Arriving in Madeira and first Impressions

Our first rental car in Madeira.

We arrived on a rainy day to Madeira. It was not cold or scary. Just slightly windy with the rain spattering enough to slightly make the shoulders of my sweater wet. Every Madeiran we came across was intent on telling us that "this is not normal, the weather is better here normally." 

The next day did not prove their claims either. With our rental Smart car, we traveled along the west coast of the island, during which the rain clouds never stopped chasing us. Stopping to take in the magnificent views of the Madeiran cliffs, we were only spared 10 seconds or so at a time, after which we had to run to our car to take shelter.

One of the famous waterfalls that flows right into the ocean. There are many waterfalls all over Madeira. Especially after a rainy day, you will spot them all over the cliffs as you’re driving.

Not the most reliable car, being a seemingly ancient one, it refused to start one time, putting me in a very awkward position since I parked right behind the car of a family who were also enjoying the view. Much to Aleksei’s amusement I got flustered trying to start the car while simultaneously gesturing to the other car my apologies. But, like he said, we could have easily pushed the car out of the way, if needed.

That day was our first appreciation of the Madeiran coastline and the cliffs towering over it. We drove through Ponta do Sol, Jardim do Mar and Porto Moniz. All popular tourist destinations on the island. Ponta do Sol is a tiny town, and I mean truly tiny, famous for its attempts at becoming a nomad hotspot. We learned that a couple of years ago after the pandemic hit, a group of people tried to turn this small town into a haven for digital nomads by opening up a bunch of co-living and co-working facilities. Even though it was a hit at first, most people started preferring Funchal over Ponta do Sol for its convenience. There is still an active community of digital nomads in Ponta do Sol, but it seems to not be as vibrant as described.

Jardim do Mar is yet another tiny town tucked in between huge cliffs by the water. The only way to get to Jardim do Mar is through a tunnel. This made us question how people got there before the tunnels were dug. Maybe using narrow paths on those cliffs or maybe just by boat? It used to be a fisherman's town so the boat option might not be far fetched. Jardim do Mar still has a heavily local vibe. And while we were staying there for couple couple of weeks later on this trip, our favourite local was this little puppy poking his head out of the balcony he lived in to get pets. (People seems to lock their dogs on the balconies all day here. Doesn’t seem like a great way to treat your pet, but that’s a story for another day.)

Lastly, Porto Moniz is another coastal town, but it is a bit bigger than the last two. Its claim to fame is its natural pools made of volcanic rock. On the day we visited, the storm that was underway made any chance of swimming in these pools impossible. When we got back to Porto Moniz the next time though, we were able to enjoy swimming in the public pool together with its local fishes.

After 4-5 hours of driving, we had only seen half of the coast of the island. But it felt like we’ve been in and out of many different worlds with varying rock formations, climates and flora. As it is the beauty of this island, nothing prepares you for what else it has to offer.

Volcanic rock creates a natural formation of many sub-pools and varying depths.

Being the over-ambitious little pricks we are, on our 2nd morning in Madeira, on Monday, a workday, we woke up before sunrise to go for a trail run. As a testament to the tiny amount of reason left in us, we planned to run a close-by levada which was 13 13 kilometers round trip.

Levadas are artificial waterways with an accompanying path next to them. The system of levadas was made on the island to carry fresh water from the mountains down to the residential areas. They are maintained by the government, (some more than others) in the form of a bunch of guys with shovels, saws, and other equipment cleaning out dead plants and fallen over trees. The levadas are not in use anymore. The maintenance is done for the convenience of tourists and I have to admit they make for nice and flat scenic walkways. 

Walking on a levada. Most are bigger than this with a wider path alongside it.

After a good climb with the car, we arrived at the parking lot of a small stadium, got our gear on and headed for the trailhead. Even though the trail was not particularly scenic or impressive, it still felt good to be outside. We had the option to just get out and exert ourselves in the wild before starting to work.

First trail run in Madeira. After this one, we had to take a nice long break for our knees to recover.

We chose Madeira because we wanted to enjoy its nature. But I can’t say most of our days were spent outside. Both of us have full-time jobs so we spent most of our time, during the week, living the central town life. That looked like going to the local coworking to get work done, take meetings and sometimes record videos during the week, followed by occasional walks ​​around town to get coffee to get a little treat (a.k.a. pastel de nata), some dinner at a restaurant after work, watching TV and sleep.

The food scene, in Funchal at least, was unfortunately not my favorite part about Madeira. The island itself is frequently visited by cruises, and it is apparent in the type of restaurants, cafes and shops you find. Food tends to be low quality and over-priced. And on top of that, sadly for me, it is very meat and fish-driven town with an occasional cafe that wants to cater to the younger nomad crowd. So the options sometimes boil down to (if you feel like eating vegetarian or healthier): side salad and fries or overpriced okay-tasting Asian fusion dishes. It's safe to say I had a lot of fries and tomato soup during my time in Madeira, with wildly varying levels of tastefulness. 

The weekends were a different story though. It's very easy to rent cars in Madeira, and apart from the popular season around the holidays, it is quite affordable. That's why even though the island itself is not too big and driving back to Funchal is always an option, we opted to stay the weekend nights away from Funchal. Most of our weekends were spent driving to one side of the island, finding something to do or somewhere to go, committing to it, getting lost, getting into minor trouble, finding a way to get out of the said trouble and making our way to the car and looking for a place to stay. 

Our first experience with that was when we took the cable car to the top of Funchal towards the area called Monte…