The Times - UK (2022-06-11)

the times Saturday June 11 2022

Travel 45

Tranquillity in rural Madeira

The lush Atlantic

island is perfect

for slow, sustainable

breaks, says

Joanna Booth

L

ooking at Madeira, glowing

like a backlit emerald in the

spring sunshine, I find it hard

to imagine it could get any

greener. Every fertile inch of

the island is occupied, from

the dense, ancient laurel for-

ests of the central mountains to the south-

ern valleys, where hillsides cut into steep

terraces are lined with banana palms,

sugar cane and the curling tendrils of

vines. Even in the relative urban spread of

the capital, Funchal — known for the

Madeira Botanical Garden — the white-

washed, terracotta-roofed houses seem

merely an interruption in the vegetation,

as if they sprouted there.

Now the Portuguese island has ambi-

tions to become just as green in the figura-

tive sense of the word, targeting a silver

EarthCheck accreditation by the end of

the year. Achieving this sustainable tour-

ism mark involves a wholesale evaluation

of everything from energy policies and

waste recycling to heritage protection and

social impact, and a commitment to for-

midable targets, both short and long-term.

Of course, there’s an elephant in the

room. Madeira’s location, 400 miles from

the coast of Morocco, means that a visit re-

quires a flight, although, at less than four

hours from the UK, it’s a less carbon-heavy

hop than many of our other favourite win-

ter-sun destinations. Options increased re-

cently, with new Ryanair routes from Stan-

sted, Manchester and Dublin. It’s a devel-

opment welcomed by an island where

tourism contributes a quarter of GDP —

Madeira did particularly well in the pan-

demic, when it was one of the easiest coun-

tries for Brits to visit. As EarthCheck rec-

ognises, sustainability requires balancing

the needs of the natural environment with

those of the human population, and there’s

widespread relief that visitor numbers are

returning to pre-pandemic levels.

For a new breed of youthful, active tour-

ists, Madeira’s arresting natural beauty is

its strongest selling point, and that beauty

is as accessible as it is appealing. I’ve hardly

taken 50 paces from the main road across

the plateau of Paul da Serra when there’s a

flash of colour in the foliage — a Madeira

firecrest, a tiny, endemic bird happiest in

the thick canopy of these high-

altitude forests. Descending on a well-

marked path, we walk in the dappled shade

of laurels, myrtles and tree heathers, their

gnarled boughs curving over our heads.

My guide, Liliana Gonçalves from the

walking-tour specialist Madeira Adven-

ture Kingdom, points out frothy heads of

giant celery, colourful clouds of local gera-

nium and buttercups, and straggling ten-

drils of madre-de-louro, a fungus with a

host of putative health benefits —

although Liliana isn’t sure whether they

might also be attributed to the rum tradi-

tionally drunk with it (walks from £23;

madeira-adventure-kingdom.com).

We’re following a levada trail; one of a

network of about 200 irrigation channels

with attendant paths that stretch a stag-

gering 1,500 miles across this island, which

is only 34 miles long and 14 wide. The earli-

est date back to the 15th century,

constructed to carry water

from the humid mountain

regions to the sunnier

lowlands. They’re a

rambler’s gift; well

maintained, al-

most flat and im-

possible to stray

from — you

simply follow

the stream.

With Liliana I

walk two of the

best known, the

Levada do Risco

and Levada das 25

Fontes, popular for

their varied terrain and

photogenic waterfalls, but I

tackle a stretch of the Levada

Lombadinha alone on a morning jog,

encountering no one but a startled family

of goats.

It starts a stone’s throw from Casas da

Levada, a collection of rural cottages with

an enviable headland position in the is-

land’s west. Interiors are rustic but sleek,

with brushed concrete and plenty of ex-

posed wood, and in the grounds

there’s an expansive infinity

pool backed by a hobbit-

like honesty bar built

into the hillside. The

gardens, fragrant

in spring with ap-

ple blossom and

purple candles

scented with

Pride of Madei-

ra, are home to

ducks, chickens,

rabbits and a small

flock of sheep — it’s

a bucolic dream.

The cottage kitchen

is filled with all I need for

a substantial breakfast, in-

cluding fresh eggs and bread de-

livered still warm each morning, and one

evening the utensils get a full workout as a

private chef, Filipe Janeiro, arrives to cook

for me, using a feast of native ingredients

including the island’s famous

black scabbardfish, accompa-

nied by a local verdelho

wine (dinner for two from £94;

seu-chef.com).

The food is equally impress-

ive at my second stay, Socalco

Nature Hotel, where stylish

casitas perch on a cliffside ter-

race above Calheta bay. There’s

no menu – the chef-owner, Oc-

távio Freitas, simply selects

what is freshest each day from

the market and the hotel’s or-

ganic gardens, which are

packed with vegetables, herbs

and ranks of vines.

While the island’s terroir has tradition-

ally produced fortified Madeira, table

wines are gaining a foothold. On a clifftop

on the north coast, with the waves crash-

ing below my feet, I taste three rieslings

from the Terra Bona winery; its vines grow

in the verdant valley at my back (from

£30; terrabona-wine.com). The owners,

Maria João Velosa and Marco Noronha

Jardim, have embraced chemical-free pro-

duction methods, and their small-volume

wines have picked up medals at inter-

national competitions.

More popular with locals than Madeira

or wine is poncha, a heady mix of

rum, honey and orange juice. I order one

after taking a dip in the Atlantic, and

warmth soon spreads through me. I’m

the only person in the water at the natural

pools at Seixal, and with crabs scuttling

across the inky lava rocks and spray

shooting over the sea wall, it’s an atmos-

pheric swim.

On the small, black-sand beach near by

I meet the yoga teacher Emilie Mangoni

for an alfresco class (from £70; @emilie

mangoni_yoga). With the rhythmic shush

of the waves as a soothing soundtrack I

gaze up at the sea cliffs towering above and

reflect that on Madeira it’s easy to feel, not

merely close to, but part of nature. No

wonder they’re so keen to go green.

Joanna Booth was a

guest of the Madeira

Promotion Bureau

(visitmadeira.com).

B&B doubles at Casas

da Levada from £130

(casasdalevada.com)

and at Socalco Nature

Hotel from £103

(socalconature.com).

Fly to Funchal

Atlantic Ocean

5 miles

Funchal

Socalco

Nature

Hotel

Levada do Risco/

Levada das 25 Fontes

Paul da

Serra

Casas daLevada Seixal Terrabona

MADEIRA

in

b

n

w

s

iv

N c r n t w

th

g

p

Need to

know

The coastline near Santana

Casas da Levada

Madeira Botanical Garden in Funchal

GETTY IMAGES; RICARDO FARIA PAULINO