August 2017
On my "atypical for Europe" small white van tour out of Lisbon to visit Sintra, a lot of other smaller stops were included. The last official stop after our long lunch break in Caiscais (loved that place), was "the mouth of hell" - a rocky promontory that, under the right conditions, sent spray high into the air. No doubt it was a sight to behold (under those conditions).
It was a hot August day with little wind and the sea was calm.
Boca do Inferno was a lovely bit of coast in Portugal where we peered down into a dark hole where (under the right conditions) water would shoot high into the sky. I loved the stop by its rocky shore and appreciated the good weather and the deep blue of the Atlantic. If weather conditions were such that the blowhole were active, would people have even been permitted near it? I was taking care walking on a sunny day. If the waves were crashing and the wind was howling, could anyone have stood even reasonably near this oddity of nature safely?
I chuckled to myself at how many places I had visited over the years that were all about "just imagine". The deep cave in Carlsbad Caverns that was so vast "the Empire State Building could fit into it". All that was visible was a gaping black hole. It could have been 50 feet deep - who would have known? There were the various geothermal oddities in Japan and Indonesia that, in the past, had done incredible things - but in the moment were just a bit of steam or mud. Phosphorescent bays on the sea were incredible spectacles - when it was the season. So many places become famous for phenomena that occur only rarely and unpredictably, yet people still flock to them.
I am not sure I'd want to see Boca do Inferno when it was shooting its column of saltwater into the air. I might well be washed into the sea. Ditto for all the hot springs, geysers, and bubbling pits of mud that do amazing (and scary) things. Does anyone REALLY want to be in those places when said oddities are "doing their thing"?
Now that I am older and a lot more cautious, I think I'll pass.
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