Madeira Hiking Day 5: Levada do Paul and Rabaçal Valley

(Typos all belong to me. I type these posts "blind" in the sense that I'm not watching the screen and sometimes either because I mess up or auto-correct tries to help odd things happen). 

 

Photo: It is a little hard to tell but if you look in the left of the photo you can see that there are many billowing clouds below us: and a few clouds above us too. But at our elevation things are wonderfully clear. Madeira has many climate zones and microclimates within those zones. 

Photo: Madeira gets most of its electricity from, I believe, diesel. However there is a growing industry in windfarms, solar farms, and hydro power.

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Our last HF walk would be up high starting at about 4,500 feet above sea level in, I think, the Ponta do Sol area. The walk was 8.5 miles long and we would spend much of it working our way along several different levadas. We began walking downstream along the Levada do Paul and the weather could not have been better. The sun was out and the clouds that were visible were all below us. To be sure that obscured some views a little bit but the clouds themselves were interesting to look at and overall the sky was clear enough that we had nearly constant vistas.. The path was easy to walk upon. Now and then a brief rather narrow bit would appear and drop-offs on the left were a bit sheer but I don't think anyone was really perturbed by them (Mom is less than thrilled with those bits). Up in these higher places we found ourselves passing by some interesting man-made structures: a wind farm and solar farm. While Madeira generates most of its electricity through diesel (I think) they have a growing industry in solar, wind and hydro power. The large body of water we would cross at the top of the roadways descent down into Rabaçal may have been part of a hydroelectric plant. We also walked through some places were reforestation  was being done. I think they're planting indigenous pines and oaks. We also passed through some longer stretches of gorse-lined path. Gorse is a pretty yellow plant when flowering but it is rather rough when you brush against it: at least it isn't full of cactus spines. I imagine the people who maintain the levadas must trim the gorse back on a regular basis. 

Photo: Ken striding along the Levada do Paul. 

Photo: Watch out for your legs. Gorse is blooming here and the tough raspy plant can scratch your skin. It won't draw blood with anything like the ease of a cactus spine but you'll notice it as you brush by or get pushed on by it like Dad is here. 

The walk along Levad do Paul covers about 6km and it was a great way to spend our morning. It is followed by a winding descending road walk down to Casa Rabaçal. The road is still used by a minibus that for a small fee will ferry passengers back and forth. I believe House Rabaçaal must have once been a hostel and their is some habitation in the area adjacent but if you are imagining a cafe stop purge that notion from your mind. You can certainly stop there for a picnic lunch, refill your water, and even use a bathroom (bring toilet paper because while there are functional toilets they lack toilet paper).

Photo: our group at Casa Rabaçal having lunch. The people who added the extension, turned out not to be worth it, are just arriving. 

Many people visit the 25 fountains (25 Fontes) but our understanding is that while the path is generally not at all a tough one since it is a levada path (25 Fontes) the levada path itself is often quite narrow making it something of a pain for groups to pass each other. If you are visiting by yourself or in a tiny group it's probably well worth the visit but when groups of our size, about a dozen, are involved it just isn't worth the effort. At least that is the reasoning given by HF. Personally I wish we had seen the pools as if I found the right pictures some of them, or maybe just one, look quite lovely indeed.  Instead we left Casa Rabaçal and began heading down another levada and then too several hundred rough-hewn stone steps that we descended easily a couple hundred feet to Levada Risco. Descending those steps was a sweat-inducing experience. If you have normal vision it is just normally annoyingly tough as the footing isn't ideal and the steps vary in their riser heights. For me: a definite workout.  Once you reach the levada the going is easy again and you stroll along a high ,weeping, cliff on one side and lush forested valley (Risco Valley I believe) on the other. The sound of the high waterfalls can be heard in the distance. You will almost certainly pass people along the way. This is a popular place  though I am not sure how most people come to it. Certainly we saw no one else at the shelter/picnic area.  The Risco waterfalls are certainly worth the walk.

Photos: This water in the Risco valley (I think) may be the tallest we have seen. Great area to spend time. 

From the waterfalls we retraced our steps and then dropped down again to another levada (25 Fontes I think at this point) and began our final segment of the walk to Calheta. This is a segment that you  definitely do not want to miss. It contains the Tunel do Rabaçal which is 800 meters long. No light. Narrow. Damp but good footing. I suppose people go in both directions but you better be willing to squeeze against the wall if someone has to pass. I am certain I have never walked through such a tunnel before. Wow. It took about 15 minutes to walk through and it did not feel like it took that long. Perhaps the impromptu singing helped pas the time. Once we burst out at the southern terminus we turned to our right (southwest) and followed the path into Calheta which is, as far as I could tell, not much to remark upon at all. It may just be a place to park cars: that's all it seemed to be to me.  

