Hello Everyone!

This is Simon & Emelie! We would like to share our story about our time here in the Azores and hopefully inspire you to do the same trip as we did!

We are two Swedish students, working in the field of Adventure Tourism, and have for the last six months been fortunate enough to work for Paulo and his team at Fun Activities, as part of our internship here in the Azores.

It all started out back in February last year, as we were starting to plan for our internship that was supposed to begin in the summer. We were looking for places like Hawaii, Cyprus, Tenerife, Spain etc; places that could offer a wide variety of activities such as Climbing, snorkelling, bike tours, diving etc. As we were searching, we stumbled across a video of an island with scenes of dramatic nature, waterfalls, volcanos, blue water, “rain forests” … like something taken out of the Jurassic Park movie basically.

Upon further investigation, we discovered, that this was all found on the little island of Sao Miguel, which is part of Portugal, and is actually one of a group of islands that form the Azores Archipelago, a place described as the adventurers Mecca! And as a bonus it didn’t cost us a fortune to get there!

We were so excited that we had just found exactly what we were looking for and immediately started to look for places to work there! We were looking for a company that offered a wide variety of activities, such as canyoning, climbing, trail-walking, snorkeling, kayaking, cycling, etc., and a company that promoted sustainable Tourism, in terms of doing something that does not impact nature in a negative way.

After searching for a while, we noticed that a certain company stood out from all the others…This was Fun Activities Azores Adventure! We jumped on the email and started to form a personal letter in the hopes that they would accept us!

And they did! Unfortunately, by the time we got confirmation, the news that Covid-19 had just started to spread around the world, came out. We had been planning on arriving on the island in late June, but due to the pandemic we had to wait for the go ahead to fly.

Fast forward to the summer! We had just come home from our course in Arctic Guiding in August, where we had climbed Sweden’s tallest mountain, in the region of Lapland, when we got confirmation that we were now free to travel! So, in a matter of two weeks, we had to take vaccinations, repack our bags and take the Covid tests. We both tested Negative and on August 20, we got to Arlanda Airport in Stockholm, with a 10-hour flight ahead of us.

We arrived in Ponta Delgada at midnight, where Paulo, our new boss and mentor, welcomed us at the airport. He took us out for a quick bite to eat before dropping us off at our new home for the next few months. He had even brought us a locally grown melon as a welcoming gift, which was delicious!

We had our first proper taste of what Sao Miguel had to offer the following weekend, when we went out to explore and get to know the island and the city of Ponta Delgada better.

On Monday, we finally got to meet some of the guides at the warehouse, where we were then invited to join Ricardo for our first guided tour; Kayaking to Vila Franca do Campo Islet. This is when we knew, without a doubt, that we were in the right place and in good hands!

During our stay here we’ve managed to explore a lot of São Miguel’s hidden treasures…it’s not hard really! Wherever you go, around every corner of this island there is something jaw-dropping to see. It’s almost overwhelming at times. A huge waterfall here, a gorgeous viewpoint there and look! there is a tropical forest over there! and don’t get me started about all the trails! Your choices are endless, its truly a nature lovers paradise here.

Back in September, our team, together with @Lifeipazoresnatura, celebrated Coastal Cleanup Day by cleaning up the beach at “Zona Balnear das Calhetas”, where we collected 34kg of garbage.

We’ve had the opportunity to learn what goes on behind the scenes in the world of adventure tourism, thanks to João, who taught us all he could about photography, film-making, editing and profiling.

Paulo did an outstanding job at teaching us about Canyoning; How to rig anchors, ascend and descend from hanging ropes, how the equipment works, how to avoid mistakes, how to work in a safe manner, ways to use a rope etc. Under his supervision and guidance, we practiced these techniques in the warehouse and after gaining some confidence, we also had training sessions outside canyoning together. All of this will definitely come in handy in our future.

All the activities that we have been doing with Fun Activities have been awesome, and the guides here are just great! Also, and I believe I speak for both of us when I say this, Canyoning is the one activity that’s been the most amazing experience for us during our stay here. To be able to listen to the stories of our guests, what brought them here, why they are doing this and opening up about their fears, all while being surrounded with the best nature has to offer.

It’s so rewarding to see all our guests that are facing their fears and how happy they are afterwards, when they realize what they’ve just accomplished! That’s what matters to us as guides, and that is why we chose to do our course in Adventure Tourism in the first place. That is why we love what we do!

What’s even more rewarding, is when you have guides like Paulo and João explaining your surroundings; the nature, the flora and history of the place, as we are following a path or a river. It’s very inspiring as a student/intern to watch someone doing all of this with such passion!

They are truly living up to their slogan – We love what we do and want to share it with you!

Working abroad has really been life-changing, and so rewarding in so many ways. It’s been an amazing learning experience for both of us. We’ve met so many new people and friends. We learned so much about the Portuguese culture, guiding techniques, stepping out of our comfort-zones and of course, growing our self-esteem and gaining confidence through this adventurous working experience.

Unfortunately, all good things come to an end, and on the 29th of January we will be flying back home to Sweden. We will be leaving with our backpacks stuffed and our hearts full of experiences, knowledge and plans for our next adventures! We will definitely be coming back here in the future, and we hope that we will get to meet some of you visiting here as well!

