Canyoning is hiking, jumping, leaping, rappelling, abseiling, swimming and sliding down a usually wet slot canyon, with pools of water, running water, and/or waterfalls. Technical Canyoning in this case is associated with technical descents, such as those that require rappels (abseils) and rope-work, technical climbing or down-climbing, technical jumps, and/or technical swims.

The location for canyoning are often cut into the bedrock stone, forming narrow gorges with numerous drops, beautifully sculpted walls, and sometimes with spectacular waterfalls. The locations to perform this sport are sometimes easy or extremely difficult, though emphasis of this sport is based on aesthetics and fun rather than pure difficulty.

Video by Harmony in Nature

The access to this beautiful place starts at the west part of Paul da Serra where you can park your car and follow a narrow road (that is restricted for cars) to the Rabaçal forestry guard’s house. The road goes all the way down and is approximately 2 km. You can go by foot or take a paid ride using a van that is provided by the council of Calheta.

Near the forestry guard’s house you can go straight ahead towards Risco (walking time approx. 10 to 15 minutes) which leads you to a fantastic waterfall surrounded by majestic green mountains.

After this scenery you can go back through the same path, which is parallel to the old Rabaçal levada, that will bring you to the sign indicating 25 fontes. Follow this path down until you find another levada. It will take you the opposite direction of the running water.

The levada path is on a flat terrain, though in some parts it can be narrow. Therefore it is not advisable for persons who are afraid of heights.

Click on the image (left) for a 3D plot of the Rabaçal walking paths.

After approx. one hour walking you will find a small lagoon, surrounded by vegetation and small water falls from different springs. These are the 25 fountains. You are then a guest at a family gathering of Laurel trees, springs, birds, unspoiled pure air, and other nature’s relatives … all peacefully together at the ecological table as one big happy family.

Please, when visiting remind yourself that you are a guest and respect the natural environment.

Afterward you will head back towards Rabaçal. You will need to go up the tarmac road … in the burning sun! So be prepared and protect yourself against the sun.

The street parade on the 18th will be exhibiting and perfuming the air of Funchal with a multiplicity of floral species of the island. Gathering thousands of children on the Praça do Município where they will build the “Wall of Hope” with flowers.

But the island itself already has started with its own preparations for this event. Mother Nature has its own agenda and (luckily) she does not wait for the human beings. Flowers are having their own debut in the Laurisilva and other regions on the island.

Walkers, when hiking through the veins of the island, have captured a few of these flora-princesses on photo. We have made a selection of these pictures for those who cannot wait for the festival or could not book a trip to Madeira on time …. then sit back and enjoy the following flower parade …

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.

Fanal became a very popular place to relax, hike, walking, enjoying the nature …. to admire the magnificent species of forest Laurissilva as Tis (foetens Ocotea) Folhados (foetens Clethra), Laurel (Laurus azorica), Vinháticos (Persea indica). Some of these specimens are over 500 years old.

There are several trails to hike, one of the most spectacular is the one that goes from Fanal to Chão da Ribeira (Seixal). Another tour starts in the beautiful area of Fanal, through the forest following the Levada dos Cedros, offering spectacular scenery to the parish of Ribeira da Janela.

A small but well preserved crater is possible to be seen just a few meters down the road entrance to the ranger’s house.

We recommend that you watch this movie. It shows stunning aerial views of the earth’s natural wonders … a great soundtrack …. but at the same time it shows incredible views of a great deal of areas where pollution, earth disruption and catastrophic climate changes are taking place. The images are combined with a message …. “It’s too late to be a pessimist.”

“In 200,000 years on earth, … humanity has upset the balance of the planet. Humanity has barely 10 years to reverse the trend.”

The film is created by Yann Arthus-Bertrand and the English commentary is narrated by Glenn Close.

It took almost three years to do this mega-movie, …. shot over 217 days in 54 countries, … providing 488 hours of footage.

Home Project Youtube

Many organizations on Madeira say that they promote Ecotourism, but unfortunately not many of them realize what Ecotourism really stands for:

Ecotourism, also known as ecological tourism, is a tourism market based on an area’s natural resources that attempts to minimize the ecological (negative) impact of the tourism. This is achieved through responsible travels to natural areas that conserves the environment and sustains the well-being of the local people. (TIES, 1990)
See also http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ecotourism

In order to practice and support these goals Nature Meetings has become member of an international Eco organization.

Due to the conditions within the Eco Industry, Nature Meetings takes this membership extremely serious and to ensure that all the requirements are met. Before promoting this facility Nature Meetings is investigating every aspect:

1. Nature Meetings has started sharing vehicles with other companies, collecting all staff members into 1 vehicle, performing changes into the vehicles to reduce the damaging gasses and usage of a minimum amount of vehicles for its clients;
2. The materials that are used for its services are reviewed and replaced, such as recycle batteries for the torches, picnics (recycled paper bags, local and organic ingredients);
3. Reducing unnecessary entrance into the natural environment;
4. Collect any waste during the services and walks;
5. Using local facilities for their clients.

To share our passion for Ecotourism, we are currently looking at projects that we can start to implement environmentally friendly services, such as:

A. Nature maintenance.
B. Reduction of traffic.
C. Education.

Our goal is to commit ourselves to promote and take a leading role in the development of an island-based Ecotourism industry on Madeira.