I very good walk. A varied walk with superb weather conditions. When a walk provides you with variety it matters far less that it be full of physical challenges. While it is nice to have some ups and downs (and we all prefer undulating terrain to relentless up or down) a walk like this that had only a minuscule amount of ascent and vastly more descent (the road walk to Rabaçal House and the rough steps to Risco Levada) it was wholly enjoyable and a good way to end our hiking part of the trip.

Here us the video for this hike of 8.5 miles. Minimal ascent and about 1,400 feet of descent most of which is the road walk to Casa Rabaçal and then the steps to the Levada to the waterfall. 

Bonus: after dinner at the Atlantis restaurant which was a fine multi-course meal including palate cleansing dishes and what was certainly the best dessert of the week we fell into some great good fortune. A troupe of 14 performers were setting up to dance at the hotel as Dad and I were heading out to the Russian-lady cafe for coffee. We turned around and settled down to watch the troupe. What a treat. We even got involved in the dancing. 

Photo: 14 performers showing us some wonderful local culture in their music and dance. They had young and far more senior people in the group which I think is a great indication local culture is alive and well. 

Video of the dancers. We all got in on the dancing though you'll only see Dad here in the video. 

Video of the dancers.

Madeira Hiking Day 4: Boca da Corrida and Chao dos Terreiros

(Apologies for typos and the like).

 My notes for this hike are a bit less precise. I believe that we started at the viewpoint at Boca as Corrida which provides views of, amend other valleys the Jardim da Serra. We were a couple kilometers west and a couple hundred meters higher up from the viewpoints where we began our trek down into the Valley of the Nuns the day before. It is a 45 minute mountains roads (I have a suspicion there is just one major road winding through but surely that is wrong) from Santa Cruz and our hotel in Caniço. On a clear day I am confident the views would be very good but I was enthralled by what I saw on this overcast mid-morning. The path is pretty much a two-track at first but soon we would join a proper mountain trail that sees plenty of animal traffic judging by the cow pies left behind. We crossed some small streams and plenty of mud in the early going. 

We sallied forth on a good path, a mountain road of sorts. The clouds would soon lift and are views would improve as we walked westerly eventually coming to our first proper mountain trail. This trail would take us around a ridge down into a valley and over a couple small streams. ALong the way we had to take care dodging cow pies. Madeira does have some cattle and clearly a portion of them spend time grazing in these particularly mountains. It was a treat to be in the mountains and away from the encroachment of more populated areas (granted nothing is really far away so you take what you can get).  

The trail was easily followed and I am certain it is popular as it was well maintained. In time we would work our way around a valley and to a dirt road where the people tackling the shorter walk would turn and head down into the valley to the village of Fontes. Our group would head up the road into the higher reaches to visit the viewpoint (and trig point I think) at Chao dos Terreiros. To get there would followed the dirt road up and up. It is hard packed with little undulations in the roadbed to catch the unwary foot. It could easily be a slippery walking surface but really should not pose any problems for people. Perhaps the bigger concern are the number of cows you will pass within touching distance. AFter all, they're a lot bigger than a person. I had no inclination to touch one. They minded their business and we minded them as we walked on by.

Madeira's cows. We followed a mountain road later in the morning climbing high. Along the way we came within touching, no one did, distance if many cows, bulls and calves. 

We left the dirt road for grassy track, crossing a broken down stile (fences help control grazing) and then climbed gently for most of 1.2km (the last little bit is steeper as you gain about 90m to the top) to the viewpoint. Our group spread out a bit at this point as some decided the views were good enough just below the topmost point.  I went to the top and while the view was certainly better it won't knock your socks off compared to what you see just below though you do have a broader vista in all directions. By this time the day had warmed to about 70F and the sun was pretty much completely out. Clouds zipped by a bit during our lunch break but though a tad breezy on the flat top of our viewpoint it was a fine place to relax for 40 minutes before retracing our steps back down.

A view from our highint if the walk.  I believe this highpoint is at Chao dos  Terreiros at about 4,700 feet above sea level.

From that point on we would follow a mountain road down to the village of Fontes. It is an easy road walk and the views, especially at the start, of the valleys dropping steeply away from the road were impressive. Eventually a Levada would join us as we walked on down and soon we would pass below tree line and start hearing sounds of civilization again. Dogs barking, goats bleating, a rooster crowing, and underneath it all the gurgle of a Levada flowing by.  It is an easy descent into the village and we were able to have a quick snack and drink at a cafe at the end of our hike before piling into the bus to head home.

