Friday October 14– Got up at 5:30 to get a bus at 7am. I hate rushing in the morning so I give myself some time to get everything ready (even though I pretty well already packed the night before). The plan was to get the bus to Canical, or at least, to get off the bus before the tunnel to Canical. When I left at 6:30, it was pitch black out and everything was so quiet. Madeira reminds me of other places Ive been, but those places typically have roosters crowing at 5am and people on the move at about the same time. Not here. This place feels sleepy in the morning. At the bus stop I watched people filter into the city and things started to slowly The 7am bus turned out to be an express bus, so I had to wait for the 7:30 that would stop where I wanted. The sky in the far east just started to get light as I was departing. Getting off at a random stop before a tunnel youve never seen in a place you dont know can be a challenge, but fortunately, the bus drivers all speak English here so I
asked him to tell me when we were there. And even though it took more than an hour, he remembered and got me to the right place.
At the stop, I put on a top as it was a little windy and almost looked like it would rain. Of course I had decided to wear shorts. Actually, the whole local population was in long pants and jackets. Kind of funny, since it wasnt cold, but to a place like this, 65F would feel cold. It took me a minute but I found the start to the hike, a small levada. It wasnt a pretty hike for the first couple of kilometers, just as advertised, and nothing like the last levada hike I did, but it was not the focus of this hike, just the start. I saw a few locals out for their morning walk and kept checking with them that I hadnt missed my Then I saw it and started to head up the hill towards Boca do Risco, the viewpoint in the area. It looks down to the ocean, about 300 meters. Thats when the pretty part of the hike began. From there, I walked
to a small village called Ponto da Cruz. Most of the hike was along this coastal cliff path, and the views were quite nice. It was cloudy most of the time, but that is good for hiking – not too hot or burny – but not as good for photos. I had the whole trail to myself, aside from some hikers going in the opposite direction. It was quite nice. Eventually, I had to take a paved path down and around, and down and around, etc to get to the village. I walked a little more than 3 hours, though I had expected it to be at least 4 hours. But I walk fast, eat on the run, and dont stop for breaks.
Buses are infrequent and I had just missed one, so I had a little more than an hour to wait. I walked around the village and then saw a paved path leading away in the other direction. I walked there and it had good views of the water. I found some steps down to rocks on the water and sat there and ate a sandwich and read my book for a bit before going back to
Back in Funchal at 2:30pm, the sun and heat were fully out. So different from where I had from. I visited the electricity museum spontaneously and then the Sacred Art Museum before heading back to Mad Cuba for dinner again. Apparently inflation hit in the last couple of days and some of their menu items (and they only have 4 or 5) were now more expensive. But I had a nice meal with my book and then stopped for a gelato on my way home. Its hard to eat gelato while walking uphill on a narrow sidewalk through a bunch of people waiting for buses and trying not to let it melt on you. I failed the other day but succeeded today. I was home by 6pm. Seriously – I have gotten in the habit here of getting up so early and finishing my day and not wanting to go out for dinner later and walk back up to the apartment twice in one day that I have trained myself to eat dinner around 4pm! Tonight I think it was closer to 5pm, but Im
