Pico Ruivo - Highest Peak in Madeira, Portugal

[bogorchis]

Twelve of us just came back for a week of hiking on the island of Madeira. Several of our hikes were along the levada (waterways), but our "peak" experience was our hike to Pico Ruivo de Santana at 1,862 metres or around 6,100 feet. This trip was a walk in the park compared to climbing to the summit of Mt. Washington.
We started from about 5,000 feet on a graded stone pathway with stone steps. About 1/4 mile from the top, we arrived at a white hut, "hutte", "casa"? At this hut, manned by a grouchy hutmaster, we could buy soft drinks, candy bars, postcards. It had wooden tables and benches, but I didn't see any bunks.
The view from the top was outstanding with many volcanic mountains in view,windmills in the distance, the ocean and the village of Santana. There is a more difficult way to "bag" this peak on a trail called the Balcony walk, that I am sure would have been much more exciting then our stone path. Nevertheless, it was great fun to bag this peak.
The walking along their waterway systems was fun, too. The levadas were built in the 1600's as a way to get water down low for irrigation. Hikers discovered how neat they were to walk along side - there are over 1,000 miles of levada trails on Madeira. One of our walks went through a tunnel, which took about 15 minutes to travers.
It was a great vacation, and I loved the island, which is off the coast of Africa with beautiful flowers, trees and vegetation!

 

[Kevin Rooney]

Sounds like a great way to spend a couple of weeks, Ginger. Glad you had such a good time.

Kevin

 

[bogorchis]

Kevin - It was a great vacation. My hubbie and a group of about 40 men singers (Saengerfest is the name of the group.) gave two concerts in Lisbon first. Then I had organized a hiking trip on Madeira for a week. The weather couldn't have been better, and the hiking was totally different from any of the Whites, Catskills or Adirondack peaks. I recommend it!!

 

[Abster]

Ahh Madeira!

Thanks for the trip report. I have been interested in going to Madeira for a couple years now, but still have not because of the cost to get there. Lisbon isn't too bad, but then getting to Madeira adds quite a bit of cost. I have looked at the area around Pico Ruivo on-line and can't believe how beautiful it looks.

How was the food? Good spicy seafood dishes? Are the locals nice?

Do you have pictures to share?!

Thanks. Hanna

 

[bogorchis]

More Madeira stuff!

We probably never would have gone, but because of the singing trip, we decided that it was a must!

I would go back there in a heeartbeat!!! The mountains are all volcanic and wonderfully jagged. There are many places to hike from easier trips along the levadas to the famous "Balcony Walk" - another way to get to the top of Pico Ruivo de Santana!

The people are very friendly; no crime, no mosquitoes, no poisonous snakes, great climate, good hiking temps - 70's during the day and 60's at night. It is hotter in the summer months.

Interesting use of terraced gardens, and they generate 19% of their electricity by various ways, including hydro-electric from the water coming down the mountains in the levadas. Since it is off the coast of Africa, they grow bananas, passion fruit, avocados, and many other fruits and veggies!

They have a wonderful fish that I had three times - Black Scabbard fish - Espada preta. It is quite ugly before it is uncooked, but delicious the way it is usually prepared - lightly fried in a batter and served with bananas. Sounds strange, but oh, so tasty - a very delicate white fish! I didn't have any spicy recipes, but Portuguese kale and linguica is a tasty soup!

Yes, I have pics, which I am in the process of going through.

 

[Abster]

Great! I am very interested in seeing pics if you don't mind posting them when they are ready. Thanks for the information. I am excited just reading about it!

 

[Dennis C.]

Ginger sent me an invitation for this trip. Since I didn't have any of my own excursions planned this year, I decided to go .... and what a fun time we had! Our group was 10 "locals" (Northeast MA residents), a British couple who joined in Funchal, and David, the official "EXPLORE!" guide. The closest type of terrain to compare with this island is Hawaii, in my estimation. I was amazed with how developed Madeira is, especially with the maze of Lavada irrigation trails and the elaborate highway tunnel system they've developed to be able to travel with ease and (some) speed. Mail delivery still needs some work though .... post cards I sent out 9 days ago to the U.S. still haven't arrived (!).