Jim and Ken. The remaining 2 or so miles follows a sometimes mud slick mountain road down below tree line, past homesteads with bleating goats, along a levada into the village of Fontes.  

Watch the video of our third hike here.

Hike length: 7.5 miles with ascent of about 1,200 feet and descent of 2,100 feet. The bulk of the descent happens in the last 3.5 miles from the viewpoint at Chao dos Terreros (4,700 feet) to Fontes (3,100 feet).

Bonus:  We stopped briefly at the sea cliffs  Cabo Girão. I understand these cliffs are 590 (or was it 580) mets high making them the second highest sea cliffs in the world. THey're de definitely a tourist spot with a glass platform you can stand on and look down through towards the cliff face below (I found the view uninteresting through the glass). Gaze out over the railing and from side to side to get a better sense of the scale of things. I suppose it is worth a visit if it is on your way to someplace else already but if all there is to see there are the cliffs from the platform and a chance for a bite to eat at the cafe I'm not sure it is worth a visit for for itself.  

Dancing in Madeira

This was a surprise. A troupe of 14 performers arrived at the Galosol Hotel to sing, dance and play and we almost missed it. We have no idea how traditional the music and dance were but it sure was fun. We even got into the circle and danced a bit too. 

Madeira Hiking Day 3: Boca do Risco and the Barrancos of Machico Valley

(Apologies for typos). 

We suffered through some confusion today. The plan was to head to a new location on the island that was somewhat farther away than we had already been. The departure time for our bus came and went and the bus did not appear. Their  was a mix-up and the bus company had us down for the wrong day. The upshot of this is that we had to re-arrange the walks. This is hardly a big deal as it just means we leave somewhat later than may be desirable but given the nature of the walks and the timing no real harm was done.  About an hour later than planned we piled into buses to head east towards a peninsula and the Machico valley and the towns of Caniçal and Maroços. Those of us tackling the harder walk would join HF leader Helen and begin walking at about 10:30 under overcast skies. The group would have 11 people leaving the remaining 4 to explore the ins and outs of the peninsula in a leisurely fashion with Jim.

Although I did not know it at the time it is interesting to see what walks get done. I've since found what looks like it could be a wonderful alternative walk that would be more varied but require more fiddling about with local bus transportation (the public buses are reportedly pretty good) and the sea-cliff path might be a bit tough in places for groups. Our planned walk  can be best thought of as two distinct walks: the Levada do Caniçal and the track to Boca do Risco. The levada runs about 8  miles and the track is an out-a and-back trail that climbs for about a mile gaining some 600 feet as it heads north to a wonderful lookout at Boca do Risco.

Overlooking the Machico valley. We immediately get on the Levada do Caniçal. The town is, I think, Maroços and we end at Caniçal but I'm not certain. 

Walking along the levada is easy. It is nice enough too though perhaps a bit boring. You hear the sounds of the town down in the Machico valley below pretty much all the time. Now and then someone was calling out through a loudspeaker what sounded like the same thing over and over, kids screamed in playgrounds, ever-present dogs barked and roosters crowed, a goat would bleat now and then, and construction. Now and then it would quiet down and birdsong would intrude but if you are looking for a hike where the sounds of civilization do not intrude this one isn't it. That is until you get to the start of the path, Vereda da Boca do Risco, that leads north and into the hills towards Boca do Risco.  By this time the clouds had lifted and the sun was blazing down. It was well into the 60s if not 70 and we decided to take a morning break (elevenses) before assaulting the path.  For some reason the section of levada seemed to be home to several kittens and small cats. We found one particularly aggressively nice begging cat at this point. She sure wanted to mooch off of the softer touches in the group. 

The track winds up past homesteads with their dogs but soon leaves them and man made sounds behind as it wends its way up a good trail into the hills of pine, small yellow - and just opened - flowers, eucalyptus, and more. There are some rocky bits that slowed me down a bit but it is overall an easy path to follow that should not give anyone trouble. In about a mile you arrive at the northern facing cliff and can gaze down and out upon the Atlantic Ocean. It was a very fine view even if it was a bit breezy. A fine place for lunch once you found a spot out of the worst of the wind. The return journey might take you a few minutes longer just because going down can be tougher than going up but certainly most people will be down within a half hour. This is a popular track. We saw two trail runners and at least a half dozen other walkers usually in groups of two or three. I can understand why it is a favored spot.

