Fogo Island

June 14

Started off at 06:00 with heavy fog. It is one of the times for moose to be moving about, so the heavy fog and the fear of moose encounter kept us down to 60-70 km. We safely arrived for the 08:30 ferry at 07:00. A short 1 hour 15 minutes crossing with one stop to Change Island to let 5 cars out. Uneventful.
 
Well, Fogo Island isn’t very big! Lucky again with a sunny day. Visited all the small outports and ate twice at The Cod Jigger Diner as it is still considered off-season, aka as winter here, and so there are only two eateries open on the island, viz.,
 
Fabulous moderate to hard walk up one of the four corners of the flat earth with 147 steps and a rocky ground on the Brimstone Head Trail (338 ft above sea level)—a breathtaking view of the ocean, icebergs and the historic community of Fogo. Exhilarating! 
 
The Marconi Interpretive was closed for the season, so missed that. 
 
Although the world-famous Fogo Island Inn, which goes for $2875 (343 sq ft)- $5575 (663 sq ft) per night minimum 3-night stay, is off limits except for registered guests, we managed to sweet talk our way for a look-see. It is quite well done, with amazing views of the North Atlantic. Not convinced about the value, but it is fully booked until October, and we say good on owner Zita Cobb a local Fogo Islander who made good money in the early stages of fibre optics with JDS Mitel. Now operates through a Charity, although we hear the Govts kicked in $10mm. She is now the largest employer on Fogo Island and pours a lot of money back into the local economy – a good story. 
 
Glenn had a good conversation with a retired fisher, Melvin Brown. Again, amazing characters and fun to talk to, he greeted us with saying “slue” we didn’t quite understand, after looking it up it meant “hello” go figure. Their rhotic accent is so heavy we barely could make out what he was saying. All in all, a good day.