Madeira part one

We went on holiday! Two whole weeks on an island we’d never visited, with adventure waiting around every corner.

The mountains in the north

Madeira’s landscape is extraordinary—no wonder the Portuguese were so taken with it, and why it changed hands several times over the last four hundred years. Although it originally seemed uninhabitable to early explorers, the ingenuity of Portuguese engineers (sadly using slave labour) led to the construction of remarkable channels that carry water from the lush north to the dry south. These are called levadas, and they’re one of the features that make Madeira such a wonderful destination for walkers.

Levada PR 6.3

Our impression was that the north resembled New Zealand—high, tree-covered volcanic mountains draped in a persistent veil of cloud. The south, by contrast, felt more like a Mediterranean island: sunny and drier (though we were in the Atlantic ocean). The island isn’t large—about 35 miles east to west and 13 miles deep—so as long as you have a car and a head for heights, getting around is easy. Although Portuguese, Madeira is geographically closer to Africa than to mainland Europe.

The more recent engineering that impressed us was the tunnels! The old roads, which wound around mountains and clung precariously to crumbling rock faces, have been replaced by sleek tunnels that punch straight through the mountains. The new coast roads (head west from the airport, along the coast, and then north) probably has as much tarmac underground as it does above.

One thing we learned quickly was that if the weather in the north (where we were staying) wasn’t great, we could simply head south. We drove through one 3.1 km tunnel in the middle of the island, and as soon as we popped out the other side, the clouds were behind us and brilliant sunshine lit up the landscape.

The hotel was nice—though a bit Miss Havisham (she was four-star in the ’80s, a little faded now). But the staff were lovely, and the breakfast was a great fuel-up for the day’s adventuring. Our favourite places were the levadas (though we only walked one), Calheta beach, Fanal forest, and the local Brasa restaurant (which served amazing beef skewers).

The 'witch tree' Fanal forest

Like Iceland, Madeira has very little native mammal fauna. I managed to spot one of the native trocaz pigeons—no photo, sadly. The endemic sparrowhawks had a nest near our balcony, so I did get some good shots of them. The other prolific wildlife was the little lizards, with the males sporting a gorgeous green. Although most scattered when people approached, I found one sunny spot where a gang was sunbathing—and I even got to hand-feed them.

The island is also famous for its flowers, and they were out in abundance during our visit. The hills were draped in wild agapanthus, their huge white and purple heads nodding in the breeze, and the hydrangeas were enormous! Much of what we saw is best illustrated rather than described, but I’ll highlight a couple of our adventures in more detail in future posts.

Useful links:

• The levadas
• History of Madeira
• Photos from our trip - Photobox book

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All photos (C) Carolyn Tyrrell-Sheppard