Our tour guide Fernando picked us up at the meeting point on time. We are with 7 people through Madeira's “fairy tale forest” to the waterfalls ... totally beautiful. It was especially great that Fernando knew everything about the island and the plants. He had fun showing us his wonderful island ... we laughed a lot and learned, had a great day in Madeira. Before we went back to the ship, we ended up with Original Puncha in a small bar. Very tasty You should be reasonably fit. It also goes steeply up and down.

Our nice little group quickly got together and we had a lot of fun with the hike and the amazing landscape. We were picked up punctually by Luis in the minibus at the port. It then went about 1 hour through 21 tunnels to the starting point in the middle of the island. First it went from the hiking car park through the eucalyptus forest to the dark 800 m tunnel. At the end of the tunnel a landscape like in Jurassic Park. Sensational! Then the great trail, the waterfalls and the levadas. Break in the very nice Rabacal Cafe and then back through the tunnel. You should be reasonably fit, as there are many steps and sometimes quite steep up and down. The amazing landscape makes up for the effort.

Only 5 in the group (maximum is 8) and really makes a difference getting to know the others so we can move at a pace that works for everyone. No drama to stop for photos, speed up on the flats, linger a little at viewpoints. It's only when we encountered the mass groups marching single file through the narrower sections that I realised how fortunate we were to be early and small enough to be flexible. This is the best way to experience levada walking