Views from the "dangerous pass" (Boca do Risco). It takes about a half an hour to climb the good path from the levada. A few short rocky bits will slow you slightly but they're hardly worth mentioning. Footing is good and I doubt anyone would feel exposed. 

We were struck by this lovely tiny house. Like many it had a garden plot nearby. 

But, after the out-and-back hike we had to return to the Levada do Caniçalmar and the many miles of its twisting path through barranco a of the Machico valley. It is remarkable how twisty these water channels can seem to be. In and out of little canyons we strode ever onward upstream. In time we came to a nice snack bar (and yes that was what it was called) and were able to enjoy tea and such. The ice cream sandwiches (sorta) we had were at least as good as the hotel desserts which is a sad commentary on the latter.  When we left the cafe we still had a good 4 miles to go and so we plowed on. This is the downside of the walk. It feels a bit lengthy as it is, in a way, unchanging. But that is also a bit unfair because you do see interesting things like the extensive terraced small farm plots being worked (often just tilled) to many intriguing tiny houses snuggled into the mountainsides. Eventually we worked our way into the town of Caniçalmar (I think) and found the other hikers waiting for us) They had had an interesting day too apparently seeing quite a bit even though they only walked about 4.5 miles.  By this time, it was a bit past 16:00 the skies had clouded up again but that was hardly any concern. We piled into the buses and returned to the hotel in short order having all had a fine day even though it had started out with a bump.

Watch video of the hike. 

Madeira Hiking Day 2: Funchal Tour and Walking Into the Valley of the Nuns

Today was something a little different for an HF trip. We spent a large part of the day doing a walking tour in Funchal and then  a modest walk in the afternoon.  We met our local guide, Elda, at 09:00and quickly learned that she knows her stuff. While Mom, Dad and I had already spent a few days in Funchal doing this tour was worthwhile especially since we'd learn about Madeira wine. We certainly saw several things that we had already seen but seeing them on a different day and getting a bit more information from Elda added extra zest to the day. For example, we returned to the main market and got a better sense of the variety of fruits and vegetables as well as fish that people could buy here. It was far less crowded today and that gave us the chance to see more. I still wish the sellers were a bit less aggressive but I suppose when you are one of many fruit sellers hawking banana passion fruits, mangos, swiss-cheese fruit, or something you need to be a little pushy.

We then spent a good hour at Blandys Madeira Winery (not quite the right name but close enough). Blandy is an English family that settled here in the early 1800s and began making Madeira and have done so now for just about 200 years. Madeira wines are different in how they are made and aged. I will not pretend to know really how even though the guide, a lady called Karina (sp), had plenty to say. I could talk about how the younger wines start their aging in warmer  temperatures around 40-45C and then are moved to cooler places as they age (the reverse of the normal process). I could talk about how Blandy use American oak barrels over and over again to impart some distinctive flavor notes to the wine or how when wine is waiting to be aged it is held in 9,000 liter vats of Brazil satin wood which is so solid that aging does not take place and nothing is lost to the "Angel share." I could note that the "Angel share" , the wine lost to evaporation, could be easily 10-12% which seems like a lot to me and that as part of that process some of the aging rooms have a lovely aroma to them. But in some ways this is all just words. None of us  is enough of a wine-person to really understand what we are hearing. It was still an interesting tour and walking into a 9,000 liter vat and enjoying its smell was great fun. I tried the medium-dry and sweet Madeira at the tasting and preferred the former but neither is something I am likely to ever really enjoy.  Blandys has some Madeira that has been aging since 1920. Apparently Madeira ages well and does not turn to vinegar.  Madeira wines, and only Madeira can be called "Madeira" and must be made here, is the single largest export item of the island.

A leisurely, read long, lunch at a local restaurant was next. The meal was adequate but fortunately the conversation was quite good. I must say I found myself pondering diners back home and how quickly they would make an omelet. Of course, the American diner omelet probably, no definitely, not come with a nice helping of fresh veggies and my omelet here did (though the omelet itself was so-so). This is just a difference in style of eating. 

