Terceira Island Day 4

I woke up early determined to get in a full day of sightseeing now that I had a car. First stop is over to Biscoitos Pools, which is a complex right at the ocean with hot water due to the volcanic activity. On the way, I saw a sign for what I thought was the place. Drove down this thin road towards the ocean and it turned out to be a cool lookout point at the end. Took some pictures and headed back out. I arrived at the complex a few minutes later. Of course, the weather was still miserable and windy. It was a cool place. There were segregated areas out of the existing volcanic rock made into pools with steps. Near the ocean, you can see a lot of foam from the interaction between the sulfur in the water and the sea water I assume. Probably a nice place when it is sunny out. Headed out from there to the next stop, Sao Joao Baptista, which is a 16th century fort. I arrived and took some pictures of it. Pretty massive fort. I admit I was a little confused as to if there was an entrance somewhere, and I had read that there would be a guy to give you a tour. I didn’t see anyone, so I left and headed to McDonalds for an early lunch. After eating, I drove around town for some picture places that I looked up on google while eating. I stopped at the first place, Palacio dos Capitas (capitol building) and realized I had already taken pictures of it before, because I had thought it looked like a cool building. After that, I headed over to Sao Joao Baptista, which is an old fort. I took a few pictures. I thought there was a place you could get a tour, but I didn’t see it anywhere, so I left. Then I went to a museum called Museu de Angra do Herosimo. A pretty good museum with a lot of old displays, including old weapons from wars, old cars, old carriages, etc.. Interesting. Drove around a little bit and decided to head to the first cave, Algar do Cavao, a little early. It was less than 20 minutes away. It said 2:30pm on the web site, but I arrived at 2:00pm and they were already letting people in. I bought a combo ticket for the other lava tube 10 minutes away. They gave me a helmet and map and explained the layout. It is a self-guided tour, so you can take your time. I went down some stairs to inside the cavern, which is actually a huge lava cave. Multiple levels to visit. It was very spacious and quite interesting. Left there to the other place, Gruta do Natal. Same setup. It was more of a lava tube, but larger in size. Pretty cool. Near the end, there was one part you had to get really low, and I was wondering if I would be okay doing it with my hip, but they were smart enough to put a handrail about a foot off the ground. I had enough for the day and the crappy weather, so I went back to the hostel and got a hold of the taxi guy that gave me a ride from the airport. He agreed to meet me to bring the car back and drop me back at the hostel. I also confirmed he would pick me up at 6:30am tomorrow for the airport. All was good. Back at the hostel, I got my suitcase ready, took a shower and laid down on the bed and watched a movie on TV. I fell asleep quite quickly and woke up about 9pm. Brushed teeth and called it a night. Obviously, I was tired.