Top 10 Madeira (Eyewitness Top 10 Travel Guides)

% Footpath
A footpath
(right) links four
main peaks and is
one of the island’s
most exciting
walks. It should not
be attempted unless you are properly equipped for
challenging mountain conditions (including sudden
storms, tunnels and unprotected drops). A large yellow
sign marks the start of the path. Walk the first 100
m (110 yards) or so for fine views back to the summit.
* Volcanic Dykes
Another distinctive
feature of the view to the
west and south is a
series of parallel grey
outcrops, resembling the
Great Wall of China, that
follow the contours of
the landscape. These are,
in fact, vertical seams of
hard volcanic rock that
have resisted the erosive
forces of rain, frost and
) Wildlife
Even on the bare, dry
rocks of Madeira’s high
peaks, plants find a niche
wherever a crack provides
shelter and moisture.
Among the gorse
(right) and heather, you
can spot grasshoppers
and the well-camouflaged
native grayling butterfly.
( View to the East
The view to the east
looks down over the
green wooded slopes of
the island’s indigenous
forest (see p23). On a
clear day, it is possible to
see the meadow landscape
of Santo da Serra,
and the island’s long
rocky tail, the Ponta de
São Lourenço, curving off
into the distance.
^ Café
The photographs on
the walls of the summit
café show the peak at
sunset, at sunrise and in
snow. They might well
tempt you to make return
visits to enjoy the colours
of the sky at dusk or
dawn, or to view the
night sky away from the
glare of city lights.
& View to the West
The view westward
from the summit (above)
takes in the entire central
mountain range, with its
succession of knife-edge
peaks as far as the eye
can see. The predominant
colours are the fiery
reds, rust browns, blacks
and purples of oxidized
volcanic rocks, in a scene
more like the surface of
Mars than the Earth.
Island Origins
Madeira’s long, slow
birth began 18 million
years ago, as lava burst
up through the ocean
floor to create layer upon
layer of basaltic rock. It
took 15 million years for
Pico do Arieiro to reach
its present height. For
another 2.25 million
years, further eruptions
spilled lava sideways
from the island’s central
core, creating the flatter
plains of the Paúl da
Serra to the west and
Santo da Serra to the
east. Volcanic activity
did not finally cease until
6,450 years ago, when
the caves at São Vicente
(see p81) were formed.
Madeira’s Top 10 33