By now it was edging well past 14:00 and we had to take the bus up to a place whose name I am not sure of (the viewpoint picture you see says "Camara de Lobos"). Suffice to say we drove for half an hour up into the mountains above Funchal along about 9.5 miles of twisting road rising to an elevation of about 1,100 meters. Along the way we passed through cloud and mist layers until we reached a large parking lot clearly meant to support tourist traffic. Below us were clouds, above us were clouds, and sometimes we were in clouds too. Eventually, the clouds completely shrouded the mountains and the valley below. Our 2-mile walk down into the Valley of the Nuns would not be filled with expansive views. Even when, as we neared the end of the walk and  dropped below a cloud layer some 400 meters below our starting poinviews would be limited. Maybe, for some, the clouds were a blessing as you could not see the mountain falling away to one side. The path we followed was pretty wide but steep and while not the cobblestone nightmare of the road walk between the two levada a of the day before it was hardly a cakewalk. It took us just over an hour to work our way down the switchbacks, and to be fair the trail is a good one, down to a road that took us into a small village where we had a later afternoon snack. Along the way we passed a few drips of water seeping on by, past occasional trees perhaps including even more eucalyptus, and when we could see a bit farther we would notice small homes with seemingly ever-present dogs and roosters to be heard. This is a completely exposed walk so if the weather was inclement I would not want to do it (you'd get soaked) but even though our views were all but missing as we walked within mist it was an interesting walk. I am not sure what nuns have to do with this valley. Perhaps Elda said but I missed it. I must admit I zoned out a bit on the bus ride up.

It has been a long day. The Funchal tour did seem to spend a bit more time in some places than I might have wished but then I had seen some of it already. Remember, we are on "island time" and I suppose that affects things a bit. We certainly did learn a lot about Madeira from Elda and while I may not long-remember that tourism accounts for 30% of the economy, Madeira is the largest export, or that their is a thriving cottage-industry in high embroidery for sale, it was good to hear it at least today.

Madeira Hiking Day 2: Funchal Tour and Walking Into the Valley of the Nuns

Today was something a little different for an HF trip. We would spend a large part of the day doing a walking tour in Funchal and then  a modest walk in the afternoon.  We met our local guide, Elda, at 09:00and quickly learned that she knows her stuff. While Mom, Dad and I had already spent a few days in Funchal doing this tour was worthwhile especially since we'd learn about Madeira wine. We certainly saw several things that we had already seen but seeing them on a different day and getting a bit more information from Elda added extra zest to the day. For example, we returned to the main market and got a better sense of the variety of fruits and vegetables as well as fish that people could buy here. It was far less crowded today and that gave us the chance to see more. I still wish the sellers were a bit less aggressive but I suppose when you are one of many fruit sellers hawking banana passion fruits, mangos, swiss-cheese fruit, or something you need to be a little pushy.

The market in Funchal is nowhere near as busy on days other than Friday. 

A nice cathedral built about 90 years after the Portuguese discovered and settled Madeira. Some suggest people including the Vikings and phoenetians may have found the island but no traces have been found. 

The Blandy family has been making Madeira for two hundred years. 

We then spent a good hour at Blandys Madeira Winery (not quite the right name but close enough). Blandy is an English family that settled here in the early 1800s and began making Madeira and have done so now for just about 200 years. Madeira wines are different in how they are made and aged. I will not pretend to know really how even though the guide, a lady called Karina (sp), had plenty to say. I could talk about how the younger wines start their aging in warmer  temperatures around 40-45C and then are moved to cooler places as they age (the reverse of the normal process). I could talk about how Blandy use American oak barrels over and over again to impart some distinctive flavor notes to the wine or how when wine is waiting to be aged it is held in 9,000 liter vats of Brazil satin wood which is so solid that aging does not take place and nothing is lost to the "Angel share." I could note that the "Angel share" , the wine lost to evaporation, could be easily 10-12% which seems like a lot to me and that as part of that process some of the aging rooms have a lovely aroma to them. But in some ways this is all just words. None of us  is enough of a wine-person to really understand what we are hearing. It was still an interesting tour and walking into a 9,000 liter vat and enjoying its smell was great fun. I tried the medium-dry and sweet Madeira at the tasting and preferred the former but neither is something I am likely to ever really enjoy.  Blandys has some Madeira that has been aging since 1920. Apparently Madeira ages well and does not turn to vinegar.  Madeira wines, and only Madeira can be called "Madeira" and must be made here, is the single largest export item of the island.

A leisurely, read long, lunch at a local restaurant was next. The meal was adequate but fortunately the conversation was quite good. I must say I found myself pondering diners back home and how quickly they would make an omelet. Of course, the American diner omelet probably, no definitely, do not come with a nice helping of fresh veggies and my omelet here did (though the omelet itself was so-so). This is just a difference in style of eating. 

The view from Camaras de Lobos 1,100 meters above sea level. Clouds seem to be a prominent feature of Madeira's mountains. 

