Although much of Macau is centred around the casinos and gambling, that isn’t all there is there. The map below gives you a bit of a sense of the geography of the Special Administrative Region of China. Taipa and Coloane used to be separate islands. Cotai, which now connects them is land reclaimed from the sea.
As you can see from the colouring on the map, the southern part of Coloane is green and hasn’t been built on. Mainly, because it is a steep hill and construction of high-rise buildings would be difficult. The hill is called Alto de Coloane and there are hiking and fitness trails all around it and the area is used by many residents for a range of leisure pursuits.
At the bottom of the hill, there is an entrance gate with lots of ornate carvings, some protected from the elements by clear covers.
Along the way up the paved road for cars, there are a number of maps showing the hiking trails available. There is also a fishing pond, although fishing was not permitted at the time we walked past.
The views along the way across the island showed both the high-rise residential areas and the reclaimed land towards Cotai which has not yet been built on.
The first goal of the hike was to reach this, the highest point of Coloane!
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