Livin' the Levada Loco

 Levada, to carry

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.

 Today was our first Levada walk. Apart from the peaks of Pico Ruivo and Pico Arievio the Levadas were the main reason for visiting Madeira. These amazing fresh water channels were built in the 15th century to provide fresh drinking water from the rainy north of the island to the sunny, drier south. They snake their way down from the high places at a precise angle to limit the flow of the water. A little like the Roman aquaducts did when supplying water to Rome.

The restriction of flow prevented spillage and ensured a steady, reliable supply. Roman aquaducts had a fall of on average 1" to 500" distance. This fall was maintained over tens of miles through all kinds of terrain. (Oops im going all Roman fanatic again)

Because of the controlled flow rates the Levadas run through incredible scenery and hand carved tunnels which make the Levadas so much fun to walk. The fact that they flow so slowly also makes them relatively easy walking. A fact Crispy is very happy about.

Crispy's legs are better. She is pain free after the mountain walk and was eager to get going again into the great outdoors. Because of the difficulty in getting transport to the start of the walk I again booked a tour. It's so much cheaper than a taxi and provides a pick up from and drop off to our lodgings. Plus once on the trail you can either choose to be by yourself or join the group. Today's group consisted of Crispy, a young polish couple and me. Plus Leon the driver. 

He picked us up at the pre arranged time of 8:30 in a Land rover Discovery. The roads to the Levada are better suited to a 4x4 option. The start of the walk was 4000 feet but this time we were to follow the Levada to its source along a relatively flat course. Crispy gave me a very hard stare as I described what today would entail before we started. If there was any climbing involved I knew I would be a dead man walking.

The start of the walk was a tunnel of just over 1km through the mountain. Dark wet and cold. A sign above the entrance in Portuguese said "abandon hope all ye who enter here". ( It actually read "mind you're head" but I prefer my interpretation.) The tunnel went on forever in pitch darkness and with only the meagre light from our phones torches seemed quite foreboding. Eventually we exited the tunnel into brilliant sunshine and the most amazing verdant valley. High sided and filled with Eucalyptus and Laurel trees.  The Levada snaked its way along the sides of the valley towards the 25 fountains from which the walk takes its name. They are not fountains in the romantic sense but waterfalls of varying degrees. It's still the dry season so most were a trickle and not raging torrents. Never the less they were still beautiful in there own way. The Levada wound its way around the valley for three miles before terminating at the largest of the falls. Although the paths were busy they were not overcrowded. Being an easy walk this route is popular with a lot of tourists and most of them were at the final point enjoying the sights. Some brave souls were even swimming in the small pool formed by centuries of water erosion. Crispy and I are not fans of cold water. It always seems a form of self flagellation to immerse yourself in cold water for any reason other than self preservation. We like warm water. The med in summer. The Arabian sea. Never ever the North sea or some remote mountain tarn. We have tried it but don't like it and have no intention of trying it again. We sat on the rocks, ate our butties and watched the young and reckless cavort in the cold waters. 

 From the terminal point it was a simple matter of backtracking along the Levada to the tunnel and our waiting 4x4 transport.  At one point the path is very narrow and a one way system is in operation to avoid congestion and people being elbowed into the abyss below.. We were forced to climb a rough staircase to a higher path. I avoided Crispy's gaze at this point as I could feel her dark gaze boring into the back of my head. I could sense her venom but thankfully the climb was short and I got away with once again not being the subject of her scorn.

Once back at the Land rover Leon took us to a restaurant for lunch. I hadn't read the days itinerary properly so had prepared for us a packed lunch. It was a surreal place called "The Jungle Rain". Perched high on a remote peak on a Portuguese island the owner had decided, and I know not why, to make it a jungle themed establishment. On entering its lush plastic foliage clad interior several animal shaped automatons sprung to life. A Roaring lion, Dancing monkeys and a life sized elephant being just a few. All chattering, growling and trumpeting loudly at the same time. We bought a drink as quickly as we could and sat outside in the sunshine eating our butties and enjoying the view away from the plastic zoo going on inside inside.  It was and will remain, no doubt, one of the strangest and most surreal places we have ever been. 

After lunch was a steep descent on unadopted roads back to the coast. Leon was a safe and confident driver and navigated the steep twisting roads  with ease. 

The last stop on our days itinerary was the Cabo Girao. The skywalk.  Madeira has the tallest sea cliff in Europe and only the second tallest on the planet. The government have built a glass floored platform out from the top of the cliff at a height of over 1500 feet. It's only 2 euro to walk on this platform and affords amazing views over the coastline to Funchal. We wouldn't necessarily make a special effort to visit this spot in the future but as we were already there it seemed rude not to partake.

After the skywalk we once more boarded our trusty land rover back to Funchal. Crispy bless her was very tired after a full day of guided adventuring and needed a quick Forty winks. When she wakes I shall make her have a shower and take her out for Dinner.  We have another busy day walking tomorrow in the Nuns Valley. This is not far from Funchal so we intend to try and utilise the public transport. She's so looking forward to getting back on the mountain.

Bare and Crispy signing off. Funchal