Madeira, Portugal

Tuesday

I headed to the airport bright and early. I got an overpriced breakfast there because, for some reason, I was starving at 4:30 a.m. I got a window seat on the plane, which was awesome, and I slept most of the flight to Porto. I had a 4-hour layover and then continued to Madeira. Flying into Madeira was a bit scary. We were so close to the water, and I still couldn't see the runway, and it was windy. It was so gorgeous, though, with the mountains, lush green trees, water and my favourite Portuguese red clay roofs. I hung out in the airport for a while and waited for Tori to land. We picked up our rental car and set off on our adventure when she did. In Madeira, they drive on the same side of the road as Canada, so that was nice. The only thing was they gave us a big SUV when I booked a Fiat 500 (or something similar)... the roads around the island are small and windy, so that was exciting in our monster vehicle. We got gas and some groceries and drove to our Bed and Breakfast. We decided to stay in an adorable, tiny, traditional village called Jardim do Mar (Garden on the Sea) rather than in the busy capital, Funchal. We stayed at Cecília's House, where our hosts were a sweet older Portuguese couple who got us all checked in and gave us fresh mango juice. We had a charcuterie picnic (we saw a cockroach in the kitchen while making our food, which was scary) and some wine/iced tea on our cute little balcony overlooking the Atlantic Ocean and a stunning sunset. I have never fallen so completely and totally in love with a place so fast! Our room was super hot, but the vibes and views made it worth sweating all night. 

Wednesday

We had a relaxing morning. Tori went for a run, and I wandered along the promenade. I climbed around some volcanic-looking rocks on the rocky beach and enjoyed some peaceful time near the water. Then, I hiked up some stairs and found an excellent viewpoint and hiking path that was unfortunately closed. I picked some fresh tomatoes off someone's vine and saw many people harvesting bananas. Back at our place, there is a daily complimentary breakfast on the patio under a mango tree. It was amazing! Or hosts served us coffee/hot chocolate, fresh mango juice, bread, ham, cheese, butter, homemade pumpkin jam, carrot bread, and bananas that we got to pick off the tree. It was delicious and the most beautiful/peaceful place to have breakfast. Our host lady was so funny. She spoke virtually no English and spoke to us in Portuguese, though she knew we didn't understand; we communicated using many hand gestures, and I used my knowledge of French and Spanish to guess. She was so lovely! 

We met the loveliest man named Fernando in town when we first arrived. He helped us find parking. This morning, we ran into him on our way to the car, and he was so sweet and funny! He told us not to fall down a mountain. We went on the most scenic drive to Port Moniz. It felt like we were the only ones on the planet as we drove along winding roads up high into the mountains. There were lots of cows on the roads. We drove into the cute town and visited the natural volcanic rock pools. They charge a €3 entry fee and have been made to feel a bit more like a pool. We jumped off a diving board into the water, swam around, and saw lots of beautifully coloured crabs. We had a lovely lunch at Ilhéu Mole Snack-bar. We shared a salad, chicken empanada and a beef arepa. 

We drove to Pico do Arieiro, the third-highest point on the island, at an altitude of 1, 818 metres high. It is a famous hike, most commonly done for sunrise or sunset, which I saw a video of on TikTok, and that is what made me decide I needed to go to Madeira. We aimed to do the hike and be back at the starting point for a good sunset view. It was so foggy when we began the hike that we considered stopping multiple times. We decided to continue and see how it went. We hiked from Pico do Arieiro to Pico de Ruivo - the highest peak on the island at 1, 861 meters in elevation. It was the most incredible thing I have experienced in my entire life. Tori and I couldn't stop talking about how we couldn't believe it was real life; it felt like heaven, it felt like we had peaked, and nothing in life would ever be as beautiful or amazing. Once the initial clouds cleared a bit, the rest of the hike had misty clouds constantly moving, changing, and floating through the mountains like a sea serpent. The scenery was an ever-changing contrast of rocks, green trees, and beautiful skies, and it felt like we were walking above the clouds; it was so magical. It was a somewhat challenging hike. The paths were well-marked, but the elevation change was intense. You essentially begin the hike very high up and then hike down/up/down a bunch until the end, where you hike back up a lot to the highest peak - I thought I was going to die at some points; my legs fully didn't want to lift up another step. The view from the top was incredible, though. We saw people who set up tents and camped near the top, which became my dream for the next time. I didn't want to ever leave. We relaxed for a while and then made our way back down. We had started the hike a bit later than planned, so we were still hiking by sunset. We watched the beautiful sunset as we hiked back and finished the last little bit in the dark. We did this hike extremely fast. Google says it takes about 4 hours one way, and we did the entire hike in around 5 hours. 

