Azores: The Dark Side

Most of the Azore's lush verdant hobbit-scape feels like the Shire. But hop one island over to Capelinhos on the island of Faial, and you find yourself in Mordor. Okay, without the great evil flaming eye ball watching over it all, ‘Mordor’ may be a bit strong. Let’s call it Vulcan.

This video shows the most recent volcanic eruption, which lasted for 13 months, from September 27, 1957 - October 24, 1958.

Actually, it may have been two overlapping volcanic eruptions that increased the above sea-level landmass by 2.4 km², created 300 seismic events, hurled ash 1 km, destroyed 300 houses and caused the evacuation of 2,000 people.

When this eruption vomited its blackened lava spew into the air, all things died. As you see from the pics below, it’s still this way today, a charred lunar landscape of earthly emissions that blanketed everything it touched.

Life On Vulcan

Look at these few pics — how do you describe it? Stark, lunar, dead?

A blackened mountain blanketed in lava debris — which should still be in liquid form deep beneath the earth, bubbling beneath the floating plates where it belongs — have smothered all life on this land. And since this event, many have come to gawk at the black death the earth vomited up and over this land.

As you can see, this archipelago of just 906 sq miles is wildly unsafe and unstable, located not on one fault line, but directly above an active triple junction between three of the world's major tectonic plates (the North American Plate, the Eurasian Plate and the African Plate).

This sets up is a trifecta of lurking geologic catastrophe. Given that, why would people live here, on purpose?! Why would someone put themselves in harm’s way like this, facing a near inevitable Mt. Doomish lava belch at some random future moment? It must be like living on the Californian west coast, or in gorgeous New Zealand where such prospect of death and destruction are easily eclipsed by the beautiful loveliness you’re surrounded by every. single. day.

The better question to ask is not “why would you basically live in the shadow of Mt. Doom”, but “how beautiful must the Azores be to make that make sense”?

Once you get there, and witness the magic of the people and place, you understand completely.