That was a special day. It’s the day I slept in the most haunted place on the entire island of Madeira, Caramujo. Little by little I got closer to one of the beautiful places in all of Madeira, full of surprises, lots of water and breathtaking waterfalls.
Lunch in São Vicente
I woke up around 9:20 am in São Vicente, had my breakfast and stayed around the house packing my backpack to continue my journey. Dona Eduarda had made cod and potatoes for a gathering between family and friends, so there was a lot of food left over and I was invited to lunch with Dona Eduarda and Mr. Afonso, her husband. It was a spectacular lunch, there was wine, lots of food, I drank and ate too much. I was happy to follow the trail. We talked a lot and Mr. Afonso gave me some tips about the trail, guided me where I should go, recommended visiting PR16 – Levada Fajã do Rodrigues and told me about a house where former workers slept when they went to work along the levadas, the Caramujo. Mr Afonso is a Portuguese man, born on the mainland, in Aveiro, who went to work in Madeira for construction a long time ago, on that trip he met Dona Eduarda and ended up staying on the island. A beautiful love story. And from then on they continue to this day.
Valuable tips from a local
They have a company that maintains the levadas in Madeira, mainly in the northern part, Levada do Norte, Levada Fajã Rodrigues, Paúl da Serra and the region. He knows a lot about the trails and levadas on the island, and in one of our conversations he gave me a lot of valuable information about the trails, that there were people who got lost and were never found again, about adventurers who disappear, about the dangers of the island, as well like the beauty and good part of where to see and walk. I remember he said the following phrase: Before nightfall you must find a place to pitch your tent and spend the night, never go out on the trails at night. And so I followed his tips.
The Caramujo
I’ll tell you more about this place he told me about, Caramujo. In the past, there were workers who maintained the trails, or even built them around the island. Those were different times than today, there wasn’t as much transport, highways and roads that made access by car easier. For this reason, Madeira workers spent the week in the island’s mountains, in the middle of the forest, in support houses where they spent the night, as it was very difficult to go back and forth to their villages every day. There are several of these support houses spread across the island. The workers left their villages on Monday, spent the whole week in these support houses in the middle of the forest and only returned to the village on Friday night. They also took with them some animals, donkeys to transport loads, materials and supplies for the workday.
One of these houses that Mr Afonso mentioned is Caramujo, an abandoned support house in the middle of the Laurissilva forest, very close to PR17 – Caminho do Pináculo and Folhadal, approximately 1260 meters above sea level.
Time to say goodbye and back to the trail
After lunch in São Vicente, I had everything prepared, I just needed to put my backpack on my back and head to the trail again. Dona Eduarda gave me some apples and bananas and told me: when you feel hungry, eat a banana, when you feel thirsty, eat an apple. I said goodbye to both of them, Mrs. Eduarda and Mr. Afonso, I thanked them immensely for their welcome, for the affection they had for me and I said that I would come back as soon as possible, as soon as possible. Fortunately, Dona Eduarda’s cousin was having lunch with us and she gave me a ride to the industrial park, where I would start the trail again along the ER208. The climb on ER208 after the industrial park is very long and difficult, around 7.85km long, going from an elevation of 610 meters above sea level to 1200 meters, a gain of 600 meters. It passes through PR17 – Levada Fajã do Rodrigues, Levada do Norte and ends at the junction with PR17. At this point it is now possible to take other directions, heading towards Encumeada via PR17 heading south, or heading towards Bica da Cana via PR17 heading southwest, or towards Caramujo via PR17 heading northwest. Yes, PR17 has countless variations and different paths.
A Dark Night
As it was almost night, I needed to sleep somewhere that I thought was safe, I headed towards Caramujo, followed PR17 towards the northwest. The forest there already has a different appearance, older, rustic and a little gloomy. I confess that I felt a little scared being there, the forest made some strange sounds, noises that I hadn’t heard yet. At a certain point there is an exit to the right of PR17 where it is possible to see some ruins, about 30 meters further on is the so-called Caramujo, one of those support houses where the island’s former workers spent their nights.
There I stayed, I pitched my tent inside this abandoned house, I don’t know if it was a mistake to do so inside, as it was very dirty, looked and smelled horrible. I was already super scared by it all, it was already dark and I hadn’t finished setting up the tent yet. With the help of the flashlight, I managed to finish everything, I entered the tent, my sleeping bag and stayed there. That night I heard the sound of human footsteps, that was when I became most distressed. Some rats were walking around the tent and I could see them, I even kicked one of them to get away. Further up there are also working wind turbines. These turbines emit very strange sounds, like very high-pitched hums, which gave an even greater gloomy feeling. That night I slept about 4 hours, very little, I could barely fall asleep for a longer period of time, I was feeling uncomfortable, a little scared and horrified.
Little did I know that the next day I would walk about 10.8km and get closer to one of the most beautiful parts of all of Madeira.
