Day 11: Levada do Alecrim and Open Air Festival

July 26, 2025

Today's Highlights:

• PR6.2 Levada do Alecrim

The hike from yesterday is still a bit in our bones.

We sleep in a bit longer today and only start after 9 AM to the same parking lot at the high plateau in Rabacal as yesterday. Hopefully, we still find a parking spot!

The parking lot is almost full, but we snag one of the very last spots. What luck!!!

At 9:30 AM we start from the same starting point as yesterday, but today we don't take the shuttle bus route down, instead, we take the narrow hiking path above the Levada do Alecrim.

The path begins at the main road 105 in the Rabaçal area and runs along the Levada do Alecrim, which is at an altitude of 1,300 meters, all the way to its source at Ribeira do Lajeado, the waterfall with a 'bathing pool' called “Dona Beja.”

However, we didn't bring swimwear since the water in the Levadas is actually 'freezing cold'.

Today we walk through a different type of tunnel, namely heath tunnels, which cover a large part of the Levada.

Very cool atmosphere - and at the same time sun protection! Today it is significantly warmer than yesterday and the sky is again blue with 10 suns! Yeah!

We walk the 3.5 km to the waterfall where you need to climb over some rocks and stones at the end if you want to get right up to the waterfall.

The youth and the husband want to at least dip their feet in the water, possibly even cool down their legs. No one goes further than their knees - and then the fun is also short-lived because the water is probably 'freezing cold'.

So unbelievable that two young ladies in bikinis are swimming in front of the waterfall and then lying in the pool like it has whirlpool temperatures 😮

Two young men from the group also went in briefly and are still shivering in the sun on the rocks after 15 minutes....🥶

A lot of fish are frolicking around the youth's feet. This makes the son uneasy, he pulls his feet out of the water first 😅

We climb the steep path over stairs until we are above the waterfall, where the daughter and husband of course have to climb down to the edge of the waterfall - I keep watch.... and only watch (no one listens to me anyway).

Afterward, we explore the lower part of the waterfall, where the stream flows over some rocks into another, much larger pool below. However, it seems there is no access to the lower basin; otherwise, there would certainly be tourists at or in the water.

After 3 hours, we are back at the parking lot. By the way, we liked the waterfall here better than the other two on the tour yesterday (25 Fontes and Risco).

Again today, the entire high plateau at Rabacal is completely parked around the parking lot, making it barely possible to get through. Totally crazy!!! The parking lines extend up to 2 km down the road towards Calheta! Unbelievable.

We spend the rest of the day at the pool and relax. After all, it's vacation 😜

In the evening, we drive down to the beach and promenade in Calheta as we want to go out for dinner. The parking search becomes a challenge again, but we are lucky and quickly find a spot. From 7 PM these are also free (it's 7:10 PM). It is still quite hot! The car thermometer shows 33 degrees!!! Incredible! It was also that warm on the arrival day, where we still had over 30 degrees in the evening.

So we conclude again:

Calheta is definitely the fair-weather region on Madeira!

We find a free table at the Marina Azul restaurant, where we enjoy fish & veggie lasagna.

We treat ourselves to ice cream afterwards next door at Manifattura Di Gelato Restaurant. The dark chocolate ice cream with chili is amazing!!

We sit at the promenade and look at the beach and sunset when music starts playing from the open-air stage on the other side of the harbor.

We quickly walk to the Pingo Dolce supermarket, buy some things, and then check out the open-air stage. It seems to be a 'church' or 'Christian' event (according to the name YESHUA FESTIVAL), but the atmosphere is great. People sit and dance on the lawn behind the seated area and follow the singer's instructions. Although we don’t understand anything, we find the vibe wonderful!

It is 10 PM when we start our way back home. The husband is rushing because we want to go to sunrise at Pico early tomorrow and the night will be very short again. What a pity.... but okay. Then back to the house.

Unfortunately, our own laziness about going to the gas station after the Levada hike gets us:

The gas stations are closed and open again tomorrow at 7 AM!

By then, the sunrise will have already passed - what a bummer....

Slightly frustrated, we spend another hour on the terrace drinking a glass of wine. Shit happens....

For the statistics:

Walked: 13 km

Drove: 23 km

Overnight: Villa Cró in Calheta

Weather: Full sun up to +33 degrees

• PR6.2 Levada do Alecrim

Distance: 3.5 km (7 km round trip)
Difficulty: easy
Duration: 3:00 h
Start/End: Rabaçal (Road 105) / Source of Levada do Alecrim (Dona-Beja Waterfall)
Highest/Lowest Point: 1,339 m / 1,256 m