Rabacal: my day in the tropical rainforest

Today was THE day for me, the day of my waterfalls walk in the tropical rainforest. The levada walk at Rabacal is the most popular of all levada walks,and justifiably so. I'd wanted to do it ever since I'd first read or it, and was lucky to book onto a small group of thirteen(!) walkers with Flora tours, a local company.

We left Funchal in sunshine, but by the time we got to the Serra/plateau on top we were surrounded by mist and scree, sheep and gorse. All very Scottish, and the temperature had dropped to nine degrees. We put on waterproofs to protect against the wind (we'd even had a supermarket stop on the way up, in case anyone had forgotten their packed lunch, or warm clothing). The walking part was described as being about four hours in total, and across a variety of terrains. There was a tarred track to begin with, then we joined the levada trail and were surrounded by trees, and trees and more trees. A path led us to the stunning waterfall at Risco, which was so high that we could only see that half of it. Someone in our party compared it to Angel Falls.

By lunchtime we'd reached the waterfall of "twenty five fountains" by which is meant that there are about twenty five cascades coming off the waterfall into the pool. It was crowded there. Although it is not a sacred place or a healing spring, I felt that I was on a type of pilgrimage. There were no shops selling tatty icons, though ..

I could not resist stripping to cycling shorts and plunging my legs into the pool, but it was terribly, terribly cold and the stones were slimy underfoot ,so I did not linger. Took photos for a member of our party. Ate my cheese and chourico and crisps on the rocks, then rejoined the Brits in our party for the afternoon walk.

What do I remember next? Some steep, steep steps going up a hillside. Some epic views. A kind person nust have taken this pic of me, unless I took it myself. Lots of talk about the protected laurisilva rainforest, which I think I wrote about on the entry for 23rd April. Heather that grows to tree height, and even forms a tunnel in places. It grows high to catch the rain, of course. Giant dandelions that grow six feet wide. The 'lily of the valley tree'. The loquat tree. The fruit of the loquat.

We came eventually to a tunnel. A shrine had been set up at the entrance so that travellers could pray for a safe passage. We were warned that the tunnel was 800m long, that there was no light, that drips would fall our heads, that we must not bash our heads on the side walls. Oh, and that the floor was puddled.

Thus prepared, we set off. If I'd been about forty years younger, I might have felt that I was on a Duke of Edinburgh expedition (without the hated chores). My phone torch worked, I was never scared, and light reappeared long before we reached the far end. From there it was but a short walk to the minibus.

We stopped at an Ocean cafe, possibly in Calheta. I had an ice cream and watched seagulls finishing off people's leftover food. I returned to the hotel by early evening, happy to have ticked at least one walk off my bucket list, though I don't actually believe in bucket lists because I'm quite likely to fall into buckets, and anyway I'd like to do the walk again, with friends or family. 'Adventure list' might be a better name for the catalogue of things I want to do some day.