Today is Wednesday and, after a very lazy day yesterday, we have decided to complete the Lavada do Norte, starting where we finished last time at Cabo Girao and following it all the way to Ribiera Brava. The route actually continues up to Encumeada and the start of the levada, but this final part is considered very dangerous as some of the most vertiginous parts have no railings and there have been many accidents including a fatality.
We resume the route at Cabo Girao, retracing our steps downhill, back onto the levada and returning to a tunnel. The guide book says that no torch is needed but I would not have felt comfortable without one, the levada being only inches away from my feet. The tunnel, though dark is more or less level with good head height and we emerge ten minutes later into the sunshine of the valley of Quinte Grande. We follow the levada, skirting the hillside and note the slope down to sea level; it is very different from the perspective you get from the busy ‘VR’ roads, and one which allows you an insight into normal village life on the island. Many of the locals live their lives tending the land and there are meticulously tended pockets of land planted with salad and vegetables, with marrows drying out on top of the terracotta rooves. We also see people tending the levadas, cleaning, fixing and maintaining the pathways and there is evidence that lots of work is done to maintain the dense forested areas higher up. The local people use the levadas as pathways, carrying washing and vegetables in baskets and bags on their backs or heads. They are friendly, giving a smile or a greeting, and are quick to help if we are looking a bit lost, pointing the way back to the levada path. As we begin to make the transition from Quinta Grande to Campanario, the terrain changes and the levada continues under cover of a forest. Here we walk beneath Pine, Eucalyptus and Sweet Chestnut and the paths are littered with spiky chestnut pods and silver Eucalyptus seeds. Dragonflies and butterflies hover and fly alongside us and frogs are swimming in the water jumping occasionally to catch flies. Lizards scurry along the wall beside us and dart across the path into the undergrowth; they are brown and gold here rather than the green we are used to, presumably to camouflage them from predators among the foliage and the red soil of the forest. In one section of the forest the trees are blackened and the ground is ash grey following a forest fire and the only colour is from the pale pink Belladonna Lillies which grow in clusters around the roots of the skeleton trees, it is quite an eerie sight. We continue up the valley of the Ribiera do Campanario high above the churches and buildings of the villages with far reaching views across the expressway to the sea far below. As we cross the Boa Morte Road we expect to have spectacular views of the Ribiera Brava valley, but the new forest of young Eucalyptus and Mimosa have grown above the viewing point and now, sadly, obscure the view. We continue for a while searching for the elusive panorama but it is not to be and we return to descend via Sao Joao enjoying views of the Eira do Morte instead.
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