By now it was edging well past 14:00 and we had to take the bus up to a place whose name I am not sure of (the viewpoint picture you see says "Camara de Lobos"). Suffice to say we drove for half an hour up into the mountains above Funchal along about 9.5 miles of twisting road rising to an elevation of about 1,100 meters. Along the way we passed through cloud and mist layers until we reached a large parking lot clearly meant to support tourist traffic. Below us were clouds, above us were clouds, and sometimes we were in clouds too. Eventually, the clouds completely shrouded the mountains and the valley below. Our 2-mile walk down into the Valley of the Nuns would not be filled with expansive views. Even when, as we neared the end of the walk and  dropped below a cloud layer some 400 meters below our starting poinviews would be limited. Maybe, for some, the clouds were a blessing as you could not see the mountain falling away to one side. The path we followed was pretty wide but steep and while not the cobblestone nightmare of the road walk between the two levada a of the day before it was hardly a cakewalk. It took us just over an hour to work our way down the switchbacks, and to be fair the trail is a good one, down to a road that took us into a small village where we had a later afternoon snack. Along the way we passed a few drips of water seeping on by, past occasional trees perhaps including even more eucalyptus, and when we could see a bit farther we would notice small homes with seemingly ever-present dogs and roosters to be heard. This is a completely exposed walk so if the weather was inclement I would not want to do it but even though our views were all but missing as we walked within mist it was an interesting walk. I am not sure what nuns have to do with this valley. Perhaps Elda said but I missed it. I must admit I zoned out a bit on the bus ride up.

Nearing the end of the trail. We can see a bit more of the Valley of the Nuns. 

It has been a long day. The Funchal tour did seem to spend a bit more time in some places than I might have wished but then I had seen some of it already. Remember, we are on "island time" and I suppose that affects things a bit. We certainly did learn a lot about Madeira from Elda and while I may not long-remember that tourism accounts for 30% of the economy, Madeira is the largest export, or that their is a thriving cottage-industry in high embroidery for sale, it was good to hear it at least today.

Madeira Hiking Day 1: Camacha to Monte

(Apologies for typos). 

Our first full and proper hiking day has come to an end. On most HF trips the first hike tends to end, and often start, at the hotel. Today's harder hike (easier too) broke with that rule. We piled into minibuses under overcast skies and drove to the town of Camacha where we found the clouds were refusing to contain their water and we're releasing it steadily though with not much force upon the ground below. Given that the first 0.5 miles of the walk was on an ascending road with no sidewalk and that it was lightly raining we hopped back on the bus and drove to a pull-out by the start of a levada. Levada so are water channels, perhaps two feet wide by 4 feet deep, that are essentially irrigation ditches. Their will be a high-quality path next to the levada that seems to be usually a hard packed dirt path sometimes just wide enough for a single person and other times practically a highway for foot traffic. We soon found ourselves strolling easily through lush forest at an elevation of about 2,900 feet above sea level. I am not sure how much rain Madeira actually gets (we understand their are some 63 climate zones) but the lushness of the forests suggests to me it must be a fair bit. It's good that we had such variety in the forsts because the views farther afield were completely hidden by billowing clouds. While the rain was never heavy it was persistent.

Along the way, especially near the start of each levada, we did pass by several other people all heading the other way. They were no doubt folks on walking holidays like us. Who knows perhaps some of them were in for the day from cruise ships docked at Funchal. I am glad we were not with them because some of them seemed rather too exuberant for my piece of mind. We marched on through the mists of Madeira passing plants small and large and often colorful even early in the year. But most were dwarfed by the stunningly tall and straight eucalyptus trees that were planted after large sections of forst were removed. Of course, after those removals erosion blame a big problem so fast-growing (and pretty useless for anything else) tree were planted to help control erosion. They're impressive.

The toughest part of the walk was the stretch, probably requiring about 20=25 minutes walking, that dropped us down from the first levada to a tiny town. The road was cobblestone with some mud and grass and remarkably steep and slick. While some people seemed to zip right now the treacherous way I certainly found it slow tough going. In fact, I lost my footing on a section where Tarmac and cobbles converged and took a spill mildly hurting my right upper arm in the process (fine now). I suspect that this stretch is a challenge even when the surface is dry.

In due time our second levada, much better made it seemed to us, and associated path wound us in and out of a box-like canyon to the valley just east of Monte. Once again we began a steep descent on stony paths (they build strange shallow rolling steps into the paths) that required care to traverse. Into the shrouded forest we went but we could see, now in early-mid afternoon, that the sun was trying to break free. Down some 300 feet and then we climbed back out along what I suppose must be an old road (more cobbles and well made steps this time) with the sun actually peaking through and at about 15:20 we arrived at the cable car terminus for the Monte Palace Tropical Gardens. We had begun the 7.8 mile walk just a bit before 11:00 and while I believe the distance I have my doubts about the elevation gain and loss numbers I recorded (780 feet and 1,600 feet both of which strike me as high by at least a third; though we clearly must have dropped 1,000 feet as we started around 2,900 and ended around 1,800).  We enjoyed the next hour at a cafe soaking up the newly appeared sunshine and a good slice of carrot cake. I wish I could say the Irish coffee was good too but it cooled down way too quickly.

