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The 25 fountains

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It's a journey through the bowels of the laurel forest. Follow me through this green delight.

It is one of the most enjoyable journeys of the laurel forest. In my barometer of risk, from zero to ten, eight. Stay! I promise not to scare you this time. Well, maybe a little. One of the attractions of these routes is the tourists. They are a very funny "fauna", unpredictable and irresponsible, because they never hear the warnings provided for free about the dangers of the mountain. Rule number one, as a precautionary measure you should never go alone, you can be lost and nobody knows where you went, two people call more attention and help each other. Second, the bag must have the essential warm clothing because of the unpredictable weather of the island, food, a canteen, a camera, a flashlight, a phone, a stick and a map. Third, appropriate footwear. Now we are ready for another adventure. However, this tour I have to step back in time. At time ago I was a scout and as such participated in many camps and walked thru many turns and paths. My pedestrian feats were always engage with a fabulous group of friends, which I highlight for this story, one in particular, Miguel. In all the tours we did, my friend and hiking companion took extra weight on his backpack, a first aid kit and strings, if there were some unfortunate incident. Well, as you all must be tired of knowing, (and I assume in my insane modesty that you read the other chronics), one can "slip" through the recesses of the fascinating mountain, get distracted and... upps happens a potentially deadly fall.

Enough being said about this time pre-sequel, back to the path of 25 fountains which starts at Rabaçal in Calheta. It is incredibly easy to find the trail, because it has a wooden plaque marking the beginning of an unforgettable journey. It is a path of water. Not literally, but in the historical sense, since the island depended of this aqueducts for hundreds of years ago, to irrigate crops and for domestic consumption. Now imagine the almost superhuman strength of thousands arms digging with picks hanging by ropes the volcanic rock that would channel through a huge network of aqueducts, that liquid so precious to the human being that is water. It seems unreal, is not it? And every ones say the extreme sports were invented in New Zealand. Bahh! I've strayed from my path.

The journey can be walked in three hours and are nearly five miles in the same way and back. As I said before I was distracted, the path to 25 fountains plunges headlong into the laurel forest and we decided to do it in a burst of youth because it was easy. The group has always joked with our friend Miguel, for coming so loaded with so much material that we considered superfluous because from our immature point of view we were very authentic professionals of these footpaths. Forward. The road is always accompanied by an aqueduct and you just follow her to a place called risk. The name is due to an impressive waterfall that literally digs the rock covered with vegetation, like a crooked line drawn vertically along the cliff. So until our ultimate goal is a step. Another curiosity of this route is its fauna, due to the huge number of people who walked it thru, finches accustomed to human presence, let them feed them with bread and crackers crumbs. Not daring these little birds, you need to achieve a certain calm and patience, but once they are convinced of your kindness they eat everything in a heartbeat. By this time, the rays of sun amid thru the heavy clouds that opened lazily in the late morning, when suddenly in the last mile just before the arrival of the 25 fountains were overtaken by a lone hasty German tourist. His silhouette was sun gone in a turn of our crooked way, when we suddenly hear a distant cry for help. We run and soon beholden our friend caught between the vegetation at the bottom of a ravine of a breakdown in access due to a small flowing that was obviously not seen such was anxiety to arrive to the end of the path. Act continuous, Miguel lay down on us a grimace of triumph, because all do spectacular the fall was not fatal. We told him he was right after all and apologize for the most humorous comments of the past and swallow our pride. You see why we needed all this stuff? Let's go and save this tourist. In mine refined English at the time, shout him that help would come in the form of rope, and everything would have to do is tie his waist around it as promptly and thoroughly I described. Thank god there were many to helped lift this human portent of almost 2 meters high and several years of liters of beer and tons of sausages accumulated in the form of fat, I thought, such was the effort. When our "victim" finally reached the top of the ravine, we checked the status of its members to ensure that they were not broken and he had only a few scratches on the knee and once again, our friend looked at us with a sneer, while he drew the first-aid kit out which only deserved from us a few grunts which translated meant, enough all ready, you're a hero. The tourist thanked us so many times that we lost the account before a small crowd that thronged thru the narrow access, we them had to ask people to follow the path in order to help man to reach the famous 25 sources, since that there exists a wall where you can rest and gain strength for the reverse route. But, you asking yourself, and the 25 fountains? There are 25 water lines that fall in cascade by a wall of volcanic rock. In the summer as a warning, their numbers may decrease, but the spectacle is magnificent. Well, after been anesthetized with such natural beauty, we had to go back, helping our foreign friend who limped to the starting point. Isn't a delicious story? I said it would be easier than the others and now you understand why the warnings?

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