Saturday, March 16, 2013

Corvo - A Gem Hiding in the Atlantic Ocean


At approximately 600 km northeast of São Miguel, the island of Corvo forms, together with its neighbor, Flores, the Western Group of the Archipelago of the Azores, Portugal. Corvo is the smallest of the nine islands and it measures only 6,5 km in length and 4 km in width, for a total of 17 square km of land. Corvo is home to the smallest Portuguese district.

When on Flores, searching the horizon for Corvo, the small island always appears to be shrouded in a foggy vale, a mysterious optical phenomenon caused by the light refracting on the Atlantic humidity. When the sky is clear, Corvo attracts visitors with the vivid greens of its vegetation, which covers the hills.

How to get there?

Reaching Corvo isn't easy. First of all, the elements must permit it, especially the sea, seeing as by boat is the fastest way to get there. During the winter season, the wind and the high waves can leave the island isolated for several weeks in a row.

For those that dare to go out at sea and try to reach Corvo on a foggy day, the island rises out of the water like a big rock. The boats stop in the harbor, and not far from here is the aerodrome, where the inter-islands planes land around three times per week.

The Caldeirão is only visible on days without any fog, and it constitutes the main attraction of Corvo. It is an impressive crater with a perimeter of 3400 meters and a depth of 300 meters, the remains of the great volcano that gave birth to the island. At the bottom of the crater now lies a tranquil lake. The island is formed by a sole volcano, Monte Grosso, with an altitude of 770 meters.

The village of Vila Nova do Corvo stands proud right behind its port, and is formed by a conglomerate of cubical white houses between which a web of narrow streets is formed. Walking on the small streets of Corvo is to take a journey to the past and to feel the solitude that encompasses the small village, surrounded by the blue of the sea and the greens of the landscape.

The island holds little to no danger, proof of which are the wood locks which can be seen on the doors of some of the houses. Nobody needs metal locks here, everyone knows everyone and a thief's live is a very short lives one in such a small community.

Friday, February 24, 2012

Azores rent-a-car - The comfortable way of moving around

Azores is a very scenic archipelago in Portugal and those who visit it would want to have
the best of it by personally driving to every spot they wish to, instead of using relying
on public transport. Therefore, in Azores rent-a-car services are bound to give people a
good deal to rent cars of different categories. For example, a family can take a B-category
which is very economical and comfortable enough for their sitting and for light luggage.
They can discover the green hilly stretch of roads to feel the real worth of Azores. The
roads in Azores are smooth, wide and have very little traffic.


How the billing is done

There are two ways around getting to rent a car. With Azores rent-a-car, someone can
decide to pay according to kilometers covered or according to the time he has taken with
the car. For example, someone can pay for the miles covered; meaning that covering less
trips costs less. The best thing to do is to look at the number of people that are supposed
to be using the transport and consider how much space they need. Therefore, for a larger
number of passengers, a bigger car should be hired. Vans are also available for hire. The
social status also plays a part since someone can order a convertible classic car if he feels
like splashing more on luxury.

Getting Insurance for Car rentals

The issue of insurance is an important one. Whenever a car gets damaged, someone
will obviously be responsible for the repairs needed. Accidents are very uncertain
and somebody cannot just cross his fingers and hope they do not happen. Getting car
insurance should be a wise enough way to protect the car against that risk. Azores rent-
a-car can organize an insurance policy for the person borrowing the car or the person can
simply use his insurance card if it allows him to use the cover for rented cars. It will be
enough to compensate claims arising from accidents caused by him. He must of course be
an adult or legal driving age and has a license from whichever country he comes from.

To add onto the excitement, Azores rent-a-car has a number of discount deals for people
all through the year. Online applications for car rental or through a partner site can
entitle somebody to discounts. Others include gift items and vouchers for hotels or some
percentage off on other complimentary services like tour guides and mileage. Renting the
car for a longer period, maybe months will attract the likelihood of getting discounts too.