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The Peak Cottage
Rustic Tourism / Agritourism
Ecotourism / Sustainable Rural Tourism
Portugal - Madeira Island
The Peak Cottage - Ecotourism / Sustainable Rural Tourism / Rustic Tourism / Agritourism - Portugal - Madeira Island Recent construction with architectural strokes of a rustic simplicity. Surrounded by the forest, near from the country,the mountain and the sea, with many possibilities of strolls and hiking paths, where one can watch nature and wildlife very closely. Five minutes away there's a natural (sea water) swimming pool and a few miles away, a black sand beach. ecotourism, agritourism, rural, tourism, nature, wildlife, hiking, forest, sea, beach, travel, ecotravel, conservation, environment, adventure, countryside, country, holidays, farm, vacation, lodging, lodge, accommodation, madeira portugal beaches, rural tourism, madeira and tourism, surf in madeira island, flight to madeira island from the us, real estate madeira island, sustainable rural tourism, real estate madeira portugal, madeira houses portugal, tourist information portugal madeira, madeira island hotels, accommodation search engine madeira, hotel, madeira, self catering accommodation, self catering holidays, self catering holiday, self catering madeira, self catering cottage, self catering portugal, Self-cater, self-catering, selfcatering, property, reservation, holiday, tourism, reservation, accomodation, Cottages, Country Estate, Country Estates, County, County Estate, County Estates, South, East, North, West, Sunny south east, Sunny South east, catering, back-packing, tourists, cottage, apartment, cottages, apartments, house, booking, book, children, activity, activity holidays, beaches, beach, sand, swimming, pool, swimming pool, lodge, leisure, relaxation, holiday, break, mid-week, weekend, Summer, Christmas, New Year, registered, registered accomodation, letting, reservations, online booking, on line, booking, on-line The Peak Cottage - Ecotourism / Sustainable Rural Tourism / Rustic Tourism / Agritourism - Portugal - Madeira Island Recent construction with architectural strokes of a rustic simplicity. Surrounded by the forest, near from the country,the mountain and the sea, with many possibilities of strolls and hiking paths, where one can watch nature and wildlife very closely. Five minutes away there's a natural (sea water) swimming pool and a few miles away, a black sand beach. ecotourism, agritourism, rural, tourism, nature, wildlife, hiking, forest, sea, beach, travel, ecotravel, conservation, environment, adventure, countryside, country, holidays, farm, vacation, lodging, lodge, accommodation, madeira portugal beaches, rural tourism, madeira and tourism, surf in madeira island, flight to madeira island from the us, real estate madeira island, sustainable rural tourism, real estate madeira portugal, madeira houses portugal, tourist information portugal madeira, madeira island hotels, accommodation search engine madeira, hotel, madeira, self catering accommodation, self catering holidays, self catering holiday, self catering madeira, self catering cottage, self catering portugal, Self-cater, self-catering, selfcatering, property, reservation, holiday, tourism, reservation, accomodation, Cottages, Country Estate, Country Estates, County, County Estate, County Estates, South, East, North, West, Sunny south east, Sunny South east, catering, back-packing, tourists, cottage, apartment, cottages, apartments, house, booking, book, children, activity, activity holidays, beaches, beach, sand, swimming, pool, swimming pool, lodge, leisure, relaxation, holiday, break, mid-week, weekend, Summer, Christmas, New Year, registered, registered accomodation, letting, reservations, online booking, on line, booking, on-line The Peak Cottage - Ecotourism / Sustainable Rural Tourism / Rustic Tourism / Agritourism - Portugal - Madeira Island Recent construction with architectural strokes of a rustic simplicity. Surrounded by the forest, near from the country,the mountain and the sea, with many possibilities of strolls and hiking paths, where one can watch nature and wildlife very closely. Five minutes away there's a natural (sea water) swimming pool and a few miles away, a black sand beach. ecotourism, agritourism, rural, tourism, nature, wildlife, hiking, forest, sea, beach, travel, ecotravel, conservation, environment, adventure, countryside, country, holidays, farm, vacation, lodging, lodge, accommodation, madeira portugal beaches, rural tourism, madeira and tourism, surf in madeira island, flight to madeira island from the us, real estate madeira island, sustainable rural tourism, real estate madeira portugal, madeira houses portugal, tourist information portugal madeira, madeira island hotels, accommodation search engine madeira, hotel, madeira, self catering accommodation, self catering holidays, self catering holiday, self catering madeira, self catering cottage, self catering portugal, Self-cater, self-catering, selfcatering, property, reservation, holiday, tourism, reservation, accomodation, Cottages, Country Estate, Country Estates, County, County Estate, County Estates, South, East, North, West, Sunny south east, Sunny South east, catering, back-packing, tourists, cottage, apartment, cottages, apartments, house, booking, book, children, activity, activity holidays, beaches, beach, sand, swimming, pool, swimming pool, lodge, leisure, relaxation, holiday, break, mid-week, weekend, Summer, Christmas, New Year, registered, registered accomodation, letting, reservations, online booking, on line, booking, on-line
