Madeira, worth knowing.

Fun facts about Madeira

1. 1Madeira literally means 'wood' in Portuguese. The sailors who reached it in 1419 found an island so thickly forested that they simply named it after the trees.Source: Visit Madeira; Wikipedia
2. 2Madeira's famous hiking trails were never meant for walking. They follow levadas: narrow stone water channels built centuries ago to carry rain from the wet north to the dry south. You hike right beside the flowing water.Source: Visit Madeira; Wikipedia
3. 3Madeira's airport is named after Cristiano Ronaldo, who was born in Funchal. Part of its runway sits on a platform built out over the ocean, and it won an international engineering award.Source: The Aviation Hub; IABSE Outstanding Structure Award
4. 4In 2006, Madeira's New Year's Eve show was recognised by Guinness World Records as the largest fireworks display in the world.Source: Visit Madeira; A Portuguese Affair
5. 5Madeira wine was shaped by a happy accident: barrels that sailed through the tropics in ships' holds came back tasting better. So winemakers sent wine on round trips, and today they gently warm it on the island instead.Source: Madeira Wine Company; Wikipedia
6. 6Madeira's misty laurel forest is a living relic. Forests like it once spread across southern Europe; now they survive only on islands, and Madeira's is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.Source: Visit Madeira; Wikipedia

Things to do in Madeira

• ◦The trail from Pico do Areeiro to Pico Ruivo links Madeira's highest peaks, with tunnels dug through volcanic rock and a staircase carved into the mountain on the way.Source: Visit Madeira; Salt in our Hair
• ◦At Cabo Girão you can step onto a glass skywalk 580 metres above the Atlantic and look straight down at tiny farm fields clinging to the foot of the cliff.Source: Visit Madeira; Lost Coconuts
• ◦In Porto Moniz you swim in pools made by cooled lava, filled by the Atlantic itself. The sea keeps refreshing the water.Source: Visit Madeira; Find Madeira
• ◦In Santana, look for the storybook houses: tiny triangular homes with thatched roofs, painted in bright red, white and blue.Source: Visit Madeira; Santana Madeira Biosfera
• ◦Ride a wicker basket sledge downhill from Monte toward Funchal, steered by two men in white with straw hats who use their rubber-soled boots as brakes. It was once how locals got down the hill.Source: Madeira Official Tourist Guides; Madeira Web
• ◦Walk the Levada das 25 Fontes through green laurel forest to a lagoon fed by 25 springs, with waterfalls along the way.Source: Visit Madeira; Wikipedia

Questions to bring to Madeira

From Sojourn's journeys. Ask one over a long dinner or on a slow walk, and let the place do some of the work.

Going together

• When do you feel most like yourself?
• What does rest actually look like for you?
• What is one thing you wish we did more of?

Going solo

• What is the first thing this place is showing you that you didn't expect?
• What does this version of you know that the home version tends to forget?

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