Spring water and horse trails
Yesterday I went to meet Miguel at the land. Miguel is the person who we hired to clear the roads and terraces.
When I met him first, a few weeks ago, I noticed his extreme young age (maybe 20) and with it his inexperience in the building business but hey, I’m an unschooling mom and I get that most kids start learning the ‘real‘ way when they leave school and start working in the real world.
Yesterday though his dad came along - the real deal business man with many years of experience in his field. His company is one of the largest in Madeira, so does our organic farmer said when he saw the name on their digger.
I could see the dynamics between them: Dad is a serious and tough person, his son a bit scared of him and scared of making mistakes and still has got a lot to learn.
However, after spending an hour with them, walking and talking land, I realized that not only does he know his sh*t, he’s also kind and excited about our project.
Dad took over and said we’re going to come up with a plan! I decided to hire them for way more than just clearing the land. They will also do the topography, fix the water well which I’m going to tell you about in a minute.
The land owner told us on our first viewing that he’s got a huge water tank on the land which we were never able to find. We thought it was because of the overgrown roads and terraces but yesterday I asked Miguel and his father to take me there in their Jeep to see it as they know the land.
When we arrived, I noticed that I had already been at that place a few weeks earlier and had thought that it was a little natural pond.
I was so wrong.
There is a natural spring at the top of the rock wall that trickles down. The land owner had built a water well that is broken now so only about a tenth of the water that used to fit in it was still there (watch the video below). There are also water pipes under the soil that take the water down the land.
We have drinking water from a natural spring that we can use for different purposes:
connect a tap so that our community can collect drinking water
let it flow down into the well and use it to water plants or drinking water for our animals
swim in the well
we can fill up a pool with the water to sit in it and take in the beautiful view
and so much more!
It was Miguel’s idea to set up a pool in this spot and my next thought was: We could do a horse riding trail that leads here for a break where people can enjoy the pool, the view and fresh spring water and the horses get to drink the water out of a water tub…
Or we put a sauna there and we jump into the well in between sauna sittings.
I mean, the possibilities are next to endless, right?!?!
NEXT STOP
Our next destination was the part of the land further up where we had been a few times because it’s such a beautiful spot. We imagine a yoga gym and maybe coworking next to it for people who want more privacy as kids will probably be too lazy to walk up haha
This is also the place we had never passed because the path ahead that leads to a huge untouched mountain forest, wasn’t accessible yet. Our plan is to walk up that mountain all the way to the other side from where we can see the North of the island which grands amazing spots and views, so says the land owner.
I told Miguel that I’d like this to be the next job to be done. The terraces further down are our priority because that’s where we’ll build 25 houses, but once this has happened (in about 3 weeks), I’d like him to clear the path to the mountain.
We will create several trails to do horse riding tours.
In April we will go back to Porto Santo and speak to Paolo, the horse business owner because he is in the process of buying new horses and then he’ll sell some of his. Maybe some of them will find a new home at APTB. And I want to adopt his 3 donkeys too hehe
We’re working on getting licences for different types of animals such asa horses, ponies, donkeys, cows, sheep, goats, chickens and smaller animals such as guinea pigs.
Its very possible that we’ll start the animal farm and the horse project way before we start building.
We have enough space for them:
There are 260.000m2 of existing terraced land.
50.000m2 of this will be used to build 25 houses and other buildings for the community.
The rest of the terraces will be used for animals, greenhouses and other natural structures.
We have another 270.000m2 of untouched forest land to do riding tours and other excursions, set up tents or build tree houses and other dreams.