Madeira

Madeira, November 2022

I have been on a holiday - an ordinary, normal holiday, not a retreat, with people who aren't Buddhists, and it is surprising how long it has been since the last time I did this. It was a walking holiday in Madeira, led by a very enthusiastic local man whose catchphrase was "I love it" (delivered as one word).

The day before I left I went to see mum and dad for the important job of trying out and buying a mobility scooter. A local company came to the house with two to try, which were essentially identical except for the battery size. Mum was a bit nervous but I had a go on the pavement outside the house, and she sat on it so we adjusted the seat and handlebar to suit her.

Then off I went to Madeira via Stansted, and joined a group of twelve people, aged from about 30 to 75. Most were English but there was one young woman from Switzerland and another woman originally from Hungary but now living in the USA. It was a good group, nobody too annoying and all fit enough for the walking, which was at times very strenuous indeed. Madeira is volcanic, it has mountains, and water courses called levadas which have been cut into cliffs in order to route water to where it's needed. Every inch of viable land is cultivated, mostly with sugar cane, bananas and potatoes, although we saw avocado, mango and citrus trees too.

The vertical stripes are vents

The first walk was on the eastern peninsula, and as it was a popular walk and a Saturday there were a lot of people about. The main attraction was the eroded coastline and volcanic geology, although there was a swimming area for those who wished. The next walk was in the north - we were taken by car up to the start, and although we started at altitude there was still more climbing to do, and a long descent which punished the knees. It was the first proper holiday for my walking poles, and I'm not sure how I would have managed without them. I don't put a lot of weight on them for climbing or descending, but they provide a third and fourth point of contact with the ground, so helping me to balance without additional strain on the legs.

Don't look down

The third walk took us to a National Park where we walked alongside another levada to a waterfall. The description of the holiday had mentioned that it wasn't suitable for those with vertigo, and this walk demonstrated why - the path was narrow with the cliff on one side and a sheer drop of many thousands of feet on the other, sometimes protected by a rickety two-string fence, sometimes not. Our leader ("I love it!") described some of the native and non-native plants while I looked anywhere except down and leaned away from the edge. There was another long descent down to a seaside village where the sun shone for beer and ice cream, and we briefly visited a rum distillery, tasted the product and had a shopping opportunity. I'm not a rum aficionado but it tasted fine and obviously I didn't buy any.

Spot the rainbow

The next day we were up before dawn and taken up above the cloud line to see the sun come up. The plan for the day was to walk between the three highest peaks of the island, and it was a shame about the cloud cover below us otherwise I imagine the views would have been tremendous, although I enjoyed the views of the clouds below. The peaks were reached along well-maintained paths and many hundreds (if not thousands) of steps - walking poles helped to support jelly legs towards the end of this climb. Thankfully there was a road up to the final stop so we didn't have to make the final descent on foot.

The last day of walking was the least interesting. It included all the elements of the previous days - huge ascents via stairs, walking alongside a levada, cultivated terraces, narrow vertiginous paths with a sheer drop down a cliff to one side, expansive views, punishing descents and the opportunity for beer and ice cream at the end - but nothing new. On our last full day we were let loose in Funchal. I chose to wander around the market and then ascend by cable cars to the Botanic Garden, my usual haunt, and it was a really good one. 

Spot the bird

The weather was perfect throughout - sunny but not too hot, although it had drizzled slightly on the first day and threatened a little rain on another day. Coats and hats were frequently put on and taken off at each break. Each day we had a hotel breakfast and then bought ourselves ingredients for a packed lunch from a supermarket (or surreptitiously collected goods from the breakfast buffet), which was ideal for a thrifty vegetarian like me. Evening meals were less satisfactory. The holiday notes mentioned that Madeira does not cater for vegetarians, and they were right. Alongside plenty of glorious fish and meat dishes, there were at best two options for vegetarians, such as spaghetti with vegetables, pizza with vegetables (the first time I've had pizza topped with carrot and broccoli as well as olives), omelette and chips, vegetable soup and garlic bread. 

To add insult to injury the prices for the vegetarian dishes in Funchal restaurants were comparable with the non-vegetarian dishes, so on the final day I split off from the main group with two other women who had not been enjoying the restaurant choices so far and we went to a different place. They had the local speciality of limpets then seared tuna; I still only had the choice of vegetable soup or omelette, but the omelette was good and only a fraction of the price compared with previous days. The other vegetarian woman went with the majority on that last night and regretted it as she was forced to choose exorbitantly priced spaghetti with vegetables again.

Aside from the scary cliffs and uninspiring vegetarian food, I enjoyed it, and both of these issues were mentioned in the tour notes so I can't say I wasn't warned. Apologies for the delay - it's taken an age to get this written and photos sorted...