Madeira - Sights to See

Madeira's ocean can be a bit wild and is very blue. Most days I went to the beaches, the constructed plateaus with pools and access to the sea. A list of beaches is on http://madeiraweb.net/PagesUK/beaches/doca-cavacas.html .

Madeira has several sights to visit. I did not go to far out of Funchal, the capital, where I was staying.

Madeira has many levadas, and on two days I went for a walk alongside a levada. That is, only one of those walks actually happened.

Levadas are a well-known part of Madeira's cultural heritage. A levada is an irrigation channel, this is a narrow strip with water running through, of approximately 30, 35 cm wide. In the old days these levadas were constructed to irrigate the land. The Levadas can be miles long. Sometimes there are fish and frogs swimming through.

On one website was mentioned that "the Levadas are very relaxing to walk along by". The truth is far from that: most levadas are very dangerous to walk. I heard from the receptionist of the hotel where I was staying, that regularly tourists who go on a walk alone, fall into a ravine.

One day I went on a bus just outside of Funchal on a hill, I wanted to try a walk alongside a levada, but this did not go very well. The path starting on the hill, was very dangerous. I was warned in advance by a man I spoke. He explained to me that along the path, there was a bridge you would have to cross, but that it had no sides anymore and therefore was very dangerous. This man was not even afraid of heights, while I am.
A short while after when the man was gone, I tried the beginning of the path. This was just a small dry ridge, the start of the levada, with a smal wall on the side, and a ravine on the other. I tried about 10 meters, when I felt I could not walk any further on the dry small ridge. I sat down and it became very uncomfortable as I had to go back but did not know how yet. The ground started to fall into the ravine, the sun was shining on me, and there were dogs barking at me from a house built just at the start, above the ravine. The path was at the most 30 cm wide and dry ground, so I was sweating for a few minutes. Then I turned around, so I do not know how this levada walk is. I just know entering from that side is very difficult, and a bridge seems to be unreliable.

After that I ended up going to the Jardim Orquidea, the orchid garden, which is just a walk up. The website of the garden is on http://www.madeiraorchid.com/. It has several hundreds of orchids, and takes about an hour to see all. You can sit outside afterwards and take a drink.

On that same day, I went to the Botanical Garden, which I enjoyed most. The website is on www.madeirabotanicalgarden.com/ .

On the mountain, it was hot. Because I had to climb up the hill again, in the soaking heat, it was very uncomfortable. To make it worse, some roads seemed to be 45 degrees, but as soon as I walked into the park, I was surrounded by cool mountain air. The difference between inside and outside the park was at least 10 degrees.

The Botanical Gardens is a large garden where you can spend several hours to see the plants and trees. Also there is a part with exotic birds. From the gardens you can see spectacular panoramic views over the mountainous backdrop, the city below and its bay with the deep blue waters of the Atlantic.

The gardens have multiple platforms and territories, is quite large, have many flowers, and are nice and quiet and have a very cool atmosphere. When you finish visiting the gardens, you can take the Botanical Gardens Cable Car up to the historic village of Monte, with its beautiful church, gardens and wicker sledges.

The story of the walk I did do follows in another article.