We started the day with some obligatory group pix to get us going.

And we’re off! Today we drove up to the top of Pico do Arieiro, the third highest peak in Madeira at 1,818m (5,965 ft). Driving to get there was surprisingly not-too-bad considering the elevation gain.

It simply isn’t possible to capture the enormity of the scene at the top. The world below seems impossibly vast and every edge seems to drop off forever. That said.. we took a ton of pictures trying to communicate just a little of the feeling!

We (Savitri and Jesse) hiked ~.5 mi northwest to Miradouro do Ninho da Manta, a tiny viewpoint perched above a bottomless valley.

We continued toward the Stairway to Heaven, the narrow series of sheer-drop-offs-on-both-sides set of stairs that drops into another valley toward Pico do Ruivo, the highest mountain in Madeira at 1,862m (6,108 ft).

Much to our surprise, the climb back to the summit of Pico do Arieiro was faster than the descent to the viewpoint. We were warmed up and wanted to get back to Liza and Riki, but also didn’t feel the need to stop every 5 feet to take pictures.

We worked our way back down the mountain roads to Abrigo do Pastor, a restaurant recommended online and in-person a few times. They have an inviting welcome party..

We really enjoyed ourselves here. The meats were very flavorful, the vegetables very fresh, and the overall ambiance positive and warm. The servings were big enough that we took a substantial amount of left-overs home..

We passed on dessert and drove to Santa Cruz. It’s a sleepy little town but has a few patisseries and restaurants. We were looking for gelato or ice cream but had coupons from our apartment for free food at Doce Satisfação so we headed there. On the way we found locals sun-bathing on the pavement around a statue and an amusing romance-in-progress pigeon duo.

Not only did Doce Satisfação have lots of yummy pastries, they actually had Yosoft, a yogurt-like soft-serve ice cream. Riki and I had delicious dark chocolate!

We headed back to the apartment. I pulled a classic idiot-foreigner move and turned into a one-way.. the wrong way. A car came and.. we both screeched to a halt and I pantomimed apologies as the other driver pantomimed.. “love” for foreign drivers as I backed away and drove off. Thanks for capturing this memory Savitri, presumably in exchange for me capturing her near death hiking experiences 🤭.

Not satisfied that we’d lived dangerously enough, Liza and I decided to take another swing at the steepest street we have found on Madeira, Rua do Lombada. It runs up the side of a hill next to the waterpark and feels and looks like a 45˚ angle. The drive up feels like you’re launching into space.. in a very underpowered 110 hp Skoda filled with four adults and in first gear. We wanted to stop partway up and measure it with the iPhone level but traffic, safety, and Savitri being “reasonable” were a real buzzkill.

We had a delicious collection of the week’s left-overs and this afternoon’s pastries for dinner. Not-too-shabby for Liza and Riki’s last day here!