Funchal and the Levadas
Marita3
Mark & Helen Syrett
Wed 21 Sep 2011 18:10
In Funchal we went to the market and saw all the fruit and flowers, then to Blandys for a Madeira wine tasting. After lunch we had a look at the Port and the old town and one very baroque church and the cathedral.
Today we decided to walk a levada, Paul and Rhu on Oyster Moon have hired a car for three days so they very kindly dropped us off at the top of a mountain, having twisted and turned our way up there. We set off with several other groups of walkers with guides but managed to outpace them and enjoy some solitude. The levadas were constructed to bring water down to the crops (mainly sugar cane) on the hills below. They are an amazing feat of engineering with the water flowing at a controlled speed around the mountain until it arrives at the terraces. The paths are narrow and follow the water round and round the mountain, through tunnels and overhanging rocks. Ours was supposed to be an easy walk, if that is so I will not be doing a difficult one! 11km later we were picked up by car and brought back to the boat via the main wickerwork factory in Madeira.