We started the day both diving deep into the blogs of Jackson Groves, an Australian, world-traveling, inspirational, adventure travel blogger. His insightful descriptions, stunning photos, and holy-shit-I-feel-like-I’m there videos are just what we’ve been looking for it also turns out that he is especially drawn to Madeira and has spent many months here. We even found out late in day that he has stayed at the domes we’re at and now lives on the island! So.. we got out of the dome late this morning, no regrets and again dodging the island’s tourist timing.

As we left the domes we were greeted by the screaming goats. These adorable little fuckers start yelling at the crack of dawn like roosters having a primal scream. I guess they’re asking for food..? As we passed they yelled at us, looking expectedly and were unimpressed when I explained that their yells weren’t helping their case.

Today’s hike was Levada Fajã do Rodrigues, in the mountains above São Vicente. Of course as we drove up the highways and then many switchbacks, we were constantly reminded by the surrounding cloudy peaks how much higher we could go.

There were several waterfalls along the way, including this man-made one at the beginning. Madeira has no shortage of water!

It is a classic case of being “easy, with a twist.. or two”. It is almost completely flat for its entire length since it follows a levada. That clearly makes it a candidate for “easy”.. however two things muddy the water, heights and tunnels. For almost the entire trail you are either on the edge of a 30-300 ft cliff with a small, loose, intermittent metal cable shamelessly pretending to be ready to save you, or in a narrow, hand-dug tunnel balanced on the edge of a levada. It’s peaceful and spectacular without being fully relaxing.

Oh yeah, sometimes we realize that we’re just tiny ants on this Earth thing.

Outside of the tunnels, most of the trail looks like this, a flowing levada to one side and a drop-off a couple feet away. Don’t be fooled though, that’s inevitably a bottomless abyss.

Fortunately, the precipice in the foreground comes with a larger-than-life frame of lush vegetation and background of rugged mountains. It’s often best just to stand still and take it all in.

And then there are the tunnels.. There are four tunnels along this trail and it’s an out-and-back so you go through each of them twice. Three of them are fairly short, ranging from 9-30m (30-100 ft). Even at these lengths, since the ceilings and walls are uneven and the floor is shared with the open levada, a headlamp is best and some sort of light almost required. The fourth tunnel is a killer though- 1km long! It is about 1.4m (4.5 ft) wide and 5ft 9in (1.75m) tall. Just right to make me have to stoop-shuffle the whole way. We had to pass a group of ~12 going the other way too, and of course at a particularly low ceiling portion so I lost a bit of scalp.. argg. It’s a bit claustrophobic so company was nice. Fortunately despite having been dug by hand the long tunnel is perfectly straight so you can see the far end as a pinpoint of light the whole way. It’s also right near the end of the out-and-back hike so you finally emerge, stretch, walk for 15 min, then head back.

The section of levada shown below has tiles covering the water, you grow to appreciate the little things!

A familiar sight on the uphill side of the trail. SO MUCH LIFE!

We met a newlywed couple from Finland at the end who had come through the tunnels with just their phone lights. This apparently happens a lot, but nobody likes it. We offered to walk back with them to share headlamp light. Super nice couple!

The views in Madeira never end. As we drove back down from the hike into the village of São Vicente we were still scrambling to take pictures.

We went down to the coastal part of São Vicente before driving back to the south side of the island. I got a little fixated on the rocky beach and color of the waves…

We went to the adorable little village of Paul Do Mar for dinner. Like so many coastal communities around here, it’s tucked away between huge rock cliffs and the ocean. Getting there involves taking numerous tunnels, as well as some partial tunnels..

Callum and Maddy had recommended Bar O Ideal for fried fish and man were they right! Savitri had a solid burger and fries and I had the fried espada, which was delicious. Our drinks were unique and delicious and the prices very reasonable. Recommendation seconded!

After we ate, we made it 20 ft toward our car before running into an older man standing on the new sidewalk (shown below). He lived nearby and his wife was from Paul do Mar. He seemed delighted to have outsiders to talk to and we stood chatting about Paul do Mar, the recent and planned beachfront development, and why Paul do Mar is better than Calheta (~”rocks fall on them and kill them!”). We didn’t get a picture with him but we did get a laugh together. Random locals is usually the best way to really SEE a place.

Another full day! Our list of places we wish we could fit into this trip continues to grow as our time to do them shrinks rapidly.