Das Ilhas, as mais belas e livres – Of all islands, the most beautiful and free
Part I.
March 2023 was epic. Two girls, two backpacks and adventure, there is nothing more than travel with your best friend, although solo travelling has its own charm. I am 100% positive that in this particular adventure, I would freak out a little bit more and probably give up after my first drive uphill without my emotional support.
It was Sunday afternoon when we finally sat down in the WizzAir plane from London Gatwick towards Madeira. We have been incredibly lucky and got the flight just for £26 returns. You have to love London just for the cost of flights (even though literally anything else is bloody expensive). I personally believe I love London the most when I am leaving for an adventure. There were days when I was younger I wouldn`t even dream about living in the big old city and embarking on adventures of my own, and now here I am, constantly hitting the road.
After three and a half hours, we landed on the tiny island in the North Atlantic Ocean. We got off slightly deft, already tired and not ready to drive and sleep in the car. As a driver of 10 years, I was equally confident and terrified. Well, maybe more terrified than confident. But fake it till you make it, right? For those who are new to renting the car as I was. You have to own a credit card with sufficient deposit. Oh right! The CREDIT CARD! The credit card I purely got just for this purpose. A moment of panic came along when the lady behind the desk asked me to enter my pin. Oh gosh, my pin code, what a horror! I forgot! After 10 minutes of absolute horror and panic, I luckily found what I was looking for and was able to obtain our car for a week! Renaut Clio, which magically got upgraded to some kind of Citroen, don`t ask me which one; I only know it was white.
To the car! The first ride was horrifying. It was like I had never driven any car in my life, and to this day, I am so grateful to my friend that she just didn`t leave after this. The good thing about Madeira is that there is not really traffic at night, so there is room for errors. I felt like I was driving the worst road on the island entirely. The narrow road which was leading us to the car park under the Pico do Areeiro would probably look even worse during the daylight. The higher we got, the more foggy, rainy and windy it got. It got to the point you could barely see anything. But we made it! Happy that we survived, terrified of the next rides and full of hope that the weather would get better for the morning sunrise hike. Well, the weather didn’t get any better. We spend the whole night in the car, in the cold, in the awful wind for nothing.
With the first rays of daylight, we decided to give up and head down to the coast. Porto de Cruz. The first day went into a blur. Driving around East Coast, drinking coffee, eating cakes. The first stop Miradouro Ponta do Rosto; wind, blue sky, and amazing views from there is a fantastic view for Ponta de Sao Lourenco. Then, we headed towards Santana. At this point, my driving confidence was still relatively weak. I was dreading each time I had to sit down behind the car and drive. I was even more scared when it came to parking. But nothing could ever prepare me for a bus on the really narrow road higher than the clouds. I thought I was gonna faint right there, but as always, locals know and usually are heroes. And maybe the look on two terrified girls at the edge of the cliff awoke some kind of compassion, and we were helped to reach the safety of the car park.
Santana is a place where you can still see the original building, so typical for Madeira. But frankly, I wasn`t sure if it was worth the fuss. I learnt a while ago that sometimes Instagram does not reflect reality when it comes to travelling. Everything can look charming in 30 seconds video, even your ex! After Santana, we were totally shattered and headed back to our hostel. We stayed at Porto de Cruz at Jaca Hostel for about £100 for five nights. Porto de Cruz is great if you are into surfing, the ocean and seafood. Trust me; you will find the best tuna stake apparently in the world, according to some.
When it comes to Madeira, the great thing is that you can drive from east to west within an hour. The even better thing is that you can see quite a bit of the island in one day. Sexial and natural pools, misty Fanal forest and its cows, Porto Moniz and another natural pool. Enjoying the unexpectedness of the microclimates. At one point, you have a blue sky and aircon on. At the next point, you are in the middle of fog and rain. Pro tip always always always have hiking boots in your boot; you will need them basically every day.
Another pro tip, try not to speak about the worst possible scenarios before entering the cable car. It does not feel really great when 5 minutes before the drive, you were debating how they would identify your dead bodies and how and if your dead carcases got safely home. Then 5 minutes into the drive, you found yourself hanging in the air, with someone speaking in Portuguese to the speaker, which you obviously wouldn’t understand. That`s it. Once again, I found myself in this situation. I thought I was at the end of my life journey, and once again, I was wrong. After our cabin bounced back a couple of inches and then really flimsy got us back up. I was ready for some shots, but I was a driver, so instead, I took us to the most western point of Madeira because everything is better with sunset.
The second day was long and exhausting, but at the end of the day, when I dragged myself into my room, I got to know the lovely girl from Ukraine, who once again completely shifted my perspective. Just this year, on my journeys, I met a couple of brave Ukrainian women who weren’t afraid to share their stories with me, and each time it made me think how great a privilege is to live somewhere where the rackets don’t fly over your head, where you do not have to be scared for yours and your loved ones lives. But those stories are not mine to share, at least not just yet. And if I ever get the honour to write about these events of (extra)ordinary people of Ukraine, I will pour my whole heart into it.
