Today was a quintessential vacation day. We got up slowly, ate local foods, went on an amazing hike, then had a great dinner with friends. Ahhhh.. here’s the full story.

The wonderful lady that runs Soul Glamping where we are staying brought us a breakfast basket to our door. It was filled with a little bit of a lot of things- breads, cheese, ham, soppressata, fruits, juice, milk, coffee pods, teas, cereal, jam, and yogurt.. it was fun just going through it all! The eating part was fun too!

Savitri went out and had her coffee on the deck overlooking the world while I stayed in the shade doing a little work.

We left mid-day, following the theory that most tourist hikers would try to get up early and either succeed or actually hit the trails around 10-11. We aimed at 2 PM and used a little extra time walking a little hill that we drove by.

I chased a yellow butterfly for a long time and it just wouldn’t land. It’s yellow-green friend did though so hah!

Below is the hike that we decided on was: PR 6.2 Leveda do Alecrim Vereda da Lago do Vento

As I mention in my AllTrails review, many hikers debate whether clockwise or counter-clockwise is better and it’s really a matter of preference. However.. 95% of the steps are up if you go clockwise, which is highly recommended to protect your knees and ankles. Also if you go swimming at the waterfall you will likely still be cool when you reach the top flat section clockwise. We went clockwise and were really happy with it as we finished along a long, flat, beautiful levada instead of a long grueling uphill climb on pavement.

Much like the sheep on other parts of the island, tagged cows roam freely in the mountains. They show no interest in us and seemed perfectly happy bombing the trailheads with cow patties. Well-played cows.

As we walked there were numerous little waterfalls and ~scenes on the roadside.

A major theme of the day was low-hanging branches. Some of them like to play and I’m loathe to deny them.

This area is far more lush than the eastern mountains, and much to our surprise and delight, cool, breezy, and shady!

The trail (again, clockwise) goes way down a paved road, then turns right up a staircase and is mostly stairs up a steep forested hillside to the top of the hill. 75% of the way up a trail turns off to the left and a series of stairs go all the way down to the base of the waterfall. You can see it coming but it’s so tall that you’re descending next to it for 15 minutes. It’s such a magical place. There were lots of people there (which of course we mostly keep out of frame), but respectful and mostly just sitting or standing and soaking in the sight.

After some indecision I went in. It is FRIGID COLD. I’m no stranger to cold water but it went straight to the bone. Swimming in crystal water somehow suspends your sense of discomfort though.

After the waterfall the trail continues upward with a couple viewpoints. It then meets the levada, at which point the last couple miles are almost entirely flat, easy, and beautiful in a different way.

After the hike we drove back to the dome through the mist. Pretty surreal.

Back at the dome, we relaxed for a bit before going out for dinner. We met up with a friend from my work, Callum, and his girlfriend Maddy. World traveling has a tendency to connect us all in random places. Callum and I have been exchanging notes about mainland Portugal since Savitri and I were there earlier this year, and by chance our times in Madeira ended up overlapping. We went to Restaurante Chico Tradicionale in Prazeres.

A random tourist eating there volunteered.. her husband to take our picture.