A event unique although sunrise is on everyday, ever-repeating its creativity and uniqueness makes us bow before nature´s higher creativity, not repeating clouds, tones, light or color. In the extreme east of Madeira lies the peninsula Ponta de São Lourenço reaching dawn and has a landscape unlike in Madeira, the aridness though, offers a palette of rock, sky light and transparente waters that is dazzling.
The trail is a rountrip relatively short, 3km long each way in total around 6km, it goes along stairs up and down every now and then interrupted by a short flat path, snakes between the view points south and north shore until the return point, Casa do Sardinha (Sardinha last owners of this land).
The roundtrip isn´t at all boring, because the attention of the walker is driven to different details in each direction and changes as the light of breaking day changes. Going to Casa do Sardinha, Porto Santo (most times visible), the desertas islands, the lighthouse at the tip will attract visitors as well as isolated the house in the desolate land. On the way back You’re surprised by the steepness of the island behind and its lashfull green when you stand in a nearly dry spot, the clear water and the airport runway in the distance will also capture your sight.
The walk is in a moderate climate, with even tempreatures throughout the year, where the land is battered by the salty sea wind, the area is protected not only for its resilient plants facing the salt and surviving on air moister in dryer periods, but also because it is nesting place for different seabirds, such as seaswallows, shearwaters or terns and finaly its unique insects.
The oldest area of Madeira geologically is Ponta de São Lourenço, the only created on the first period of island creation, which allowed erosion to not only destroy any preexisting water retaining structures, but also exposed its vulcanic structures such as volcanic cones filled with basalt that cross the land, volcanic bombs and some of the few calcarium deposits existing in the Island.
Recharge batteries for the upcoming day.
