May 2019
Madeira and Lisbon
We hiked with friends for five days in Madeira, using Macs Adventure, a Scottish company, to arrange hotels, transfers, route maps and notes; then, skipping the last hiking day, we spent more than a day in the capital, Funchal. The hiking was rigorous, along rocky paths with uneven footing and often precipitous drops, but each hike had beautiful vistas and foliage, living up to the name “The Flower Island.” The Portuguese (actually their slaves) began building levadas (irrigation channels, sometimes cutting tunnels through mountains) in the 16th century to bring water from the high regions to the drier, lower areas of the island. The levadas are still used for irrigation (and some hydropower), and the paths next to them are also used as hiking routes.
Returning to Lisbon is always a pleasure. We visited friends, museums, parks, and simply enjoyed walking in the city. As well, our friends took us for a day trip to the Sétubal Peninsula.
Please click on the links below for more photos.
