Fajã de Lopo Vaz

We are on the south coast of the island of Flores. The trail starts at the picnic area of Fajã de Lopo Vaz, which is the only point from which you can reach this fajã by land. The area was one of the first corners of the island to be inhabited, and the name comes precisely from Lopo Vaz, one of the settlers to whom the construction of the stone staircase that forms part of the path you will walk is attributed.

From a geological point of view, both Fajã de Lopo Vaz and the neighbouring Ponta da Rocha Alta are classified as geosites of the Geoparque Açores. They are detrital fajãs, that is, they formed from material that broke loose from cracks and collapses of the high cliffs surrounding the area.

Because it faces south, is very exposed to the sun and at low altitude, the fajã has a microclimate with tropical characteristics. This made it possible to use it for acclimatising and cultivating some fruit trees, such as figs (Ficus sp.), guavas (Psidium littorale), redcurrants (Ribes rubrum) and bananas (Musa sp.). Watering is done with water from the only potable spring in the area, which flows down from the cliff face, over 350 metres high.

In terms of nature, the fajã belongs to the Protected Area for the Management of Habitats or Species of the South and Southwest Coast and is part of a Special Protection Zone (SPZ) of the Natura 2000 Network, and is also in an Important Area for Birds and Biodiversity (IBA). Among the colonies of seabirds that nest here are the Cory’s shearwater (Calonectris borealis), the common tern (Sterna hirundo) and the roseate tern (Sterna dougallii).

As the route runs along a coastal cliff, it is advisable to be careful and alert to the possibility of falling rocks. It is also a dead-end trail: each person explores the fajã as far as they wish and then returns by the same path.