Ponta Delgada, São Miguel, Azores, Portugal
The ancient Greeks were aware of a group of islands in the mid-Atlantic. The semi-legendary islands were thought to be a winterless paradise inhabited by the heroes of Greek mythology. They referred to them as The Fortunate Isles.
It seems likely that the Greeks had stumbled upon the Azores Archipelago on their far-flung travels. The “winterless” climate fits the description. It is not difficult to imagine that the Greeks thought they had found paradise and believed that Odysseus, Achilles, or Hercules might dwell here.
It wouldn’t surprise me to see Odysseus or one of his Greek hero buddies stroll through the view from our hotel window.
My great grandfather must have felt like he stumbled upon paradise when he landed on São Miguel on April 11, 1889. While emigrating from Denmark to New York, the ship Frederik Bekker was on foundered and sank in the mid-Atlantic. He was rescued by a passing ship and dropped on the Azores.
(I published a piece about Frederik’s adventure entitled At the Bottom of the Atlantic. If you missed it, click the link and you will be directed to the story.)
Bear and I spent the morning at the docks in Ponta Delgada where Frederik Bekker would have landed in 1889. It is not hard to imagine the relief he felt putting his feet on solid ground, 6 days after his shipwreck and near-death experience.
The first thing Fred would have seen would have been the walls of the fortified city, built in the 1550s as a defence against Spanish and British forces.
It is difficult to get a sense of what the dock would have looked like in 1889, but water is water, and land is land, so probably not much different than this.
We have no idea where Fred and the other passengers were billeted while they awaited transfer to another ship bound for America. It is safe to assume they would have been in army barracks or sailor’s quarters near the dock. Some of the buildings from that era still stand, but many have been replaced by modern facilities.
Cobblestone paving on the Azores uses basalt, black lava rock, with white limestone features.
On the mainland, where limestone is common and basalt rare, the black/white pattern is reversed.
The magnificent tree on the left was planted in 1870, nineteen years before Frederik Bekker landed on the Azores. The one on the right is how I imagine it looked when Fred saw it.
The Greeks had it right, the Azores Islands are an amazing and unlikely place, a paradise in the middle of the endless Atlantic.
For Fred Bekker who survived on this island, and for all of our family who followed, the Azores are indeed…
… The Fortunate Isles.
Frederik Bekker
Photo taken November 14, 1892, in Chicago, three years after the shipwreck.
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Keith MacDonald
Another FUN ride with you two travellers. Love it. Re-signing up as I haven’t been getting emails but have been following the postings when I see them on Facebook.
Russ Paton
Great to hear from you. Thank you, we are enjoying the journey, glad to have you along with us. Signing up directly on the website is the best way to get notifications. My e-Mail notices are “semi-irregular” at best.
Happy Trails.