the POSH Guide

the best of travel destinations and gear

Machico

Madeira MadeiraAday

Madeira is actually pretty big. Much bigger than I realized before I visited the first time. That means there's a lot to see, but it also means you have to figure out how to get there. The town of Machico wasn't even on my radar before this trip, but I heard about it and figured out how to get there. It's a thoroughly charming little beach town with a surprisng amount to offer. I may visit again duirng this trip to sample some of the trails.

Little yellow sun just above a flat ocean with cliffs to the right.
Machico seen from the access road along the cliff.

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Tunnel

Thanks to the levadas (irrigation weirs), which sometimes have to go through hills rather than around them, Madeira is no stranger to carving tunnels through the basalt that makes up most of the island. So, when it came to connecting up the cliff-top ocean walk with Formosa Beach, carving a pedestrian tunnel through about 100 yards of rock was no big deal.
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Sunset at Formosa Beach

It seemed only fitting to complement yesterday's sunrise with a sunset photo from today. It's the same beach, but taken on the opposite end as yesterday. The sun setting beyond Formosa Beach.
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Sunrise over Sao Martinho

Another walk along the beach this morning. At the end of Formosa beach is a small rocky area that leads out to an outcropping. Steps allow you to precariously get to the top of the rock, although this picture was taken near the bottom.
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Trash Art Fair

This morning I returned along the Ocean Walkway to Camara de Lobos. Since it's Sunday, I didn't need to rush back and was able to take a good look around. It turned out they were having an art fair featuring things made from “trash.
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Up in the Trees

Having been thwarted last week in my attempts to revisit a couple of trails I found in the hills above Funchal, I finally found one that was open and provided a considerable amount of “tree time.” Like most of the trails around here, this one follows an irrigation weir, known as a levada.