Back at our B&B, we decided to have the rest of our charcuterie for a late-night dinner (11 p.m.). When I opened the door and went into the kitchen to get our food, SO many cockroaches were skittering around! One ran up my leg, and I panicked! I called for Tori to come down, and we tried to grab all of our stuff out of the kitchen as quickly as possible. Tori tried to squish one with my shoe, but it was so scary, and they were so fast. We gathered everything in a panic and ran upstairs to our room. We ate our food on the balcony and finally calmed down when Tori spotted a cockroach. We abandoned everything and locked ourselves inside the room. Everything was fine until I spotted a cockroach on our wall near the ceiling... let me tell you, we were NOT OKAY! Our room didn't seem to be infested, so I'm pretty sure we brought the cockroach up with us in the bag from the kitchen (even though we thought we checked it well). At this point, we began researching cockroaches and became even more panicked when we realized how hard they are to kill. They are fast and can continue to live if you cut their head off; if you manage to squish it, it can spread disease, and they send out pheromones and call their friends... We sprayed it with bug spray until it dropped to the floor, and we sprayed it in a corner until it stopped moving. Then, we stuck a bowl over the top of it and dragged it into the hallway. In our room, we inspected everything and all of the windows. We had the worst sleep of our lives; between the fear of cockroaches and the heat, we were miserable. At 5 a.m., we were both wide awake, and Tori was singing, "Who you gonna call!? ROACH BUSTERS!" It was hilarious. Tori also decided Disney needs to make a movie about cockroaches because Ratatouille made her less scared of rats, haha!

Thursday

 We told our host, Cecelia, about the cockroaches in the morning, and she said, "c'est normala!" There are cockroaches all over the island, especially along the promenade, and everyone is used to them. They closed the kitchen and said they would deal with the infestation there, and they helped us check our room and gave us roach spray after laughing at us. I loved her charades while trying to explain this to us; she is so funny! 

We drove to Fanal Forest, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. It is located on the North side of the island. The forest is full of a mysterious fog that creates an incredible atmosphere amongst the forest's trees. The twisted branches of the trees and fog combine to create a fairytale scene. Some cows just wander around, which I love. Tori and I were even able to pet a cow! 

Next, we drove to a small village called Seixal. There, we went to the natural lava rock pools. I liked these ones better. They were free and more natural. After some swimming, we got some snacks and had a picnic at Seixal Beach, rated the 3rd best beach in Europe and has black sand, which gets very hot but was neat to see. Swimming in the water is a bit spooky because it is so clear, but you can't see anything because of the black sand bottom. After our picnic and swimming, we drove to the Levada de 25 Fontes hike. It was an easy 'hike,' mostly just a lovely walk with some waterfalls. There is a big one at the end that we swam in; it's so cold but so refreshing! We filled our water bottles in the fall and returned to the car. Back in Jardim do Mar, we went to the one bar in the village called Joe's Bar. I had my favourite Portuguese vinho verde and some delicious Peri Peri chicken. 