Versão portuguesa da página:
Introduction
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The Peak Cottage is located at the Pico Alto locality in a small parish named Santa that belongs to the village of Porto Moniz. It's a recent construction that was designed and built from scratch, with architectural strokes of a rustic simplicity and made in a traditional Madeirian style, in order to create a relaxing environment and to provide a pleasant comfort, healthful rest and a self catering accommodation to those who intend to recover the lost energies from the active urban life. |
Rustic Style
There is a predominance of wood, brickwork and and some old, traditional tools and objects, once forgotten, in the attics of local people (from our family). For this reason we believe it fits in the rustic tourism category.
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Built in an open plan, the ground floor combines a living room, a WC, a kitchenette and a traditional fireplace. The upper level consists of a bedroom with a bathroom. The ambient temperature varies between 13º, in the winter, and 27º in the summer. |
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Natural (Sea Water) Swimming Pool
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It will take approximately one hour to drive from Funchal to Santa. The village - at seaside (photo on the left) - is around 7 minutes away from the Peak Cottage, offering several restaurants, a mini-market and few shops. Here, the main attraction is a natural (sea water) swimming pool (photos below). The sea views are outstanding. |
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Black Sand Beach
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A few miles away (in Seixal village) one can find a black sand beach (photo on the right, taken in the winter). In Madeira Portugal beaches can be of a breathtaking beauty. The forest, near from the country, mountain and the sea, with many possibilities of strolls and hiking paths, surrounds the Peak Cottage, where one can watch nature and wildlife very closely. Nearby you will find levadas and water falls. |
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Levada is the name given to the irrigation channels that cross the entire island. These channels take water from places where it's abundant to others where it's not. Most levadas offer very beautiful walks, some pictured in this page, where you can adventure yourself.
Madeira's Natural Forest - Laurissilva
The Laurissilva occupies more than 20% of the surface of the island.
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You can find the majority of it on the northern side of Madeira Island (thus near the cottage), due to the lower temperatures and higher humidity. This is the biggest area of Laurissilva in the world and is said to be the best preserved. |
The word Laurissilva comes from the Latin 'silva', which means forest, and from 'Laurus' (lauraceae), family of the arboreal species that inhabits the forest. .
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Nowadays, it's classified as a 'UNESCO World Heritage' site. Apart from its dazzling beauty, it's natural puzzle of shapes and shades of green reveals all the dynamism that is typical of a balanced ecological system. More info. |
Agriculture
Near the cottage, we enter the countryside, where one can find fields, filled with socalcos (local term meaning a terrace or piece of land on the side of a mountain or hill sustained by a wall) used for local agriculture which is still mainly manual.
Trough frequent dialogue, we alert the local population about the inauspicious consequences to the environment, of using chemical products in agriculture. Though very difficult, due to the closed mentality of local people, our long-term objective is the wide spread implementation of biological agriculture.
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In the back of the cottage we have our little biological vegetable-garden with cabbage, parsley, aromatical herbs and tea herbs planted. Unfortunately, some birds have been eating our plants. To minimize this drawback, we placed a scarecrow. |
Therefore we believe our initiative fits also in the categories of ecotourism, agritourism and sustainable rural tourism.
| Page last modified in 2002/04/21 |
hits since 2001/08/26 |
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