An 8-Mile Hike: Camacha to Monte

Bonus: After dinner, and the buffet here is simply providing fuel and so far will not go down in memory as highly tasty, we walked down to a cafe for some live music. Two Russian violists serenaded us for a while playing an astonishgly wide selection of pieces from classical to rock and roll. It was a lovely way to end the day.

First Days in Funchal, Madeira

The view from my room at the Porto Santa Maria Hotel. The rooms here are very nice with good showers (hurray, though flooding is possible - seems par for Europe). My only small gripe is electrical outlets aren't well placed. However, the view of the sea makes up for a lot with its interesting sea wall in the distance. Today, as you can see, clouds are scudding across the sky. We have had some light and some not so light rain but no shower has lasted more than a couple minutes. If you had an umbrella you would be fine. Our windbreakers weren't up to the heavier rain but it hardly matters as we are taking it easy this afternoon after the flights and airport waiting around time we had to endure to get here.

Live music at Arsenio's restaurant just down the block from our hotel.

(Apologies for any typos).

We are settling down to our second night in Funchal, Medeira. Our first day and large-portion of another have gone by rather well l. M. In fact, we think this is the best start in many ways to any of our more recent trips. Yesterday we spent a few hours strolling the environs near the hotel, avoiding the worst of the downpours that came mid-afternoon, and wrapping things up with a very enjoyable meal at a nearby restaurant called Arsenio's (listen to a sample of the live music by clicking on the Play button in the music player at the start of this post. I am not sure if what we heard would be called fado [from Wikipedia: <a href ="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fado">Fado</a>] but I hope it was).

There seems to be an abundance of small narrow streets near the hotel. The city is bustling with people and traffic. Near us seems fairly touristy but definite pockets exists not far off where seemingly more locals trod the patterned walks. That is one thing I already like about the streets and sidewalks here: so many distinctive patterns to walk upon. We wandered for a couple of hours, had a nice light lunch of soup and spinache-cheese pie (sort of empanada-like), walked through a very busy food market (seemed like everything but meats and dairy; a very substantial fruit and veggie section), and walked by the terminus for the cable cars that lead, among other places, to the botanical gardens that I am sure we will visit.

Fort St. James

 

Funchal is riddled with narrow twisting streets. At least on one street in the Santa Maria region numerous buildings have these wonderful door murals.

Today has been a productive long day. We slept in until sunrise, about 8:10 ( it is amusing that getting used to the nearly hour later sunrise compared to Rhode Island due to the location of Madeira within its timezone is something to contend with) we ventured down to the large buffet breakfast before beginning our rambles around at least a modest portion of Funchal. We were eager to explore and the iffy weather of the day before had been left behind and we were greeted with clear blue skies and lovely warm sunshine. The predicted high would be in the mid-60s F (18C) and it certainly felt that warm especially when the sun beat down directly upon us. Lovely. We visited St. James (I think) Fort not far from the hotel and found it basically closed. Their is supposed to be a bit of an art museum thre but it seemed closed. The pastel yellow buildings are nice enough and the view from the wall of the sea is good but you won't really get much out of the exploration of the fort because their isn't much to explore. Still by visiting the fort we then had a chance to venture through narrow streets that sported numerous doors with intriguing artworks. I don't know if the door murals , sometimes painted and sometimes three-dimension art, are special to just this area or something more generally done in Madeira. Now that I think about it I do not recall really noticing such art in other locations. Some is fanciful, some suggestive (the mermaid with a mail slot in her belly button comes to mind), and all was well done. Little touches like this bring a place to life.

 

We explored a bit farther west than we had the previous day finding some interesting markets along the way as well as a few city gardens that were pleasant enough to walk through. Obviously, we only saw a minuscule part of the city but what we found we liked and that certainly included portions that saw less tourist traffic than others did.

Two views from our steadily ascending cable car cabin as we rose into the clouds to visit the Palace Tropical Gardens.

