So lets go see pipe dream. Lets go. Lets go see scott piper. All right. Thanks marisa thank you duncan sweet pipe dream was here like five or six years ago. Sophie Fouron yeah. So i dont really remember the boat, but the name really popped out at me. Most of the people that come to horta, they come from the caribbean, usually . Yeah. Caribbean or the United States east coast. A lot from florida, a lot of boats from saint martin and antigua. Oh o. K. A lot of british, german, deutsch, french. Morning pipe dream hello man good morning good morning, captain how are you . Im doing very well. Thank you, and you . Good. Very well youve been with this weather. Liquid sunshine. Liquid sunshine look at this man where are you from . We sailed from miami. 16 days and 16 hours. How did it go . Wonderful. And then youre off to. Were going to spain. Very nice. Have you done this before . My first time. Im sophie. Sophie. Im scott piper. Nice to meet you. Nice to meet you, duncan. Weve heard a lot about you. Really . Yeah. All hearsay. No, so much so that we brought you a present. Youre kidding thats nice. You heard of duncan all the way from florida . Yeah. Pam wall. Do you remember pam . Shes a dearest friend in the world. There you go. So pam wall is a good friend of ours, too. O. K. So she told us what your wife particularly likes and wanted, and couldnt get here. So we brought it for you. Yes. Another husband. And youre all from florida . Morning, maam are you duncan . I am. I have gifts for you. Yes, thank you some jarred jalapeno peppers with some wheat thins, or what. Triscuits triscuits triscuits. Thank you. So youve been here before. Yes. Yes. How is it different from other ports . Its probably more international than almost any other port. And because its a stopping point in the atlantic for going both ways, every countrys flag is visible. And of course, at this time of year, its chockablock full. We were lucky to get this slip. Normally, there are two connections in europe. Theres the 16 amp and the 32 amp connection. So ill give you a 16 amp on the cable and an adaptor for the 32. Scott, well be back a bit later. Right. Thank you for coming thank you nice to see you both does that happen often, that you get. Once every two or three years. Well, how about that. Yeah. Pedro Escobar the whaling in the azores started pretty much with the american whaling. In the 18th century, the american whalers started approaching the azores, and they would just get provisions of coal, they would get provisions of water and food, and they would also recruit azorean sailors. It was really risky. You had to be really close to the whale to harpoon it. When it would be the time, they would kind of divert a bit to the side, give way to it so the harpooner could do his job. And it was dangerous, because a whale boat is 11 meters long, and the whale, a big male, a big bull, it could be 15 meters. The whale hunt was a very competitive activity. On a special day at the parish, you would have whale boats competitions. And you would have the guys, and they would set up their teams, and there would be the pride of their parish if they won. And this competition continues today. Its like a revival and homage to the whalers, and to all that culture. And also to kind of experience what your ancestors were experiencing when they would be hunting the whale. pedro garcia were going to have a whaleboat regata between two ports, near the volcano. Now, theres no hunting. Its just sport, sailing and rowing. Half of my family is from faial, half is from pico. Almost every family had somebody whaling. Pedro Escobar whaling was pretty much the only source of money. They would grow their own food. They would sew their own clothes. The would reuse everything they could reuse. The Grocery Stores would be kind of like the bank for people. They would take note of what people would be taking throughout the year, and at the end of the whaling season, when the whalers would get their salary, they would be able to pay the Grocery Stores. pedro garcia the main and most important thing was the cultural aspect. Its obviously a world that implies a lot of passing of information from the oldest to the youngest, so theres a real culture around it. Its sort of a right of passage, becoming a whaler. When youre a kid and you become a teenager and you start going whaling in the boats, you become a man. We continued whaling up until the 1980s, and i think thats mostly due to the culture that was generated, because people liked whaling, people liked the boats, liked the practice. Shortly after the end of whaling, they started meeting for races. They were using all the original boats and all the material was as it was at the end of whaling. Its very important, because everybody has a cultural link to it. And whenever we sail these boats, we feel like were also reenacting something. All together, in the azores, there are over 40 whaling boats. Whenever we get together, its a big number. Each village has its own boat, or more than one boat, so there are these small village rivalries. Its very, very deeply embedded in the social fabric. [speaking portuguese] Pedro Escobar people in the azores, they tend to be extremely welcoming. Its in our culture to help anyone who needs help, and thats extremely present in terceira. Terceira is a party island. Many say that its the Amusement Park of the azores, because in terceira, you have many activities. One of those important fests is the tourada a corda. jose castro parreira we are in the centre of the island. All the bull riders have their property here. The day of the bull fight, people come to the fields in the morning to choose the bulls that are going to run in their own village. People share food, share wine. Its a community. You have young kids here, and you have old men. Well, all the community is here. Its very beautiful because it is a way that you can survive in an isolated island in the middle of the atlantic. In the ancient times, the bull was a symbol of vitality, of strength, and people thought that if they could eat the meat of the bulls, they would inherit their strength and courage, and all the characteristics that they saw and valued in the bulls. Its something that you learn from a young age o