Madeira day 3 - Hiking as a meditation

        We had big big plans for today. We decided to get up early in the morning at 6:30 and skip breakfast so we can arrive in time for the “Foggy Forest”. We didn’t really knew the name of “that misty forest that is always covered in fog”, but we guided ourselves from pictures we’ve seen on Google Maps. Never do this! You'll see why.

        After an hour of driving we arrived in the parking lot. The temperature dropped from 20 degrees to 5 degrees. I was wearing just my white dress which I bought especially for this scenery: forest, old trees, fog, misty stuff, you know. I took my hoody and jacket over my fancy dress and got out of the car. We entered the path which seemed to go somewhere up on the mountain. But there were no sign of trees. There was nobody around. Only some hunters which I decided better not to go at them dressed up in a dress at 5 degrees on a mountain and ask them where the hell is the entrance to “that misty forest that is always covered in fog”. So we waited a little bit, wandered on the surrounding grass, took some pictures anyway, just so we don’t waste the time until comming up with some ideas or I don’t know.

        The pictures came out really nice, tho' 😁 (a bunch of many others on my Instagram):

        At one moment I heard some people comming down the path from the mountain. I got out of the bushes and asked one man: “Where is that misty forrest that is always covered in fog?”. He looked at me confused and asked for more details. I showed some pictures of the place on my phone and after that he exclaimed: “Oooooh you are talking about Fanal? That is on the opposite side of the island. Here, let me show you.” And took my phone to go to Google Maps: “You have to go here, Fanal Forest. Here its Pico Ruivo.” We thanked the man and me and Andrei were staring and each other like “Oh damn. That was sooo awkward. We so dumb.” Ok, so let's sum it up: we woke up at 6 am and missed the breakfast to miss the location also. Great! At least we knew now the way to Pico Ruivo when we are going to go in 2 days. We would have done it today, but since it was freezing cold and we didn’t have enough warm clothes, we couldn’t do it. Also we wanted to go there for sunset.

        Soooo, we hopped in the car to continue today’s well-put-together plan. Our next stop was in Rabacal. Here we were going to do two hikes: Levada das 25 Fontes and Levada do Risco. These two hikes are usually done together because they are close to each other. According to WalkMe app, the distance to be hiked is 11 km roundtrip in 3-4 hours. At the end of the hike, Strava monitorized a distance of 13 km with a moving time of 3h20m. 

        So it’s a really easy hike in which you are constantly surrounded by nature. On the road you’ll constantly walk along the so called “levadas”, which are man-made waterways going through mountains used as irrigation channels or aqueducts. You’ll sometimes find yourself climbing on the levada because the road is so tight that barely one human can cross it.

        Levada das 25 Fontes is one of the most popular levada in Madeira. Its name represents the number of fountains or waterfalls that you can count once you are here. The scenery is absolutely wonderful. It assembles the true meaning of “nature escape”. Once you get to 25 Fontes you will witness a marvelous waterfall forming down at the base a colorful splendid lagoon.

        At 1 more kilometer far from 25 Fontes, there is another high magnificent cascade, called Risco. This waterfall pours down the water from 100m high. You will find yourself surrounded by water, because it is flowing from all along the mountain’s wall, from the vegetation on it, from everywhere!

        It was more a relief than a hike. It was so calming and conforting to reconnect with the nature. There are more hikes in Rabacal area which is known for its unique and magical cascades, fountains, lagoons and sceneries. But unfortunately we had time only for these two. Hopefully, we will complete the list next time 😜

        See day 4 about the West Coast here.