Flores: The island shaped by water

🌧️ Flores — Where water sculpts the memory of fire

On the island of Flores, geology expresses itself through water.

Rivers, waterfalls and lakes tell a story born of volcanism but transformed by centuries of erosion. Dark cliffs and green plateaus are the remnants of ancient eruptions that the ever-present rain has slowly softened and reshaped.

As you explore, you discover an island shaped by a fragile balance between the forces of fire and water. The basalt cliffs reveal layers stacked like the pages of a geological book, while the fajãs bear witness to the inhabitants' ability to tame a landscape born of destruction.

Higher up, explosive craters, now transformed into tranquil lakes, serve as a reminder that Flores was once the scene of violent eruptions. These circular depressions, created by the sudden contact between magma and underground water, are now mirrors reflecting the island's lush vegetation.

And then, the Rocha dos Bordões appears, an iconic natural monument on Flores. Its perfectly ordered basalt columns evoke a mineral cathedral. They are the result of the cooling of ancient lava flows, but also of the patience of erosion, which, over thousands of years, has revealed this hidden architecture.

Flores is an island where volcanism and water are in constant dialogue, sometimes violently, often beautifully.

Here, landscapes are never static: they breathe, transform and tell the story of the slow metamorphosis of an ever-changing Earth.