We did not post a blog yesterday. We totally chilled and went from reading on the patio, to doing and hanging laundry in the sun to dry (haven’t seen a dryer yet) on the patio, to napping on the patio or on the couch. Finally we went out the door to the restaurant across the street. We have not had Mexican food for months & chips & salsa $ guacamole and street tacos sounded perfect. Then we watched a few episodes of season 2 of Wednesday. RECHARGED 💥
Rested & ready to explore today. So many levadas to choose from, so we started short and scenic. Our drive was straight up the mountain about 90 minutes to get to PR11. It’s very organized, they number the hiking trails and it’s terrific.
There’s an app that you go on to pay 3 Euros each to help preserve the trails. We beat the crowds and found a parking space near the start. There were polizia parked nearby. Hmmm what’s that about?
Let us give a little history & background. A levada is an irrigation channel or aqueduct specific to the Portuguese Atlantic region of Madeira. Madeira island is wet in the northwest, but dry in the southeast. In the 16th century the Portuguese started building levadas (aqueducts) to carry water to the agricultural regions in the south. Due to its mountainous landscape, building levadas promised to be a difficult venture, often tasked to criminals and convicts from continental Portugal to build these water canals. Many are cut into the mountainsides, accompanied by 40 km (25 mi) of tunnels, some of which are still accessible.
Today levadas supply water and also provide hydro-electric power.[2] Over 2,170 km (1,350 mi) of levadas were built and later provided a network of walking paths. Paths can provide easy and relaxing walks through the countryside. Such improvements involved the continuous maintenance of streams, paving trails, and establishing safety fences on dangerous stretches.
The Balcões (balcony) was a cool shady hike about 3 miles.
It was peaceful, scenic and not too peoply yet.
Along the path was an adorable coffee shop attached to one of the houses hanging on the side of the mountain. We’ll stop on the way back. Cappuccino is in our future ☕️
Welcome to the balcões
When we returned to the car the area and road was jam packed with people and cars. There was a ranger checking to see if we bought the tix on the app. A big OBRIGADO (A) to us for doing it. There was a long line of people having to pay cause they didn’t read the fine print.
On our way to our next stop Fanal Forest.
Of course there are always unplanned detours or binocular signs to explore or pictures to take
FAROL SIGN
Where’s he going??
In France if it’s raining the sign said slow 10km. Not in sunny Madeira
We missed stopping at these beauties the other day after our natural pool day
We had a little GPS problem but after two drives through the same town we pulled over, reset and found the road to the Fanal Forest. More windy narrow roads back up to 4,000 feet elevation.
Our parking angels are rocking it💥
Welcome to the Fanal Forest.
You could hear loud buzzing and hoped it wasn’t bees. It was happy flies on fresh cow pies. The locals
This morning we watched this ship arrive so we thought we’d best stop on the way to get a bite to eat.
Linda told us about Câmara de Lobos and it was charming and interesting. They recycle for artwork & have a heart theme.
The best in the streets with bustling restaurants were…
We’ve already seen the umbrellas of Spain so why not the cubes…FUN❣️
Great food and a fabulous end to another adventure in Madeira
Sleep well friends
