06 Apr 2023
Excellent day in the centre of the island. Walk was led by Susana who was very enthusiastic and jolly in English, German and French! A short stop for toilets and coffee on the outward journey then the walk started high on the plains and soon descended into the forests, with views down the valley opening up. Susana led the walk at quite a fast pace, but not exhausting. First stop was Risco waterfall. A short back-track then took us onto the path to the 25 Fontes (springs). This wasn't as busy as I was expecting from some of what I had read, but it got busier even in the half hour we had there. Again a back-track for a while and then joined another path leading to a 800m tunnel under the central mountains. After leaving the tunnel it was a fairly short walk down to where the minibus picked us up again. The walk was largely downhill, with a few uphill sections and some steps, but not as tiring as I thought it might be. I'm and experienced walker and fairly fit, but none of our group had problems.