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Thursday, November 3, 2011

Hike Madeira 08 Monte to Camache 3 November 2011

Thursday 3 November caught the 1015hrs nr 20 bus from Funchal to the hillside village of Monte high up on the slopes above Funchal
 Arrived in Monte around 1040hrs
 and walked past the waiting wicker sledge handlers

 stopped for a coffee at the teleferique station
 before starting the hike nr 08 in Rothers Walking Guide which would take us from Monte along the Levada dos Tornos to Camache in the East

The Levada dos Tornos (red line) snaking its way horizontally following the contour around hill and up steep sided valleys
The trail went past the second teleferique
 The path up to the Levada was in places overgrown
 with several recently fallen trees partly blocking the path

 By 1140hrs we had reached the Levada dos Tornos

The Levada clung to the steep valley side



 with quite some exposure in places - Ana , you may need your large sun hat here!


 from time to time views of Funchal harbour, way below
 a sluice for controlling the water flow
 Super view
 zooming-in

 occasionally passing villages
 an enterprising help-yourself stall

 inquisitive young goat

 Levada/river crossing
 Most of the Agapanthus (sometimes known as Lily of the Nile or African Lily) flowers are by now dead, but there were still a few blooms decorating our path
a water control house and reservoir

 Levada crosses under road
Levada-side house
 with wonderful view

another road crossing 
 more views
 zooming-in to Funchal Harbour - can just see Dutch Link
 Another tunnel - shall we?
 Yes, but only after donning rain gear for the drips and head torch
the light at the end of the tunnel - this time 500 meters away

This tunnel was much smaller than the one to Rabacal and we frequently had to stoop

The end is getting closer
and closer

finally emerge into the daylight

A clever solution to making long lasting steps - old tyres filled with earth
The covered Levada hard up against the walls of these houses
Arrived in the centre of Camache in time for the 1615hrs nr 129 bus back to Funchal
It was a very enjoyable hike except for the last half hour or so which was unfortunately along normal roads through a not very interesting housing estate

1 comment:

gerschok said...

Jullie kunnen zo in de mijnen gaan werken , wat een lange tunnel maar ook wat is daar een hoop werk voor verzet om deze irrigatie voor elkaar te krijgen.Dank voor de interessante blog.Een hele goede en rustige trip naar Agadir met een mooie 4bf.Grtjs
LNG