 

Working our way to the cablecsr, and being hailed by barkers trying to sell uscable car tickets or invite us into their entries, we boarded a gondola car to ride the 3,300 meter cable , ascending a bit more than 500 meters, to the Monte where the Palace Tropical Gardens (I think this is the correct name) are located. It is also the place where the Funchal toboggan run starts but more on that later. The cablecar ride takes about 15 minutes and you glide above countless red-tile roofed buildings and homes that grow less frequent as you gradually ascend. Now and then you can spot a goat tethered to a patch of grass, hear dogs bark in the distance, maybe a rooster cry. You are clearly rising about the outskirts of the capitol but I don't think we ever passed over anything like farmland or even a small vineyard. Maybe the homes with goats have gardens where they're growing edible plants but if so I bet it is just for themselves. When we disembarked the temperature was noticeably cooler and the light overcast blocked the sun. I believe cloud coverage like this is not uncommon in the mountains above Funchal. It was perfect walking weather. We paid our 10 euros apiece (cash only) to enter the gardens and spent the next 90 minutes or so working our way down the cobbled paths past plants too numerous to possibly name. I think the fern trees are the most impressive. I am quite certain that their are many paths you can take to get to various locations so return visits certainly could be worthwhile. Their is plenty to see and I suspect we just scratched the surface. It is a lovely setting.

 

Monte Palace Tropical Garden. The lush gardens have ample water pouring through them. It passes into a small lake that has couple waterfalls and is home to ducks and at least one Icelandic swan and a rooster.

The toboggans of Funchal were something we had seen video of and Dad and I were looking forward to giving them a go. It may be a bit tourist-trap-like but I think it was worth the 30 euros we paid. You settle into a wooden toboggan and two fit men clad in dark jackets, white pants and dark shoes, shove you off and hop of the back of the sleigh. The runners are, I am sure, greased, and you slide quickly and smoothly down the moderately steep road. Now and then the toboggan is caused to swerve from side to side, rotating its whole body left or right, to make a turn. You get rather close to walls at times and that could make a rider feel uncertain of the safety of the ride as you zoom down the hill at about 20kph along the 2km length of the journey. At one point the drivers hop off the toboggan, grab their tow ropes, and pull you along a flatter stretch of road. I wonder how they deal with oncoming traffic. We never saw any cars on that stretch of road and perhaps they're not permitted there. The road, in fact many of the roads I'd wager, is just one lane wide so if it is meant to support two-way traffic drivers must have to negotiate with each other who gets to go when. Dad and I were at our endpoint in about 6 minutes and had another 20 to wait for Mom to catch up with us. She didn't want to ride th toboggan and so walked the 2km and watched a couple other sleds zoom past as she descended not quite 300 meters to rejoin us. We then walked down the single-lane road (a bit of traffic coming past us from behind at seemingly great speed) down towards the coast. It's another 3km or so and you have to descend again just a bit under 300m before reaching the coast. You will feel it in your legs as the road is steep and near the end while you can get off the road and onto sidewalks the sidewalks treat you to numerous cobblestone steps. But it isn't a bad walk even though it is hardly the most picturesque.

 

Is the sheen on the street from the grease I believe the toboggans runners must be coated with. The ride is smooth and exciting but if you get nervous easily this might not be for you as the toboggan does swerve from side to side when turning though I'm sure it is never out of control.

By this time it was mid-afternoon and we had time to enjoy a short relaxing time back at the hotel, soak in the pool, soak under the sun on our patios, and then a second decent dinner out (no live music) at another nearby restaurant.

Our last day is proving to be a relaxing one. We rose at sunrise once again having felt that we did not sleep as well as we ought to have even though that has clearly proven to be a false belief. The day has been rather windy and until mid-afternoon it was more cloudy than not. However, when the wind isn't blowing the sun warms us quite nicely. We did a little more exploring venturing west along the coastal "Boardwalk" to where it seems to end in the Santa Catalina area. That area seems to have some rather large and nice apartments buildings, offices, small groceries, and other necessaries of city life. Along the way we would pass by just a couple modestly vast cruise ships (nowhere near as mammoth as the vessel we saw the day before) and some wonderfully purple coated stone walls. The purple are masses and masses of bugs villa (sp) plants. It is a good walk and the return through the city streets brings you by more gardens that are often well cared for. The only sad drawback now and then is the occasional homeless person you see and some are clearly in pretty dire straights.

After some 5 miles of walking about we have decided to call it an early day. It is possible we are short-changing Funchal but we have a sense that the bulk of what is interesting snuggles fairly close to the shore. Once you move a few blocks inland you are in residential areas that won't have much to offer the wandering tourist. Their are tourist=trap areas and tourist areas though aplenty to explore and we have enjoyed our two and a half days here even if today (Sunday) we have done only 3-4 hours of walking.