Friday 

Today, we had breakfast and then drove into Funchal. We did a 3-hour dolphin-watching/snorkelling excursion. We went on a nice boat ride, were lucky enough to see dolphins and went snorkelling. It wasn't the best snorkelling I have ever done, but it was still nice to swim around. On the boat ride back, I tried a complimentary Madeira beer. After, we got ice cream and went to the grocery store to get snacks. We drove to Calheta Beach and had a picnic/swam/relaxed. Back in Jardim do Mar, we swam in the ocean and ran into our lovely local friend Fernando, the sweetest man. He took us to a great spot to watch the beautiful sunset; he was the best! No matter what time or day, he always seemed to be hanging out in the town square doing work or visiting with people, and he was so nice and helpful. We picked grapes off the vines in people's yards and then braved the cockroach kitchen to get my €3 bottle of wine and Tori's iced tea. We enjoyed our drinks on the balcony and headed to Joe's Bar. We tried a local drink called Poncha (Tori was not a fan) and shared a delicious, cheap steak sandwich. For dessert, we shared the tastiest homemade passionfruit ice cream. We tried to go on an evening adventure walk but saw a cockroach on the path, so we headed back to our room - thank god we didn't see any more in our room after the one we killed. 

Saturday 

We got up early, went for a morning walk, and watched the pretty golden light from the sunrise settle over the rooftops of the village. Tori picked an avocado off a tree on her run that we put on our toast at breakfast. She also returned one morning with a mango and picked some figs one day - she is a forager - we also stole a chunk of grapes and some tomatoes to snack on. 

We said goodbyes to Fernando, and he sent us off with the following two pieces of advice: "You need to enjoy life and not let life enjoy you" he also told us, "A lady should only look down at her feet to see if her shoes are pretty; otherwise she should keep her head up". In our car, we drove through Cascata dos Anjos, a dramatic waterfall cascading off a cliff & landing on a narrow coastal road below; it was so cool! 

Next, we drove to the island's East side to do the Vereda da Ponta de São Lourenço Hike. You have to pay €1 at the beginning of the hike for preservation, which is fine, but they make it so complicated, the website sucks, and they don't let you pay cash; it was so frustrating! When we were finally let through, we were greeted with a completely opposite scenery than we had seen on other parts of the island. The coastal path takes you along a narrow stretch of the most stunning rugged coastline to the most Eastern part of the island you can reach on foot. It is approximately a 7-kilometre hike with many beautiful viewpoints highlighting volcanic erosion over millions of years. The dry/dustiness made it feel like the desert, but then there was the dramatic contrast of the blue water. I forgot sunscreen and ended up very sunburnt. 

After our hike, we dropped our rental car off at the airport, left our bags in bag storage and freshened up. We headed back into Funchal to do an overpriced tourist attraction. Dating back to the 19th century, what started out as a traditional means of transport by local residents who wanted to travel quickly from the village of Monte to the city of Funchal has become a popular tourist attraction. We almost didn't do it, but then we decided how often do you get to take a toboggan ride in a traditional wicker basket sledge down a hill at speeds of up to 30 km/hour? The toboggans are driven by two runners dressed in traditional clothes and hats, and the ride is approximately 2 km (10 mins). 

After our thrilling ride, we walked the rest of the way down to the Old Town and had dinner at Restaurante Apolo. I had the mixed meat skewer, sale, fries and wine, and Tori got to grill her own tuna steak; it was pretty tasty. We got ice cream for dessert and watched part of the closing ceremony for the car race that took place there that day. We went for a walk and sat looking over the port before taking the bus back to the airport. Tori and I slept on the airport floor under the escalators for the night. We said goodbye at 3 a.m. when she left to catch her flight. I went through security around 4:30 a.m. and had a very early breakfast. I flew back to London and stayed with Beth for a few days before returning to Canada!

Overall, I have to say Madeira is one of the most incredible places I have ever been! The island has a magical quality, and the views are out of this world. The landscape is diverse, from dry coastal paths to beautiful wild landscapes, glittering waterfalls, drifting fog/mist, dramatic coastlines, volcanic rock and high mountains. The roads that wind around the island and go through tunnels with houses built on top are fascinating. I absolutely loved it here (despite the cockroaches, but now that's a funny memory). I don't think I have ever felt so alive!