Publication "City Guides" - Erasmus Projet "Let´s hit the road" City Guides -final | Page 24

CITY GUIDES
This small trail is 1.5 km long and lasts 1:30 hours and starts at Ribeiro Frio, following
the Levada da Serra do Faial to the Balcões viewpoint, where you can enjoy superb
views.
This trail starts and ends on the E.R.103 regional road in Ribeiro Frio over 1.5 km (+ 1.5
km return), with a duration of 1h30m (round trip). The trail follows the Levada da Serra
do Faial giving access to the viewpoint of the balconies where beautiful landscapes are
observed over the deep valley of Ribeira da Metade and the parish of Faial.
Along the way there are indigenous and endemic species from Madeira belonging to
the ecosystem - Laurisilva Forest of Til and Vinhático, highlighting the tree species of
the Lauraceae family: The Laurel (Laurus novocanariensis), the Til (Ocotea foetens), the
Vineyard (Persea indica), Puff (Clethra arborea) and other species such as Uveira da
Serra (Vaccinium padifolium), Heather Broom (Erica platycodon ssp. Maderincola) and
Heather Molar (Erica arborea), Serra Orchid (Dactylorhiza foliosa) .
In this route, in addition to the indigenous plant species, exotic deciduous tree species
such as oaks (Quercus robur) and plantains (Platanus x acreifolia) are regularly
distributed along the trail.
It is often possible to spot some species of avifauna such as the finch (Fringilla coelebs
maderensis), the Laundress (Motacilla cinerea schmitzi), the Blackbird (Turdus merula
cabreae), the Little Parrot (Erithacus rubecula), the Manta (Buteo buteo harteti) ) and
less frequently Bisbis (Regulus ignicapillus maderensis) and Trocaz Pigeon (Columba
trocaz).
Bird: Bis-Bis
Arriving at the Balconies Viewpoint, the hiker will face a splendid scenery, completely
covered by the characteristic green valleys of the Laurissilva Forest.
Source image: Wikipedia
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