Maderia is a Portugese island about 300 km of the coast of Africa. The capitol is Funchal, the airport is here also. Madeira is about 800 km2 and has 250.000 inhabitants. Below you'll find an impression of the island. De pictures below have been made during our trips across the island. We've driven north to south and east to west with our rental car. We especially enjoyed the beautiful views and all the flowers.
Hiking:
Most hikes are along the levadas. The levadas are the irrigation system for the island. The transport the water from the north side to the south side of Madeira. Every levada starts with a waterfall. The water in the levadas is clear and cold. This is because the water is filtered through the rocks. Hiking along the levadas isn’t always easy, this is because the track is narrow sometimes, but also because the levadas are occasionally on the mountain sides. Sometimes you have to look along way down before seeing the ground and the cliffs are very steep on occasion. To keep the distances short a lot of tunnels have been built to guide the water. In these tunnels it’s dark and cool, but also slippery and very low sometimes!
In the menu on the left you’ll find more information about the hikes and the places on Madeira we’ve been to.
Photo gallery The island - Madeira - Portugal
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