Day two of my visit to Madeira. I’d been told I needed to go on a guided tour to discover the mountains, but decided to walk up from Funchal to Pico Do Arieiro. It was quite a trek on the ER103 road up through Monte to Poiso and then on the minor road to the summit and Air Defence Radar Station.
I stopped on route at Casa de Abrigo do Poiso to sample their traditional Tomate e Cebola (Tomato and Onion Soup). When I arrived at the summit everything was completely hidden by mist apart from the radar station. I was weary by now but was considering walking over to Encumeada and back round. I asked a couple how far, and after realising what I was attempting they suggested I didn’t because it was a much longer walk than I’d imagined So I just headed out to take a look at the first section of the path from Pico Do Arieiro to Pico Ruivo. And as i walked a few gaps where appearing revealing the most impressive landscape I’ve seen! This was at a height of just over 1800m, taken from a viewing platform. I will return here!
