Monday, 31 May 2010
Walking Levadas and mountains in Madeira
In May 2010 I spent 2 days mountain and levada walking with the H2o team that's Joachim, the experienced German guide and the mini-bus driver Joao.
I met the team and my fellow walkers at 8.30 am both days at the Hotel Jardim Atlantico in Prazeres, Calheta perched on the cliffs above Paul do Mar one of their bases for their services. Most of the party were German tourists so Joachim spoke German most of the time and gave me short private briefings and instructions in English.
Generally, the weather conditions were good but, we had some short rainshowers. Everyone was well-prepared, enthusiastic and had good equipment
Day one: Walk Rabacal (Calheta region - West)!
On the Monday we were shuttled to the car park at Paul da Serra high-up in Calheta to walk Rabacal.
Rabacal was a 12km walk and took about 4 hours
2 glorious Rabacal waterfalls
We explored the evergreen Rabaçal valley situated within the UNESCO protected natural park of Madeira and part of the indigenous Laurisilva forest with its abundance of mosses, lichens and ferns. The highlights of the walk are "the Risco" and the "25 fountains" cascading waterfalls and clear lakes. One our pit stops was at the fountains were we had lunch.
The Laurisilva forest
Madeira's laurisilva forest is the most extensive in the world and was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1999. You can see trees including Til (Ocotea foetens), Loureiro (Laurus novocanariensis), Vinhático (Persea indica), a valuable hardwood, and Barbosano (Apollonias barbujana); other important trees include Aderno (Heberdenia excelsa), Pau Branco (Picconia excelsa), the Mocanos(Visnea mocanera and Pittosporum coriaceum), and Sanguinho (Rhamnus glandulosa), and the small trees or large shrubs Folhado (Clethra arborea) and Perado (Ilex perado). The forests support a diverse understory of ferns and bryophytes which both require moisture for reproduction, and of herbaceous plants, including the Leitugas (Sonchus spp.), geraniums (Geranium maderense, G. palmatum and G. rubescens), the Estreleiras (Argyranthemum spp.) and the endemic orchid Goodyera macrophylla.
Source the Wiki page on Laurisilva: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laurisilva
Day 2: Walking Boca do Risco on the East of the Island (3-4 hours)
After the drive to Machico town area and the beautiful Sao Lourenco Peninsula we made a short walk on the peninsula where Joachim told us about how the landscape had been shaped by lava flows and dykes! Then we swam at one of the best natural beaches in Madeira: Prainha. After, we began the main walk of the day -about 10kms - It was from Machico to the cliff top ridge known as Boca do Risco, then we descended to Porto da Cruz. This walk is popular and the views of the north coast are breathtaking.
The walk was more difficult than Rabacal because its vertiginous in places from Boca do Risco down to the Porto and as my book put it: dry weather walk only as can get slippy and should only be done as part of a guided walking group.
Guided or not?
If you have no experience or little experience of mountain and levada walks I would recommend guided walks for these reasons:
-most of the walks are one-way. With a guided walk your dropped off at the start and the company picks you up at the end, so you avoid either retracing your steps or waiting for a bus/taxi to get you home. We had short rain showers during the 2 days and personally I was happy to jump into the mini-bus after walking many kilometres and not have to hang around for shelter and transport home!
-the guide in this case Joachim who has lived in Madeira for many years pointed out flora/fauna/scenery that I might have missed and knew what the best routes were and the ones to avoid.
-our walking party was small and friendly about 8 people so it was easy for Joachim to set the pace of the walk ad give us important instructions such as stop, how long you stop for, and "let's have lunch" and "this is a good place, time to take a photo"
-some walks are vertiginous and slippy when wet and should only be done as part of a guided walking group see Day 2 above.
Overall, I am not an experienced walker but, really enjoyed the 2 days and learnt much about walking technique and the natural environment of Madeira and took away great memories thanks to the H2o team the most! I will be walking with Joachim and the team again soon.
I met the team and my fellow walkers at 8.30 am both days at the Hotel Jardim Atlantico in Prazeres, Calheta perched on the cliffs above Paul do Mar one of their bases for their services. Most of the party were German tourists so Joachim spoke German most of the time and gave me short private briefings and instructions in English.
Generally, the weather conditions were good but, we had some short rainshowers. Everyone was well-prepared, enthusiastic and had good equipment
Day one: Walk Rabacal (Calheta region - West)!
On the Monday we were shuttled to the car park at Paul da Serra high-up in Calheta to walk Rabacal.
Rabacal was a 12km walk and took about 4 hours
2 glorious Rabacal waterfalls
We explored the evergreen Rabaçal valley situated within the UNESCO protected natural park of Madeira and part of the indigenous Laurisilva forest with its abundance of mosses, lichens and ferns. The highlights of the walk are "the Risco" and the "25 fountains" cascading waterfalls and clear lakes. One our pit stops was at the fountains were we had lunch.
The Laurisilva forest
Madeira's laurisilva forest is the most extensive in the world and was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1999. You can see trees including Til (Ocotea foetens), Loureiro (Laurus novocanariensis), Vinhático (Persea indica), a valuable hardwood, and Barbosano (Apollonias barbujana); other important trees include Aderno (Heberdenia excelsa), Pau Branco (Picconia excelsa), the Mocanos(Visnea mocanera and Pittosporum coriaceum), and Sanguinho (Rhamnus glandulosa), and the small trees or large shrubs Folhado (Clethra arborea) and Perado (Ilex perado). The forests support a diverse understory of ferns and bryophytes which both require moisture for reproduction, and of herbaceous plants, including the Leitugas (Sonchus spp.), geraniums (Geranium maderense, G. palmatum and G. rubescens), the Estreleiras (Argyranthemum spp.) and the endemic orchid Goodyera macrophylla.
Source the Wiki page on Laurisilva: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laurisilva
Day 2: Walking Boca do Risco on the East of the Island (3-4 hours)
After the drive to Machico town area and the beautiful Sao Lourenco Peninsula we made a short walk on the peninsula where Joachim told us about how the landscape had been shaped by lava flows and dykes! Then we swam at one of the best natural beaches in Madeira: Prainha. After, we began the main walk of the day -about 10kms - It was from Machico to the cliff top ridge known as Boca do Risco, then we descended to Porto da Cruz. This walk is popular and the views of the north coast are breathtaking.
The walk was more difficult than Rabacal because its vertiginous in places from Boca do Risco down to the Porto and as my book put it: dry weather walk only as can get slippy and should only be done as part of a guided walking group.
Guided or not?
If you have no experience or little experience of mountain and levada walks I would recommend guided walks for these reasons:
-most of the walks are one-way. With a guided walk your dropped off at the start and the company picks you up at the end, so you avoid either retracing your steps or waiting for a bus/taxi to get you home. We had short rain showers during the 2 days and personally I was happy to jump into the mini-bus after walking many kilometres and not have to hang around for shelter and transport home!
-the guide in this case Joachim who has lived in Madeira for many years pointed out flora/fauna/scenery that I might have missed and knew what the best routes were and the ones to avoid.
-our walking party was small and friendly about 8 people so it was easy for Joachim to set the pace of the walk ad give us important instructions such as stop, how long you stop for, and "let's have lunch" and "this is a good place, time to take a photo"
-some walks are vertiginous and slippy when wet and should only be done as part of a guided walking group see Day 2 above.
Overall, I am not an experienced walker but, really enjoyed the 2 days and learnt much about walking technique and the natural environment of Madeira and took away great memories thanks to the H2o team the most! I will be walking with Joachim and the team again soon.
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