In the ocean

Diary

daily stats: 350 km by bus, 3200 km by airliner, 75 km by ferry, 3 km walk
sleeping: Funchal, hostel
long flight (4 hours), due to gusts (35–40 kt, 20 m/s) the FNC airport was closed and we diverted to Porto Santo (PXO)
destination was reached after a ferry ride (2.5 hours) in the evening (21:00)
- cell phone signal along the route
- diesel engines shook all the vessel (the worst was the resonance when idling in the port)
(despite sleeping enough I got headache that troubled my short stay at Porto Santo)

reconnaissance day, no particular plan
easy morning (got up at 9:15)
looking for groceries’, bus stops/terminals
no quiet park for reading, eventually a bank near São Tiago fortress
- disappointment from Funchal from pedestrian point of view
backing off to hostel due to cold wind in the afternoon (cable car to Monte was closed because of the wind)

daily stats: 14 km, +600 m, -1000 m
sleeping: Funchal, hostel
late morning, sufficient to catch Cabo Girão bus
- reaching new areas thanks to the bus (no sidewalks in tunnels)
- horizontal land is a precious asset
- mostly bananas in the gardens, sometimes vine

walk back from Cabo Girão to Funchal
- irrigation conduits in the gardens/fields
- Lobo Camaro lunch break
- hotel quarter west of Funchal
cemetery with Dr. Langerhans (closed) and Fortrezza do Pico
new guests in the hostel
- the Portuguesse hiker discouraged me from Pico Ruivo (clouds, rain, no outlook)

daily stats: 24 km, +1000 m, -1000 m (smoothed estimate)
sleeping: Santana, hotel
early morning to catch bus to Santana departing at 7:30
the bus easily climbs from Funchal (sea level) to Monte (500 m) and eventually to Poiso (1400 m)
- the weather is the worst there (fog, raining, cold)
buying basic groceries, refilling water from public tap in Santana
10:00 started steep climb from Santana to Caldeirão Verde parking lot
11:00 parking lot, start of the levada trail
- narrow, lots of tourists despite rain (finally I utilized my raincoat)
12:45 arrival at Caldeirão Verde, quick lunch
14:00 reaching Caldeirão do Inferno (quickly turning back to finish trip before sunset)
- return walk was better because of almost no rain and tourists (most of them went to Caldeirão Verde only)
16:20 back at the parking lot
18:00 check-in in Santana
- the owner helped me to create program for the following (Santana) days
- another discouragement of Pico Ruivo

climb through nice gardens
walk to join Levada do Rei
- contour lines in my map were confusing
- due to rain (and stereotypical looks) I didn’t walk to the end (Ribeiro Bonito)
visited Cabo Aéreo café (tasted poncha for the first time)
return to Santana via a panoramic way and checking the ruins of hotel Ritz
- good for contemplations

daily stats: (5+8) km, +400 m, -400 m (rough estimate)
sleeping: Funchal, hostel
missed the bus (waited on wrong stop), rejected taxi driver’s offer and walked to Faial to catch another bus
changing bus in Machico (skipping this town)
Caniçal is an industrial port, looks poorer than the rest of the visited places
bus goes directly to Baía D’Abra
- many tourists heading to São Lourenço
- obviously the “city” tourists (Germans, Poles) who came there for a trip
- observing planes both from/to FNC and PXO
evening return to Funchal and walk

daily stats: 14 km, +1200 m, -700 m (smoothed estimate)
sleeping: Funchal, hostel
going by bus to Curral das Freiras
ascent back to Eira do Serado
- full of tourists (big parking lot for buses)
continued ascent to Miradouro do Paredão
- got sunstroke above the clouds
- nice “wild” trail

daily stats: 3200 km by airliner, 350 km by bus
sleeping: night bus Berlin–Prague
despite unclear plans in the beginning, I wasn’t able to visit all places I intended to (Pico Ruivo, plateau,…)

bananas (finally saw orientation of banana fruits on the plant)
Madeira lizards
blooming aloes (long antenna that bends as an arch)
water cycle (rain, condensation, rivers)
sound of the ocean hitting rocks (even 500 m above the water, must have walked, not heart on a bus)
windows don’t dew, no algae on walls (in the moist north)

arrival to Berlin ZOB at 8:30, ready at Berlin Tegel gate at 9:45
Funchal (FNC) airport can be relatively often closed due to windy conditions (raw estimate 1/8 days, extrapolated estimate 5 days/year)
there is no siesta (no mañanas+tardes)
levada walks
- account for tunnels (headlight), watch out both under feet and above head
- account for tourists and narrow paths (your pace is limited)
night in the north are colder and there is almost 100% humidity – my clothes were wet in the morning as they sucked the moisture over night
travelling by bus
- very dense network of bus stops
- locals can use it efficiently (it’s not where bus always stops but places where it can stop)
- but only few major stops known to tourists
- relatively cheap: São Lourenço–Funchal ~4 EUR, the longest line on the island is ~7 EUR (Funchal–Porto Moníz), taxi from Santana–Faial was offered at 10 EUR (might be subject to bargain)
showers, beds, bus seats, bus stops are designed for shorter people
grocery chains: Continente, Pingo Doce

Czech girl – short (<1 week) vacation, guided tours, hinted me about poncha
- she was the last person I spoke Czech to in one week, so it was an unusual experience when I spoke Czech again after returning to Czechia
French woman – long ad-hoc vacation over all of Macaronesia (continued to Porto Sante), gave me useful information on local buses
Portuguesse woman – rented car, circum-rode the island, could pick picturesque trails (only) because she could reach them by the car; discouraged me from Porto Moníz and Pico Ruivo
- vacation concepts: a) short (quality) trails + car moves, b) always walk with tent, c) public transport + trips
couple walking dogs – woman was shouting angrily to call a dog back, when I passed them by the woman smiled at me (cf. Czech, where she would likely still be angry)
Spanish guy – came from Galicia to enjoy warmer winter, used to maritime life so had different impressions than me

new phone served well
- it wasn’t an obstacle but aid
- neatly surprised by built-in features of camera app (time-lapse, HDR)
raincoat covered tightly and was comfortable
the (old) jacket was only useful against wind and light and short rain

be ready for headache after arrival
sunscreen must be in the backpack, not in the hostel
better ask locals where the bus departs from than miss it
it is hard to determine good time when to put raincoat on
reading Kindle on such (active) vacation doesn’t work
don’t move stones in natural parks (insects under the stone are sensitive to it)
pack less sleeping bags and more trousers (shorts)
OSM contour lines can be very imprecise (cannot capture jagged terrains)
clouds driven up by wind don’t dew, (stationary) clouds reached by walk dew
arrange Christmas presents before vacation

calculated personal carbon footprint is 850 kg of CO₂
umbilical cable – charging all accessories until the very last moment before departure