The island is famous for its fruits and vegetables, both exotic and local, but all thriving on a land so generous in nutients and climate that just about anything flourishes - mango, avocado, papaya, passion fruit, you name it...
I spent my first week shadowing Antoine, guide extraordinaire, and his group of hikers. Here he is showing the group how to drink the sweet nactar of the ginger plant...
And here he is in his cavemam pose... He taught me quite a lot during the week, not only about his beloved island but also about guiding in general...
Frangipani tree, beautiful in smell and sight...
At Funchal`s market I tasted a variety of passion fruit.
The island was shaped not only by a volcano but also by hand - notice the terraces carved into the hillside, the result of hundreds of years of hard work. Many Madeirans still live by cultivating their own crops on the steep slopes. The skip from subsistance living to the internet generation hit the island quickly - just steps away from internet cafes lay tin-roof homes surrounded by fields of sweet potato, sugar cane, and banana plantations.
The island is young, only 8 million years old, created by a volcanic hotspot on the ocean floor. Young means jagged, and plummeting cliffs. Many of the hiking paths are built on shelves hovering hundeds of meters above the sea, such as in the photo below. Don`t step to the left!!!
Climbing above the town of Porto da Cruz during the week´s second hike:
The island is young, only 8 million years old, created by a volcanic hotspot on the ocean floor. Young means jagged, and plummeting cliffs. Many of the hiking paths are built on shelves hovering hundeds of meters above the sea, such as in the photo below. Don`t step to the left!!!
Another good example of one of the hiking paths carved into the basalt cliffs...
But not all the hikes in Madeira are gravity defying. Many of them follow levadas, centuries-old irrigation canals built to carry water from the humid northern slopes to the relatively arid south. Over 1500km of levadas, many hand-carved into the stone, snake their way around the tiny island, only 56km long and 22km wide. If you follow a leveda you can guarantee yourself a flat hike - the average slope of the canals is 5-10 per 1000, meaning a drop of only 5-10 meters for every kilometer. Originally, the first Potuguese settlers used slaves to build the canals, work that began at the outset of the first settlers in the early 15th century.
And where the natural slopes of the mountains don`t favour the inclines for canals, tunnels were built. You can walk through dozens of tunnels in a day`s walk, some of them over a kilometer long. Don`t forget your headlamps!!!
Jerome and I took a dip in the cold pools of the Green Cauldron , source of one of the island`s longest levadas. Some of the island`s levadas are over 50km long.
Madeira is often referred to as the garden of the Atlantic, and for good reason. Plants from all over the world have set their roots into Madeiran soil, such as the bottlebrush seen below, originally from Australia. Some exotic plants are invasive, such as Australia`s eucalyptus and mimosa, which proliferate and drain the soils of water. A single eucalyptus tree can sap 50L of water per day, creating difficult conditions for other plants and increasing the risks of forest fire.
Bird of Paradise...
Hyacinth
The local drink of choice is Poncha: rum mixed with lemon or passion fruit juice, and honey. Here we are sampling Poncha at our hotel in Santana:
There are no large animals on the island; the wall lizard is a common sight, especially at picnic locations.
After a long morning hike, we prepare a potato salad at the picnic site.
At our picnic spot overlooking the sea, Francois and Patrick help prepare the picnic. Views of the Atlantic follow you everywhere on the island: only 22km wide, you´re never more than 11km from the sea!
Near the town of Santana, surrounded by cultivated fields ...
After the first walk of the week, we reach the tiny town of Porto da Cruz, and its volcanic sands. We take a soothing dip in the Mediterranean.
On the high ridges of the island, we pierce through the clouds. The flower below is Pride of Madeira.
This sight isn´t uncommon on the island: the trade winds form clouds on the northern slopes, in between 800-1300m, while the high ridges, culminating at 1860m, remain above the clouds.
Passing a farmer in the fields...
Madeira is also famous for its fortified wines. Four different varietals produce either sweet, semi-sweet, semi-dry, or dry wines. The picture below was taken during our wine tasting:
Constance helping me with groceries up a quaint cobbled path in the village of Santana
A traditional Madeiran home perched high above the sea...
Trompette du jugement dernier (English?). Its leaves are highly hallucinogenic.
A proliferation of flowers under vines:
Passion flower
Underneath a waterfall at the head of a levada:
help (fuschia?)
joubarbe (houseleek?) growing on the basalt walls
Agapanthus on the jagged, northern cliffs:
My first group, taken in the sub-tropical forests. Gathering randomly for the photo, we formed a heart. This speaks volumes for week we spent together...
