Ribeiro Frio
Ribeiro Frio is an inland locality about 15 km from Funchal, famed for its scenery, laurel and heath woodland and rare plants, crossed by levadas and offering the Balcões viewpoint. Its stream feeds the Levada do Furado.
Ribeiro Frio: woods, walks and viewpoints
A locality (sítio) in the interior of the island, 15 kilometres from Funchal, much visited by Portuguese and foreigners alike for the enchanting landscapes it offers. It was once far more wooded than it is today, but the land nearby still has some woods, made up chiefly of laurels and heather. Ranunculus grandifolius, Geranium anemonefolium, Carex peregrina, Carex elata and Orchis foliosa are found at Ribeiro Frio (‘cold brook’), and salep can be extracted from the tubers of the last of these plants.
Following the Levada do Juncal (‘rush-bed channel’), one soon reaches a belvedere (mirante) with astonishing views over the Ribeira da Metade (‘halfway stream’). Further on there are some tunnels, though they are difficult to reach, because the levada wall (mainel) of the levada (irrigation channel) is narrow and at times unstable. The extremely rare Goodyera macrophylla and Musschia Wollastoni are found near the tunnel that follows the Quebrada da Azeda (‘sorrel slope’).
To the east of Ribeiro Frio there are also beautiful landscapes to admire, and if we head in that direction, always walking along the levada, we shall reach Lamaceiros (‘mud flats’), from where it is easy to cross to Santo António da Serra.
The locality of Ribeiro Frio is crossed by the Levada da Serra (‘upland channel’), and on the edge of the footpath that runs beside it, at the place called Balcão or Balcões (‘balconies’), there is an astonishing panorama over the Ribeira da Metade and other parts of the interior, with the basalt column of Homem-Em-Pé (see that entry) visible in the distance. There is a mountain shelter there for travellers, which is also used by the levada’s staff. Since April 1932 the locality has had a small establishment called the Casa de Chá, offering a good service of tea, food and drink. The locality of Ribeiro Frio lies about 4 kilometres from the Poiso house (Casa do Poiso) and 15 from the city of Funchal. The brook that crosses this locality, and from which the locality took its name, provides the source that feeds the Levada do Furado (‘pierced’).
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Places mentioned · 13- Ribeiro Frio · Subject
Santana. Subject of the entry, an inland beauty spot.
Ribeiro Frio is an inland locality at 750 m, about 15 km from Funchal, famed for its scenery, laurel and heath woodland and rare plants, including holly and Euphorbia mellifera. Its stream is a tributary of the Ribeira do Faial and feeds the Levada do Furado and the state levada irrigating Porto da Cruz. It lies on road 24 and has a rain-gauge post.
- Balcões
Santana. Panoramic viewpoint beside the levada path.
Balcões is a viewpoint with a small belvedere beside the levada path at Ribeiro Frio, Madeira. It offers one of the finest panoramas of the island's interior mountains.
- Funchal
Reference point 15 km away.
The capital of the archipelago and seat of the principal captaincy, where settlement began; it was made a vila c.1451–52. Its bay, the widest in the archipelago, lies between Ponta do Garajau and Ponta da Cruz and offers sheltered anchorage, though its harbour had never been studied oceanographically. The Elucidário discusses it as a health resort with climate data and records the January 1906 disturbances, the Danish prince's visit in May 1846 and recent volcanic cones in the area.
- Homem em Pé
Santana. Basalt column visible from the Balcões.
Homem em Pé is an isolated column of basalt blocks, about 12 metres high, a short distance from Cumeada Alta in the parish of Santana. It is a famous scenic spot, passed on the way to the summit of Pico Ruivo and visible from the Balcões at Ribeiro Frio.
- Lamaceiros
Machico. Reached eastward along the levada.
Lamaceiros is a scenic locality in Santo da Serra with views over the northern parishes. Several levadas share an aqueduct there before dividing.
- Levada da Serra
Santa Cruz · Machico · Funchal · Santana. Crosses Ribeiro Frio.
The Levada da Serra is a levada on Madeira that passes near Alpires and crosses Ribeiro Frio. It is one of the levadas irrigating Caniço and one of the four main ones irrigating Câmara de Lobos, but it crosses Camacha without irrigating it. The Funchal mendicity asylum held water rights in it, and at Lombo da Raiz its waters are separated into their own channel.
- Levada do Furado
Machico. Fed by the Ribeiro Frio stream.
The Levada do Furado is an old state levada fed by the Ribeiro Frio stream, serving Portela, Maiata and Porto da Cruz. It runs through a shared aqueduct to Lamaceiros and then along its own channel; its company statutes were approved in 1840 and its construction subsidised in 1894.
- Levada do Juncal
Santana. Walk from Ribeiro Frio to a viewpoint and tunnels.
The Levada do Juncal is an old state levada, 15.5 km long with a flow of 92 litres per second, irrigating Santo da Serra, Santa Cruz and Água de Pena. It shares an aqueduct to Lamaceiros and runs with the Levada da Serra as far as Lombo da Raiz, and it passes a Public Works viewpoint over the Vale da Metade reached by a walk from Ribeiro Frio.
- Ribeira da Metade
Santana. Valley seen from the viewpoints.
The Ribeira da Metade is a stream on Madeira and a tributary of the Ribeira do Faial; its valley is overlooked by the Ribeiro Frio viewpoints, and the Ribeiro do Juncal lies in its upper reaches. It marked one limit of Lançarote Teixeira's land grant. The rare grasses Festuca albida and Anthyllis lemanniana grow in its ravine, and it was suggested as a site for growing cinchona.