I originally wanted to go to the Azores. But the weather forecast was showing a storm system crossing the islands just when I wanted to be there. And so I shifted my focus to Madeira.
Madeira is an island to the south-east of the Azorea, off the coast of Morocco and north of the Canary Islands. It is of similar origin as the Azores (they are both volcanic islands), with similar weather, and equally many options for enjoying the nature.
It was actually a bit easier to get to as there are direct flights from Zürich, Switzerland. The flight wasn't the cheapest, but I can’t complain as I was booking the flight on a Friday afternoon and departing the next day at 06:30am.
That gave me about 12 hours to plan what to do, and more importantly what to pack. Note that the 12 hours were including any sleep if I wanted to get some. In terms of weight, the camera gear (which I wanted to take with me) and laptop (which I needed for work) accounted for almost as much as all the camping equipment I brought along.
Madeira is a popular destination for all sorts of young and old people from other countries who are passing through on their travels, or live there to work remotely, or arrived on Madeira to retire. There is also a large and active digital nomads community.
I found plenty of resources online how to get in touch with them. The «Digital Nomads Madeira» Slack workspace in particular was especially helpful. Almost every day there is an activity or event happening around the island. All it takes is to write a simple «Yes, I’m in!» to sign up for an adventure.
While looking through the offered activities I saw that someone is organising a boat ride to the neighbouring island Desertas. 8 people, one boat, a skipper, barbecue on Desertas, illegal late night party, spend the night there, then back to Madeira. All for ~130 Euro. The boat was leaving exactly one week after I arrived on the island. I only briefly hesitated before I reserved my spot.
I didn’t even look for accommodation before I set off to Madeira. I knew I’d spend the first week or so camping. And so the first thing I did when I got through customs was to get a car, drive to a Decathlon in Funchal (the capital city of the island) to grab some camping supplies (food, fuel, … stuff I didn't want or couldn't bring on the plane).
After getting everything I needed I spent the rest of afternoon strolling through the Monte Palace garden. It is a nice garden high above the city that can be easily reached by a cable car. It is showing local culture and flora, but has also a touch of japanese influence (buddhist sculpture, koi ponds, …).
In the late afternoon I headed towards the hills above Funchal to look for a suitable campground.
Having your own car for getting around the island is definitely useful. Of course I opted for the cheapest car, I only needed space for one backpack after all. The clerk at the car rental office recommended that I get a slightly larger – more powerful – car. I respectfully declined. Half an hour later, on my way on the highway from the airport to Funchal I realised why.
The roads on the island are steep – really steep. It wasn't uncommon for me to drive in second gear. Even on highways. The clutch on the poor car was almost fully worn out. In a week I managed to drive almost around the whole island.
The more popular trails on the island are well marked and safe to walk. The less popular trails are less well marked and less safe. If you are not comfortable walking half a meter from a steep cliff to your side, without any guardrails to separate you from abyss, then you better avoid those.
I never felt in danger while walking the trails. But I had a few moments where stepping a few centimetres more to the side could have meant the difference between me coming home and me ending up as fish food.
Only at the very end of my stay on Madeira I was made aware that people regularly disappear during walks alone on these trails. To the polish trail runner who went for a practice run and never came back a few days before I left the island: rest in peace.
Trails along levadas (irrigation channels or aqueducts) are the easiest to walk, they are essentially level without any steep inclines. They also lead mostly through forests, which shade you from the scorching sun.
While walking the trails I noticed that trees are constantly shedding leaves. It is not something I’m used to seeing in mainland Europe, where most trees lose leaves only in autumn. But it does make sense: the soil is so rich in nutrients and the weather is constant all around year that everything grows all the time. Almost as if there were no seasons.
Wild camping is prohibited, but there are official campgrounds strategically placed in all corners of the whole island. They are free and the only requirement is that you fill out an online form. It’s really not that difficult, takes about five minutes.
I met a lot of backpackers on the trails, not a single one filled out the form. I did, dutifully, every single time. Of course I did, I grew up in Switzerland, and rules are to be followed. It was just a mild inconvenience, after all.
I still don’t speak more than «thank you» in Portuguese. Most people I was interacting with spoke really good English. And I learned pretty early on to greet people on trails with «dobrý den» (Czech) or «bonjour» (French). Speaking Madeira. Some days I felt I was somewhere in the Czech mountains rather than in Portugal.
Not once did I encounter rain – the classical rain I know from mainland Europe. You know, the one where wet rain drops fall onto you from above. But I got wet a few times nonetheless. The topology of the island and the climate around it cause clouds to form and gather around the tall mountains of the island. If you are at an altitude between about 900-1200 meters above sea level, you’ll often find yourself in thick fog, and water starts condensing all around you.
The Fanal forest is located at a north-facing slope of the island and a particular altitude above sea, that it often finds itself engulfed in thick clouds. When the sun shines through the dense fog, it makes the landscape around appear almost like a magical place.
