Levada walking in Madeira

Madeira is not at all bad. The people are friendly. The motorists stop their cars to let you cross the road and the hotels seem quiet at this time of year. Why, I don’t know, because the weather is fine and warm.

The levada walking when you get in to the hills is excellent. A lot of tosh is written at the hotels, advising people to go on guided tours and to beware of the steep drops from narrow paths.

I think this is designed to keep the tour operators and guides in business. All you really need is good weather, a map and some transport.

Some sections are very steep but it’s OK if you keep to the paths and it’s difficult to get lost. There are more than 1,350 miles of levadas – spring-fed water channels that irrigate the island. Some of these channels run through tunnels so it’s a good idea to carry a torch.

The levadas are pretty good for playing poo sticks although the position seems to be decided as the sticks hit the water in the initial chuck. The following stick never catches the one in front so that limits the excitement. In that sense it is no different from the Oxford-Cambridge boat race.

Out in the hills on Wednesday, walking in tee-shirts in the warm sunshine, we had to pinch ourselves and remind each other that this was January. Leaving behind all that horrible weather for a few days has been well worth the minor hassle of getting here.

Today the weather was fine again for another great levada walk, this time the 11 kms from Ribeiro Frio to Portela. Some of the drops from the narrow path by the side of the levada are heart stopping. But, if you can live with that, the walking is quite straightforward.

The early levadas were hewn from the rock by convicts and slaves, sometimes hanging from whicker baskets suspended down the cliff face. It’s hard to imagine the work that went in to their construction.