Gerry Sluiter English March 11th, 2010

Due to the weather conditions in February, Madeira has noticed that visitors canceled their holidays as they believe that Madeira is too much affected with landslides and damages on roads, and that it will spoil their holidays.

With the support from various organizations can I inform everyone that Madeira has returned to be (again) the great location for you to enjoy your holiday!!

Funchal, is now a full operational town with all its beauty and the many locations of interests; all the hotels are available to welcome every clients and the island is accessible to all its viewing points and Nature walks.

Obviously, not everything is as it was before (due to the dramatic weather on 20th of February). However, Madeira has recovered thanks to the support of the local community, businesses and government. Also the with the International help and Madeira lovers abroad. The only thing we ask of you now is to visit Madeira again once more … that way you will help and support the local people and businesses who have suffered from the 20-2 flood.

Help Madeira and (re)visit this beautiful island!!

Tags: landslides, madeira

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Gerry Sluiter English March 5th, 2010

The torrential rain on Madeira caused floods and mudslides on several locations on the Island on the 20th of February. However with the impressive effort from the entire Madeirense population and international help, Madeira returned to be again an attractive travel destination.

The airport, that was not affected except it was closed on the day of the floods, is fully operational and all the main roads are now open to the public. Unfortunately there are still some locations that are isolated (Tabua, Serra da Agua and Encumeada), therefore we advice everyone to make first inquiries before traveling towards these areas.

Many footpaths on Madeira had problems with fallen trees and landslides; however the majority of these walks are now repaired and accessible to the public.

Nature Meetings daily walking program is now fully operational, with the exception of the full day walk on Sunday: “Slopes and Valleys of Calheta” and Wednesday: “Laurisilva Landscapes”. The Full day walk on Sunday has been removed from our program and we only offer our half day Levada walk: “Amazing Vistas”. The full day Levada walk on Wednesday is replaced with a Laurisilva Levada walk from Santo da Serra to Portela (this is temporarily, as the original walk from Ribeiro Frio to Portela should be open in May 2010).

We advice all walkers on Madeira prepare themselves for the walk they intent to do, as there can be obstacles on the walking paths, and be aware that it can be slippery as it requires some time to dry out.

In particular, it is crucial that people don’t do a Levada walk on their own!! There might be unexpected situations that can result in a premature end of your holiday her on Madeira. Therefore we (including the authorities on Madeira) strongly suggest to make use of the services of a walk guide through the various qualified walking organization.

Tags: guided walks, levadas, madeira, Nature Meetings, walking

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MW Editor English March 1st, 2010

If you are on Facebook, we have various channels that we update frequently.

You can check out our blog network page here.

We have also a Facebook Page
www.facebook.com/naturemeetings
 
and a Facebook Group
www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=311548719532
Join and participate by posting suggestions for walks, tips, review, stories etc.

Via Twitter you can connect with us as well – our Twitter is
twitter.com/naturemeetings or @NatureMeetings

Tags: Facebook, Twitter

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MW Editor English February 17th, 2010

To various people we asked the following question: “What are the advantages of a guided tour in comparison with D.I.Y. tour?”. Here a the responses …

Marco Ferreira:
“Part of the fun to know Madeira with a knowledgeable guide is to socialize with the local culture, habits and ideas that only a local guide is able to share with you right away from the beginning. You have to keep in mind that a local guide shall cover the several aspects of a big diversity of themes that may take you a lot of time to gather from the different sources available now days.

The great difference between a guided tour and a D.I.Y. is the fact of sharing information, opinions and emotions with a caring person that might at any time change your views about what you have established already as a conclusion.”

More to come. If you want to contribute also, please send us your opinion.

Tags: groups, guided walks, guides

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MW Editor English February 4th, 2010

Travel article “This Year’s Madeira Walking Festival in Funchal” published in Southern Europe Travel by Rupert Parker.

Madeira is a sub-tropical Portuguese island in the mid Atlantic Ocean. Every January it hosts a week long walking festival providing three or more daily guided hikes with various levels of difficulty. The event is the brainchild of writer and photographer Terry Marsh who, this year, had to supervise from a distance as he was recovering from heart surgery. He needn’t have worried; for many of the participants this was their third year and they knew exactly where to go and what to do.

