Today was my last day in Madeira, a sad and happy day at the same time. I knew I did my best there, throughout the expedition I did my best to live all the experiences in the best way.

Ribeira Funda

I woke up in the middle of Fanal, around 7am and there were already several people there. Fortunately my tent was in a very hidden place by a large root of a Heather, one of those typical centuries-old trees in Fanal. I packed everything, ate some bread and biscuits with water, there was no more food for the next few hours, I reached my limit, continuing another night until arriving in Porto Moniz would be very risky, without food, tired and I no longer had any more psychological conditions to continue. I understood that it was the right time to stop.

I looked at my map that I made at Alltrails, always helping me with everything on this expedition to Madeira, I looked for an alternative trail that would get me as close to the main VE2 highway. I found a trail that goes along the slope, on the crest of the Fanal forest mountain that led to the Ribeira Funda Valley, with Ribeira Funda at the end of this route. So I decided that this was the route to take.

This was the day I walked the least of all. It was approximately 5.5km, going from an elevation of 1210 meters in Fanal to 50 meters, approximately 1150 meters of altitude difference in a short distance. I followed that trail and discovered incredible things, I saw trees that seemed ancient, as old as the island itself.

The path was always downhill, and as strange as it may seem, it is more difficult to go down with a backpack weighing 20kg than to go up. The descents are more dangerous, requiring greater physical resistance, more preparation and strength to support all that weight in a constant descent. I didn’t stop for even a minute, I kept walking. At one point I met a couple walking in the opposite direction, going up to Fanal, they were the only people I met on that trail. In fact, this trail seemed to be abandoned, as it seems to only be used by locals or people I already know or crazy adventurers like me. Along this trail, I passed some abandoned houses, more like shelters for trail workers. There were also 2 gentlemen working to clean the trail, which made me believe that they spent the night in these small houses.

The Old Regional Road 101 – ER101

Arriving in Ribeira Funda, it looked like an abandoned village, there were old and rustic houses, very few people lived there, only those who continued after the change of the regional road, the old ER101. Speaking of which, the old ER101 was the main road that connected Porto Moniz to São Vicente, as far as I know. It was a road that went along the coast, below the cliffs of the mountains. Due to the fact that there were numerous landslides and this caused accidents with those who were driving on the highway, the local government together with the Portuguese government decided, through a large investment, to build tunnels that cut through the middle of the mountains, providing safer access and fast between the cities of Madeira.

I went down the streets of Ribeira Funda, I passed some vines that were already at the end of their harvest, there were some grapes there, but they were just waste that wouldn’t be used, so I asked the gentlemen who were there to pick some. Very sweet grapes, delicious. I followed below, passing through tunnels and exiting right onto ER101, where I was 3 days ago. I walked further, towards Seixal, arriving at the point where I had been picked up by Dona Eduarda. I waited about 10 minutes and she arrived so we could go have lunch together.

Lunch in São Vicente with Mrs. Eduarda and Mr. Afonso

Arriving at the marked point, I waited just under 10 minutes when Dona Eduarda arrived, I was very happy to see her again, a very sweet and loving person. We took the opportunity to stop by the bakery and pick up some mel cakes, a traditional cake from Madeira, made with honey and nuts. She said we would have grilled cod and potatoes for lunch. We had a very pleasant lunch, I loved being there with them, they are fantastic people with huge hearts. We talked for a few hours, Dona Eduarda’s cousin was there, she lived in São Vicente. When the time arrived, I had everything ready, I took a shower, Dona Eduarda gave me some fruit and sugarcane honey and we said goodbye. My big thank you to Mr Afonso and Dona Eduarda for welcoming me so well into their home.

Towards Funchal

After a few hours of lunch, I said goodbye to both of them and went to catch the bus towards Funchal. In São Vicente, buses run 3x a day to Ribeira Brava. From there I got off and took another bus to the center of Funchal.

Mercado dos Lavradores

Arriving in Funchal, I walked around and went to the famous Mercado dos Lavradores. A well-known place visited by tourists, it is famous for its fruits and delicacies. There were several fruits that I have never seen before, from pine cones, purple passion fruit, huge and super sweet mangoes, pitaya. There was also an infinite number of peppers, it seems to me that one of the place’s specialties is the sale of peppers of various varieties. I picked up a small bag of Carolina Reaper for my coworker.

I bought a mango and 2 passion fruit and went upstairs to sit somewhere and eat it calmly, funny that in my country they have mango and passion fruit, but I had never eaten it like that. I cut the mango into small cubes, cut the passion fruit in half, throw a few pieces of mango into the passion fruit and eat it with a spoon. The combination of flavors forms a new unique flavor, worth trying.

Delayed flight

Leaving Mercado dos Lavradores, I sought information from people to take the bus to Santa Cruz airport. I was lucky in this part, as a man advised me to go to a specific location to catch the bus, but when I got there I realized that there was no bus to the airport there, so a lady advised me to go to the street above, on the next street. bus stop, when in 30 seconds the blessed bus that goes directly to the airport arrived. It was luck!

But as not everything is rosy, the flight was delayed, I really wanted to fly the drone over Funchal, record some videos, but I ran towards the airport to not miss my flight, when I discovered that it was delayed by 1:30 am. In other words, I arrived at the airport at 6:30 pm to catch the 8:30 pm flight, when in fact the plane left at 10 pm. It is part of the traveler’s life. I was dying of a headache, feeling sick, I don’t know what happened, whether it was excessive tiredness, or stress, I don’t know exactly, I just wanted a good night’s rest.

I arrived in Lisbon at around 00:15, I caught a flixbus bus at Estação Oriente, which is 10 minutes from the airport, heading to Coimbra. I arrived home at 3:20 am on a Tuesday, to wake up at 8:00 am and work at 9:00 am.

What comes next?

I’m really already thinking about my next adventure, I don’t know where or when it will be, but I have a slight intuition that it could be to Southeast Asia, and it will be definitively. I am extremely passionate about those countries, nature, food and everything I see on the internet about there. I can’t say, but my daydreams lead me to believe that this will be the case. There are so many places to explore in this world. I once told a friend that I was bitten by the “travelling bug”, and that now I had traveler’s disease: he just wanted to travel and collect good memories.

The world is very big, there are different places to visit according to your budget and taste. I firmly believe that the best investment that every human being can make in life is to travel, this way you will take back good memories.

Advice from an aspiring traveler

Someone once told me a few words that made me reflect a lot on the meaning of life and why we do everything we do, it wasn’t exactly that sentence, so I’ll leave below my own version of what I heard some time ago from somebody:

“If the objective of life were to accumulate material goods, we would be eternal and would never die. Nothing is left in the coffin but good memories. When you take your last breath, your entire life will flash through your mind in the blink of an eye and you should be proud of what you lived. Make every day worth living, that is the real meaning of life.”

See you soon, I hope to see you here again as soon as possible, in a new story, a new adventure. I hope that you enjoyed. Goodbye!