I spent the night there, along with two lovely young ladies who were crossing the island from east to west on foot. They were from Czechia, unsurprisingly. We got to chat by a cup of hot tea and some biscuits.
I had passed the couple earlier that day on a trail, and apparently I frowned while walking past them. This provided them entertainment for a good amount of time, as they were trying to come up with reasons for my unusual facial expression.
Yes, I know, I'm not the most friendly looking individual. Especially when I'm thinking about something, which I do a lot, and which I likely was while walking past them. But I'm aware of it. And all I can say that I'm working on it, I'm trying to smile more.
They however couldn't quite grasp the idea that I'm «trying», it sounded foreign to them. Now that I think about it, explaining to someone that I’m «trying to smile more» may sound unusual indeed. But it is who I am.
Before it got too dark I decided to walk around the forest, trying to capture the magic moment, with my eyes and heart equally. While standing in the middle of a small depression I heard a stampede behind me and as I turned around I saw cattle racing towards me. It took me a second or two to realise what’s going on, and even longer to recover from the shock.
I was hoping that the clouds will clear up until the morning and I’ll be able to watch a beautiful sunrise from a nearby hill. Instead I woke up with the tent soaked. The clouds hadn’t cleared up and the sun was only barely getting through them.
After a week of camping around the island I was dirty and needed to get myself cleaned up. The shores in and around Funchal offer a wide selection of four- and five-star hotels. No reservation was required, the hotels were mostly empty anyways. I got a good deal at one, they even upgraded me to a room with a pool view. The next morning I left for Desertas.
I went to Madeira to be alone, be away from work, away from people. After walking across the island for a week I felt ready to have two days doing nothing. Let myself float wherever the boat would take me. I didn’t care about who else was on the boat, as I had no intention interacting with them.
The first thing I noticed after stepping onto the boat was that I’m immune to sea sickness. The perpetual rocking of the boat didn’t affect me at all. On the way back from the island I even went under the deck to take a nap (something the skipper strongly advised against). I fell asleep as soon as my body hit the bed.
Going on that trip turned out to be one of the best decisions I did while I was there. The sea was exceptionally calm and we got to see dolphins. And I got to meet some lovely people.
After getting back to the main island I still had one corner to explore: Ponta de São Lourenço. It is the easternmost point of Madeira, located on a peninsula.
Because I was on Madeira around summer solstice, the sun was setting and rising quite far in the north. From where I was standing on the peninsula, the sun set just behind Santana on the northern coast of the island, and rose just east of Porto Santo (the neighbouring island to the north-east of Madeira). It felt weird to face north in order to watch the sunset and sunrise.
Ponta de São Lourenço concluded my exploration of the island. On my way to Ponta do Sol, where I was to spend the rest of my time on the island, I stopped for a night at the Parque Ecológico do Funchal. The park seemed closed, but I couldn’t find any information as to why. At least there wouldn't be anybody to bother me.
The park is high enough to be above the cloud cover and offered me unobstructed views in all directions, and there was plenty of open space where I could set up camp.
Ponta do Sol is not the nicest town on the island, but it has a beach, a hotel on the cliff with a nice view, and a public coworking space. Though I can highly recommend the «Purple Fridays» sunset party at the Estalagem hotel. As I was staying at they very hotel, I didn’t have to walk far to reach my bed after the party was over.
I had one last weekend available to me before I had to fly back to Switzerland, and I used it to cross another item off of my bucket list: spend the night at the top of Pico Ruivo, the highest mountain on the island.
Three trails lead up to the top. The one from Achada do Teixeira is the easiest, it takes less than an hour on a trail with almost no incline. The trail from Pico do Areeiro is very demanding as it forces you to cross 300 altitude meters down and then up again. The last trail to the top from Encumeada is not so steep, but long (~11km one way) and the trail is not very well maintained.
There is one official campground a bit below the peak. But I didn’t want walk down in the darkness after sunset (and up again before sunrise), so I set my sleeping bag just below the stone pylon which marks the peak. The pylon gave me a bit of a protection from the wind. The night was exceptionally warm, but the strong wind woke me periodically up all throughout the night.
Like a subtle nudge, that I should have a look at the pristine night sky. And indeed, every time was woken up by the wind and opened my eyes I would watch the stars for a few minutes, before falling asleep once again.
More than once I’ve been told that I’m crazy. I’m not quite sure whether it was the fact that I was traveling alone or the particular activities I was doing.
The three young people who came up to Pico Ruivo in the dark after sunset, just to take a couple pictures of the night sky and then walk down again were no exception. But sure, I’m the crazy one for leaning back and taking the time to look at the night sky all night long and not them for traveling three hours just for the opportunity to snap a few pictures and then hiking in the pitch black night back home.
I'm the crazy one.
The reason why I had to fly back to Switzerland still bugs me to no end. All of 2020 we survived on Zoom, Sype, Slack and all the other digital collaboration tools. But that one client demanded that I be physically present at that one meeting in Zurich.
I mean, sure, let me fly 2600 km across the ocean so that we can meet in person, and two hours later part ways to never see each other again.