Read article

Tags: blogs, festival, madeira, walking

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MW Editor English February 1st, 2010

Translated from the Diário de Notícias (newspaper) 31/01/2010 by Madeira News Blog

Five pathways closed. In less than a month, bad weather and landslides have forced the closure of five footpaths and levadas which are included in the official walking circuit of the serras of Madeira. The official ‘Turismo’ site alerts walkers to the closures and the Regional Director of Forestry acknowledges that the renovation of such extensively damaged areas will be expensive. Levada do Rei, Caldeirão Verde, Caminho Real da Encumeada, Levada da Fajã do Rodrigues and Caminho do Pináculo e Folhadal are the five closed footpaths. The worst affected is the Caminho Real da Encumeada, especially the section Boca da Corrida at Encumeada. Almost all the walking paths on the island have been damaged by the bad weather, the ones least affected are near the south coast and on Porto Santo. Before work can be undertaken, a survey will have to be carried out and a firm contracted.

Tags: dangerous walk, levadas, madeira, safety, walking

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MW Editor English January 27th, 2010

A video walking impression of the Levada do Alecrim (Levada of Rosemary). The walk went till its mother waterfall at Ribeira do Lageado. The starting point of this Levada walk is located near Rabaçal.

No background music was added to the film, but contains instead the original sounds of the surroundings during the walk … which gives a better impression of the environment.

The author warns that, even though he filmed with the camera fixed to his body, always walk the levadas in a safe way. Always keep your eyes on the path (and not looking at the viewer of a camera) when walking.

Tags: levada, levadas, madeira, Rabaçal, walking, YouTube

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Gerry Sluiter English January 18th, 2010

On January 12, a 7.0 magnitude earthquake struck Haiti. With these tragic events in Haiti, the guides at Nature Meetings decided to donate all the money that they received during the Madeira Walking Festival to the International Red Cross. As this gesture is very much appreciated, the management of Nature Meetings decided to triple the amount donated by the guides.

Others around the world are joining efforts to assist the earthquake victims. Your donation can help disaster victims rebuild their lives and their communities.

Tags: Nature Meetings, qualified mountain guides, Red Cross, support

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MW Editor English January 7th, 2010

Some walking routes in the island are in current undergoing maintenance to ensure the safety of walkers. Access to these routes may be limited or even not allowed so that these works can be concluded the soonest possible.

Please check the following link of the Madeira Islands Tourism site for more details of which walking routes are (temporary) closed due to restoration works:
Notice to Walkers

Tags: dangerous walk, landslides, levadas, madeira, safety, walking, warnings

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Gerry Sluiter English November 24th, 2009

Madeira is a walking paradise for any “Nature- Lover”. To ensure that you enjoy your walk, we strongly recommend that you walk with Certified Mountain guide. Your safety is paramount and to ensure that you receive the best possible service available on Madeira, we only employ local guides who are in possession of a Madeira Mountain Guide Certificate.

For obvious reasons, safety starts before the walk and it is crucial that everyone is prepared for the challenge what is waiting for them. Walking the Levadas of Madeira or any other Nature walk brings its challenges and therefore we advice that every walker is wearing layered clothing (what is easy to remove) and has water proofs with them. Other requirements are: sun protection and water (if possible a torch).

The highly trained mountain guides studied for 1 year, coffering everything in relation to walking on Madeira. This combination of responsibilities from both parties and Madeira’s walking facilities will give you a pleasant and relaxed walking experience.

Unfortunately, over the years more and more people have entered the walking industry, pretending to be a guide. These illegal “guides” are putting walkers life’s at risk, and are unable to supply the service, information and safety.

This situation has caused great concerns on Madeira and due to this there is an increase of accidents. To ensure that your guide is qualified with what he/she is doing we advise you to ask your guide to show you their license. Certified guides are proud with their profession and with their commitment to follow the very intensive guiding course.

Over the last few years we have seen more and more walking groups visiting Madeira. As walking lovers, we are very excited showing everyone this beautiful island. However some of these groups are bringing their own walking-leader who has no (Madeira) experience nor are qualified to guide. This is not only illegal according to the Portuguese law, it´s also very dangerous.

Tags: accidents, groups, guides, levadas, license, nature, newspaper, qualified mountain guides, safety, service, walking

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