Last night the winds were fierce, but this morning a beautiful rainbow greets us. The forecast is for rainy, cooler, and windy weather so a hike in a sheltered area is in order. At the north east part of the island is the town of Santana. We attempt to find a hike called Caldera Verde well above the town of Santana, but after climbing a winding, narrow, and hilly road with branches and rocks strewn about we come across a barrier and have to turn around. We decide to do a nearby hike called Queimadas which is a pretty walk along a levada (an irrigation channel). The walk leads to a well maintained old manor house where a couple of resident cats greet us, and there is a pond with geese. We pass a beautiful waterfall and are sheltered from the mist by old forest.
Back in Santana we stop in the town square to see traditional homes built with straw roofs and to check out the farm market where we bought some fruit. Banana-pineapple, orange passion fruits, and anona. With our limited Portugese and their limited English it was quite a fun and authentic experience.
Leaving Santana we decided to drive back to Sao Vicente which we visited the other day to cut the drive back in half. This drive was the real thing. No tunnels here, just winding, steep and narrow roads hugging the cliffs and darting through small towns for about an hour before coming to our turnoff. We definitely didn’t cut the drive in half, which would explain why google maps took us the other way going there. But the views are spectacular and the drive takes you through small villages giving a taste of the real Madeira. So far two drives like this, our first the visit to Ponta da Pargo whcih is the opposite corner of the island. We wondered if this was done on purpose to preserve a little of the island for the locals.
