Caribbean Cruise April 2013 - Madeira Levada Walk Page

The levadas are small ditches stuck to the hill side with a path by the side for maintenance & water flow control, which is similar to a Swiss Wasserleitung. These are very popular for rambles but as there are about 100 km of them, not crowded. A mini-bus took us up to just West of Camacha, where we picked up the Levada. This wound through the trees for about three miles, looking at the flora mainly but there were a few Firecrests & the local unique pigeons.

The start of this Levada	The ship's 6 tough guys (+ me)	Wild Arum Lilies
	Occasional views of the Sea	Same path. It wound a lot.
Cannas.	Ship's rep & waterfall
Obvious signs of forest fires	Copious Nasturtians
Getting near the tea (cha) stop	Brazilian Spider Plant	Madeiran Geraniums
Funchal = Fennel	Levada part two	We stopped for a drink at a café where a road crossed the levada. The ship's rep & another chap shared their chunks of very good local cake around. Then, we walked on another couple of miles along the levada. Then, we bussed down to Camacha centre for a look at the basket shop. The chaps were making them this time. (They were closed in December). The memorial commemorates the first football match played in Portugal, which took place here in Camacha.

What does one do with all this time, given that we are largely older people & our remaining time is not to be wasted? The descriptions on the Index Page give a fairly comprehensive idea. After leaving Funchal into quite a rough sea, things calmed down & I quipped that someone had been ironing the sea. It stayed like this all the way across. The Show Team caught up with their shows. The Port Lecturer Adela, in her creamy Iberian accent, briefed us on the Islands in the Sun & for those who like it, there was sunbathing to do. I carried on with creating my new talks.