More of Madeira - The Island, Not the Drink!

We continued our stay in Madeira the entire following day so, again, I had booked an independent through Viator.  This one was called Discovering Northwest Madeira.  About 8:15 am, I went to meet my tour guide.  There was another couple waiting for their guide so we chatted.  The description of their tour didn't match mine so it was a bit confusing when it turned out we were actually doing same tour.  So, once we met Jose, our guide, and it was sorted out, we climbed into the jeep – luckily as the single person on the tour, I got to sit in the front seat.  We then picked up a Lithuanian couple from another cruise ship and headed off.  The tour was run by a company called Green Devil.  

Jose, our guide was great.  We started heading up into the hills along the highway that essentially divides the island into east and west.  Our first stop was in a little village where we got to see the historic terraced hillside, built by hand, which is where a lot of the crops are planted.  They were very steep and the scenery was amazing.  I expect it is somewhat similar to what you would see in Kauai – mountains and ravines all created by volcano activity.  The hills were very green covered with all sorts of vegetation.  It was very beautiful and a good photo op.  

Our next stop was another little place where we could use the WC and buy water or anything else before we carried on. 

Jose was very good explaining the various types of vegetation including indigenous plants like various kinds of laurel to non-indigenous vegetation like bamboo and eucalyptus trees which are quite a problem.  We also passed through a forest that had been devastated by a wild fire, apparently started by fireworks from some religious ceremony.  That forest, along with another one further up the hill, is a World Heritage Site.  

Jose explained how water and electricity are managed on the island.  Water is collected into a system of channels called levadas.  The Levadas (from the Portuguese verb “levar” – to carry) are a system of channels or aqueducts of many kilometres in length, mostly bordering mountains but also going through them, with several stretches over rugged rocks, to bring water from different sources to its intermediate or final uses.  The origin of the levadas dates back to the first settlements of Madeira Island, in the first quarter of the 15^th century, when water became necessary to water farm lands, particularly sugar cane fields – the first crop of high economic value in Madeira – and for the functioning of the first mills and sugar factories. It is worth noting that in the second half of the 15^th century, water carried by levadas was essential to Madeira Islands becoming one of the largest producers and exporters of sugar in Europe, the “World” of those days.  We stopped at one system, near a laurel forest, to see it up close.  Speaking of laurels, there are several types of them on Madeira and the Canary Islands.  The bay leaf one is particularly used in cooking beef.  Jose told us that the thin branches are used as skewers when the meat is barbecued. 

One of the Levadas 

Both on this tour and one previously on Tenerife, we were told about how the plants and trees on these islands “milk the clouds”.  Cloud milking, scientifically known as occult precipitation or cloud water, is precipitation that cannot be measured with a standard rain gauge.  It is, for example, the condensation of mist and fog on foliage.  Madeira is the perfect place to witness cloud milking since all three necessary elements are present: wind, vegetation and fog or clouds.  In the absence of vegetation, the cloud and fog water would not precipitate to the soil in the same quantities.  Madeira’s Laurisilva, recognized as UNESCO world heritage in 1999, composes most of the vegetation in the higher altitudes.  The Laurisilva (laurel forest) Forest thus plays an important role in the island’s water resources. 

Jose took us up the mountain on a road that could best be described as a river bed.  It is unpaved because of the WHS designation which protects it from any kind of development.  It was easily one of the roughest roads I’ve even been on and was quite an adventure.  The jeep in front of us was slipping and sliding around in an especially muddy spot.  Turns out the driver had forgotten to engage the four-wheel drive, some of which needed to be done manually.  Jose sorted him out and then we were off again.  I am sure the bouncing around did nothing good for my back!  Unfortunately, we could see absolutely nothing when we got to the summit as it was completely fogged in.  

On the way back down, we stopped by a hillside where there were free-range cows, fields and some trees that had some sort of significance.  We were given the chance to walk up the hill and it was quite funny as the three women all said, "forget it" at the same time!  So we carried on.  We also saw a lagoon that had been formed by the recent rains and there were lots of people taking photos of it.  Again, when Jose asked if we wanted to go down and see it close-up, we said “no thanks”. 

Our next stop was for 1 ¾ hours at Porto Moniz.  Along the road to get there, we did stop at another viewpoint which gave us spectacular views along the coast.

The first thing we did in Port Moniz was find a place to have some lunch.  There were plenty of options and the American couple and I chose to sit outside on the terrace of a pizza restaurant with a lovely view of the sea.  The pizza I ordered was one of the best pizzas I have ever had in Europe – lots of cheese on it.  After lunch, I left them and walked over to where the lava pools are located.  There were actually lots of people swimming in them.  I took a ton of photos. The Natural Pools of Porto Moniz are one of the main attractions of the north coast of the Island of Madeira. This point of interest wins over a growing number of visitors for the peculiarity of its beauty and the comfort offered by its infrastructures.  Of volcanic origin - formed over millennia by the cooling of lava - the natural physiognomy of these pools allows the constant entry of seawater. The water is therefore considered of an excellent quality level, given its ceaseless renewal.

Our last stop was at a beach with black sand – although it was nothing like the sand we’d seen in Tenerife.  The guy from Lithuania wanted to swim so we were there for about ½ hour while he did that.  I took a few more photos, including some of guys trying to surf.  

After that, it was just a matter of going back through the mountains and back to the ship. Unlike Las Palmas, I would like to go back to Madeira one day.  It was beautirul.