Points of interest

Afife river mouth/Cabanas stream

Also known as the Ribeira de Cabanas (Cabanas stream), the source of the Afife river is located on the plateau of the Santa Luzia mountain, in an area locally known as chã de Afife, at a height of 513m. This watercourse travels approximately 7 km until it reaches the Atlantic sea.

The Afife river has gained economic importance particularly due to the fact that hydro electric energy is generated from its waterflow. Interestingly, during the 1950s there were a total of 28 watermills with waterwheels, 3 larger watermills and five sawmills all harnessing the kinetic energy from the river in this village (Faria, H., 2007; Faria, H., 2012).

The river bar in the Afife river is formed in a very silted estuary. It covers the residual depression of a former meander and on the opposite bank, a wetland or marsh, temporarily flooded when water levels rise due to higher water flow and ocean storm tides presents a very interesting ecosystem (Faria, H. 2010).