I was absent here for two months and one of the reasons is obviously the lack of travels! With all this coronavirus situation, my situation at TAP is suspended and the usual weekly trips have stopped happening. In the last few days I was urging to start creating content to share with you, with no idea of what I could write and only today I realized that I didn’t share anything here about my week-long trip to Madeira in early August!
To visit Madeira, a negative test of COVID-19 is required, which can be done for free on mainland Portugal, in one of the places designated by the Regional Government up to three days before the flight, or on arrival at the archipelago, at the airport. We opted for the second option, and then we have to stay in confinement until the result arrives, until 12h later. As we arrived at 9 pm, it was sure to have the results by 9 am, the best time to start exploring!
We stayed at my great friend Soraia’s house and as it wasn’t anyone’s first time in Madeira, we had a very quiet week on the beach, walking levadas and veredas, swimming in natural pools and watching a wonderful sunrise at Pico Ruivo, which I will talk about today.
To climb to Pico Ruivo one has to drive to Achada do Teixeira to walk the Vereda do Pico Ruivo, a 2.8 km hike to the highest point of the island, at 1861m high. The route takes approximately 45 minutes, so I recommend reaching Achada do Teixeira at least 1h15 before sunrise, in order to still have half an hour at the top to enjoy the twilight that announces the arrival of the sun. It is very important to take warm clothes (including a hat and gloves, to take a good windbreaker coat and a flashlight for the climb before sunrise. There are also those who go up the day before and who camp along the way or at the top (but be aware that it is illegal to do wild camping in Portugal).
About the experience itself, the easiest is to share it through my photos!
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After this fantastic dawn, we have to go back down to Achada do Teixeira, now with the path clearly visible. From there we have all day to continue exploring the island. We chose to go to Porto Moniz Natural Pools, content for the next post!
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If you liked this post and want to read more about my trips to Portugal, you can visit the following posts:
