Madeira - Hiking 50 Fontes & Spooky Trees at Fanal

November 19^th, 2025

After yesterday's easy, warmup hike, it was time to up our game.  Today’s challenge is the Levada das 25 Fontes, an 8.6 kilometer round trip trek with about 300 meters of elevation gain.  The name roughly means “the aqueduct of 25 sources”.  It is mainly downhill to reach a 100-foot waterfall, so the return trip will be a bit more strenuous.  First, we had about a 45-minute drive to reach the trailhead. 

I am not used to driving new cars, so when the rental car automatically unlocked as I approached it with the FOB in my pocket, I was amazed.  Naomi got a kick out of this...so much so, that she had to video me approaching the vehicle in the hotel underground parking.  Turns out that the battery in the FOB was almost dead so this time it didn't unlock until I was almost touching the car.  Oh technology, you never cease to amaze me!

Driving through one of many tunnels on Madeira.

We passed this is a concrete pumper truck on a narrow and steep road.  I was amazed they could get this big truck up here.

The start of the trail.  It was an easy downhill walk for 2 kilometres on this single lane road, an easy warm up.

The view on the way down.

The forest on either side of the road was really dense with tiny, scraggly trees.

We just started the day...I shouldn't be "selfied out" yet!

We arrived at a cafe at the end of the first 2 km section.  Nice sign on the wall...we opted for the bears & snakes but never saw any.  There's actually not much for fauna on the island.

Naomi certainly likes the irrigation channels.

A waterfall in the distance...one of supposedly 25 of them.

Waterfall!

A narrow section of the trail.  Wisely, one section was designated as a one way for hikers.

A happy hiker.

There weren't too many viewpoints...

...but the few we saw were nice.

It was almost like going through a tunnel at times.

It also felt like we were climbing Everest with this train of hikers.

We made it to the main waterfall!

Not bad...but I have to admit I've seen better.

The most memorable thing about the waterfall was finding a domestic cat hanging out there!  It is about 5 kilometers from the cafe..."What are you doing here Kitty?!?"

The crowd of hikers at the waterfall.

On our way back.

And the last 2 kilometres, back up the gentle slope.

Overall, the hike was great, as was the weather, and we completed in about 4 hours, including a break at the waterfall, and another one for lunch when we returned to the café, which was at about ¾ mark of the hike.

There was still some time left in the afternoon and just another 15 minutes further down the road was the "Forest of Fanal".  Naomi, having done all the research for our trip to Madeira (thanks Naomi!), was keen to visit this ancient laurel forest.  The old trees have grown in oddly bent shapes due to the prominent north wind which often flows across this part of the island.  The real hope was to see them in the mist of clouds rolling over Madeira.

Oops...I messed up the picture, it should read "Fanal".  ;)

One of many "spooky" trees.

They were cool looking trees.  These ones have been fenced off so their roots don't get affected by too much trampling on by tourists.

Tree hugging Naomi.

A 360 Naomi-rama.

The mist rolled in, which increased the spookiness of the trees.  Naomi was happy about that.

We did luck out and even though it was mid afternoon, there were a few times where the fog set in to change the ambience of the place.  We spent about 45 minutes wandering around the area, checking out not only the trees and the views, but also the seemingly very happy grazing cows.             

 

I walked up to the area on the top right of the photo.

The view from the hill that I climbed up by myself.

Meanwhile, Naomi was still enjoying the trees.

While I was up the hill and wandering around on my own, Naomi decided to do a photoshoot of this cow.  Well, I guess she got a little too close and the bovine let her know with a little charge at her, with those pointy horns!

A little window through the clouds to the ocean.

Gangly trees.

Very hard to see, but there are 3 paragliders flying off the southern coast of the island.  We were driving at the time so Naomi was only able to snap this photo of them.

Madeira is chock full of beautiful views.

Back at the hotel, Naomi wanted to get her hair coloured and had an appointment at a hair salon in the mall which was part of the same complex as our hotel.  When she returned, she mentioned that her stylist, Luciana, was born and raised in Madeira…and had never left the island.  That blew me away.  The island is only 55 kilometres wide from east to west and 22 kilometres from north to south.  Wow.  Different stroke for different folks I guess.

Walking by the Ritz Hotel, which according to Naomi, is the most expensive hotel in Funchal...and she would know!

A fancy schmancy restaurant we passed by on our way for some Indian food.

Fado is a popular type of music in Portugal.

Our disappointing Indian food, compared to the Indian we had in Nazare.  You can't win them all!

There was only one cruise ship in the harbour this evening.

Tomorrow will be a bit lighter of a day...definitely no 8 kilometer hike on the agenda.  However, we do plan to get up super early to try and catch sunrise from one of Madeira's peaks.