Dear Readers, I haven’t been off on a solo adventure since 2018, when I went to Monterey Bay to watch whales/find condors/generally hang out, so it is with great excitement and a little trepidation that I’m heading off to the Azores later this week. The main focus of the holiday is whale-watching – this is the best spot in Europe for sperm whales, which I’ve never seen, and also for all manner of other whales, including blue, sei, humpback and Bryde’s whales, plus dolphins, turtles and lots of other marine life.

Being stuck out in the middle of the Atlantic (the Azores are about 900 miles west of Lisbon) means that the weather can be, well, changeable, so it’s important to pack for everything from pouring rain to baking sun. Plus, in the Azores the whales are generally spotted from the cliffs by watchers with powerful binoculars, and then boats travel to the general vicinity to observe. The Azores has very strict rules about when and how to approach the animals, and the company that I travel with, Naturetrek, also has its rules about ethical whale-watching so I’m hopeful that the animals won’t be disturbed.

We’ll be based on the island of Pico, and during the week that I’m on the island we’re due to go out for 8 whale-watching trips. I’ve never had problems with sea-sickness, but I’ve packed some Stugeron (anti-sickness tablets) just in case. And I’m hoping that the sea air will blow away the last of my cough (or give me pneumonia but fingers crossed).

The sperm whale’s blow hole is skewed to the left! Who knew? Photo by By Vilmos Vincze CC BY 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=84353750

I am hoping to be able to blog from the Azores but it depends on such little things as wi-fi and time available, so if it suddenly goes quiet, don’t worry! But at the very least I hope to be able to pop up a photo or two for your delectation, even if (in the spirit of Barry Lopez) it takes a little while to process what’s gone on and come up with something coherent. So let’s take a little leap into the unknown, and see what happens….