If you’d like to see more about our time here in Sao Miguel, you can follow us on our adventures on Instagram @Almenontour & @Empilainen where we post frequently.

With that being said! We want to thank Paulo and the team so much for this opportunity and for taking us in under their wing! You’ve given us so much inspiration, experiences, knowledge and opportunities, we don’t really know how to re-pay you for this! We’ve felt so welcome here, and met so many incredible people. It’s been a great honor to work for you at Fun Activities Azores Adventure!

Take care/Hej då!
Simon Almén & Emelie Gustavsson.

Hello Everyone! It’s true, we’re back in action! After the last couple of months with the Azores on lockdown, the team finally had the freedom to go out together in nature again 😊. Fun Activities, in collaboration with Junta Freguesia Lomba S. Pedro, began work on making a new canyoning and hiking trail in Jan 2020. So, for our first venture, we decided to check out our project to see if mother nature had caused any damage in our absence.

Being one of the newest members of the Fun Activities team, I was warned that this hike is about 6km long and rated as difficult, so, armed in my sturdy hiking boots, I was ready to go! I was very excited about seeing this new route as I was promised an adventure full of surprises!

I was not disappointed, as you quickly find yourself in the thick of the forest, surrounded by an expanse of lush greenery, looking down over the valley. This view, these surroundings, feeling like you’re in the middle of nowhere, is for me, the true essence of the beauty of the Azores, with Nature at its best, untouched by man.

With that in mind, I’m proud to say that all the work that has been done so far and will continue to be done by Fun Activities here, will be made with utmost care to work with nature, to embrace it and enhance it for sustainable tourism. In fact, the idea to make a new canyoning route started three years ago, when the Fun Activities team, realized that the island is in desperate need for an alternative Canyoning route, as the ones being used at the moment have become too popular due to easy access, and are being exhausted by tourists and locals alike. In reality, Sao Miguel Island is made up of 60% of greenery, a lot of which is uncharted territory waiting to be discovered and explored.

So, we came up with this plan which got approved by the Tourism Directorate and hence started this project for a new canyoning route and a new hiking route, involving and committing the local farmers and fishermen. Our goal is to make sure that not only is the environment protected, but also to help the locals improve their lifestyle. By starting this project and partnering up with the local council we hope to improve the area for everyone to enjoy, to benefit the local community economically and to include locals with social problems to help them gain new skills and a chance at better future prospects.

However, we are a long way from finishing, and today, with a bit of slipping and sliding on my part, we made our way down the steep slope down the valley, to the sound of rushing water as our guide. Reaching the bottom, we were welcomed with an amazing sight; 360 degrees of greenery, a river flowing down, topped off with a beautiful waterfall.

If you want to get to the foot of the waterfall though, you have to be willing to get your feet wet and walk up the river bed. Luckily for us, this winter season hasn’t been particularly wet and the river was quite low, so we found some logs and driftwood and built ourselves a makeshift bridge to higher ground.

Getting closer to the waterfall, you wouldn’t think it could get any better, but it does! It’s not just the waterfall, or the beautiful blue pond below it, that beckons you for a dip, but all the lushness surrounding you with a curtain of spring water coming down on all sides of this enclosed area. The suns’ rays pouring in making it look even more magical. No photo can do this sight justice. So here we sat for a short break and enjoyed the peace and the sound of the birds and listened to the swish of the trees.

Making our way back up to the start of the hiking trail took my breath away, literally, but continuing on to the hiking route was my reward. All along the way you are surrounded by the many endemic trees and plants of the Azores, and the soothing smell of Eucalyptus.

I soon found out why this trail is marked as difficult, but if you enjoy a route with an obstacle course like I do, then this is definitely for you. There are a couple of spots where balance and lightness of foot is essential to pass through unscathed and some slippery wooden walkways and bridges. I’m ashamed to say that my post quarantine agility left me ankle deep or sitting in the mud in most of these spots, but still we had a good laugh. Dredging forward, we had to get our hands dirty with a bit of scrambling, and climbing up a wall with the help of a rope that is not for the faint of heart.

However, getting to the top of the final waterfall in this trail was well worth the struggle. Personally, I’m very excited about having a canyoning activity here in the near future. Whether you’re afraid of heights or not, this location makes you want to abseil down under the waterfalls or if you’re brave enough, to just jump off a ledge and down into the pool below.

We took the circular route on this day, but there are other options to getting back to the starting point. It was interesting to see that during the works that we’ve started recently, the team uncovered an old trail that had been made and previously used by our ancestors, and so now, we have integrated this into our route also. Throughout this whole adventure, it was hard to keep my attention on my footing as I really just wanted to look up at the old, grand and magnificent trees around me, or look towards the river and waterfalls along the way and imagine all the fun possibilities in this canyoning playground.

Knowing that I have a lot of muddy clothes and shoes to wash later didn’t dampen the fact that it was a great day and we had a lot of fun! I can’t wait to come here again, and once the building works have been finished and the trail officially opened to the public, we can bring all you adventure lovers for a morning or day of Canyoning, so you can experience all of this with us too. Stay tuned for further updates 😉

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