Thanks to Sally Warr for sending me this link from the BBC.
Fundamental to Madeiran identity, its 3,100km of aqueducts have proven to be more than a clever and functional feat of engineering to colonise an isolated island.
Trudging through thick mud under heavy rain, I made my way along a narrow path, squeezing through twisted laurel trees. A rickety wire fence was the only thing preventing me from tumbling into the fog-filled Caldeirão Verde, a steep, impossibly green, tree-strewn valley hundreds of metres below. When I rounded the next bend, the heavy mist lifted and a thundering waterfall appeared out of nowhere, cascading from a cliff high above into a shallow pool as hikers on a bridge gawped in wonder.
Located 560km off Africa’s north-west coast, the Portuguese island of Madeira is full of dramatic hikes like the Levada do Caldeirão Verde, or PR9, that wind like veins through the island’s picturesque landscape. What’s unique about these trails is that they run alongside the island’s slow-running levadas (man-made irrigation tunnels), providing awe-inspiring moments at every turn. These innovative water channels filter down from mountainous highlands into villages, towns and cities, providing…
The beautiful village of Seixal.
