It is not only a path, but a rediscovery of the island.
The journey that I propose is as if we leave the lush paradise of the island into the bosom of a skin parched mountain by a rail that will take us to the most extreme east of Madeira Island, Ponta de São Lourenço. A name that comes according to the legend from the name of the caravel of the discoverer João Gonçalves Zarco. It is a ride that ends the mysteries of the volcanic origin of the Madeira. First things first. The route begins in Caniçal, in the beginning awaits a small mobile trailer that will delight the most addicted to coffee. The adventure begins. We saw at once the long way modeled on the rock by the thousands of steps that have marked this geography for centuries. Waiting slopes glide to an intoxicating sea so blue that bewitching our signt. Rocks cut by the winds, remnants of other times, were we can see the evolution of the planet in its different layers. It's like a journey in a prehistoric world.
The time runs out in the breeze, and here we are in the belt of the island, Ponta do Castelo and the sea surround us on both sides, it's like a very narrow isthmus that in good weather allows us to spot Porto Santo island. We are reaching our destination and you only need to be aware of small loose rocks, although they have put small fences at some points. We continued our journey. In the recesses of the mountain, hidden from the blazing sun we see small groups of walkers who enjoy this oasis to rest and take pictures. We follow the path charted by thousands of anonymous, when finally we saw a palm tree and a stone cottage is the house of the Sardines, the name stuck, the owner did not. This whole track is enclosed in a protected area for its endemic evasive flora and fauna and geological interest. In the distance you can hear the seagulls. We approached the open bay. It's kind of a crack in a cliff that ends with a flight of stairs to a small hiding place where we expect a well-deserved bath. It's time to spice forces with a deserved lunch and enjoy the clear waters that let us see to the bottom studded with rocky basalt. Time to get back the same way, but in reverse, there is no other pedestrian access. On the way up, make a stop of the House of sardines to talk to the supervisors of nature and deep insights of the barley and the lighthouse island, only reachable by the rough sea. It was worth the harsh landscape that haunts us, the glimpse of a lost world and the ocean, always the ocean.
