A jeep tour which I (almost) missed

Exploring Madeira by jeep

That was just my first fortnight in Madeira but there were so many new things to see, taste, visit and do! And so I obtained my first off-road jeep experience!

Why a jeep tour?

Madeira is a lovely island which many travellers put on their “active-holidays” list for its countless amounts of (outdoor) sports, levada tracks, mountain peaks or laurel forest areas. As there are many travellers/tourists/sportsmen (simply people) coming, the Madeira tourist office really takes care of them and supports their “holiday” joy by a bunch of events. You would not believe, but there is a huge celebration or event perhaps every single month!

As you may know from my previous articles, they organise a Nature Festival in October. So as I got super excited after the first activity from this festival (which was scuba diving in an aquarium with rays and a shark), I did not hesitate to go back to Avenida Arriaga in Funchal (where there is the main tourist info point) to book the second activity.  However, as booking rules got changed during the week and it was possible to book a spot even more days in advance, my “before 10.a.m”. queuing did not help – when it was my turn at the booking desk, paragliding had been fully booked. Well, as I was there already, I thought of choosing something else. There were only last few activities like sailing, walking tours, scuba diving and jeep tours left. The jeep tour promised a trip to Pico do Areeiro (sometimes written Arieiro)  – the third highest peak of Madeira. Moreover, as far as I could remember I have never gone by jeep. So the option was clear.

Picture: Beautiful landscapes of Madeira. That is what the Nature Festival wants to show you.

Getting up is not a problem. But..!

My jeep tour experience was held on Saturday morning. I usually have no problems with waking and getting up. When I hear the alarm clock, I am ready to start the day. But! The night before the event I went to sleep really late and when there was a sound coming from my smartphone to wake me up, I just stopped it and continued sleeping.

I opened my eyes and with a shocking word sat up on my bed to check what time it was. 8:50! My mood descended rapidly and when trying to help myself to get rid of all emotions which came within a second (from a shock, though an anger,  to a disappointment) by commenting the whole situation, I woke my roommate up.

But suddenly, a brilliant idea came into my head. “It’s 8:52, the jeep is leaving at 9:00 and I am sure they’ ll wait there at least 10 or 15 minutes extra.” I had nothing prepared, I was in my bed wearing pyjamas and approximately 25 minutes far (when walking) from the meeting point. But I had it pretty clear in my head – I’ll get there. So I got changed, took my backpack and run as fast and much as I only could.

It was something between 9:15 and 9:20 when I reached the meeting point. Wow, I even saw some of the organisers! But that was it, there was nobody else. “Have they already left?” I asked. “Well, they were waiting for a little while but yes, they are gone now.” Nooo! I started to check how I could get to Pico do Areeiro by bus, but there are no buses in Funchal going there. So instead of doing this exciting trip, there was nothing else to do than going all the way back “home” to (at least) brush my teeth. As I am a kind of person who thinks of others a lot, not only that I was feeling sorry for not going to Pico do Areeiro but also for those who might have wanted to do this activity but there was no free space.

Picture: Pico do Aireiro is the third highes peak of Madeira

Time was passing when I suddenly remembered that there was not only the morning jeep tour but also an afternoon one. I have decided to catch my rucksack and run the whole way to the meeting point again (run because of it was almost time for starting the afternoon event). I got there quite quickly, in fact on time. So I walked towards the organisers I met in the morning, reminded them that it was me again and asked whether I could do it that afternoon if there were someone who would not appear. Then, I just had to wait a bit, so I went to the jeep drivers to talk to them and practice my Portuguese (I mean my approximately 50 sentences which I was able to say that time).

The whole time, I was a bit nervous whether someone would appear or not -  I really wanted to do the trip. Luckily for me, time for starting the journey came and there was a free spot which I could take. I did not hesitate, quickly jumped into the jeep so we could leave immediately (I was still nervous that the person who booked this event would got there in the last minute).

Picture: Exploring Madeira by jeep

First stop – Pico do Areeiro

There were four of us in the jeep – two Polish girls (which were also doing their Erasmus in Madeira), me and our driver Miguel. We were given a lift into the centre of the island, more or less. There were you can find many peaks which takes you into the sky, above clouds. So I got to the third highest peak of the island – Pico do Areeiro. It was a very hot day, but when we got to the height of 1818 metres above sea level, I was really happy that I had brought a sweatshirt. Apart of this, I was wearing only shorts and flip-flops! (Going to the mountains with a pair of flip-flops on your feet?!?) Well, we did not have to climb anywhere, as there is a parking just next to the peak.

Picture: Mountains and flip-flops

Even though we did not have much time to spend there (approximately 20 minutes, if I am not mistaken), I enjoyed being there and having completely astonishing views of mountaineer scenery.  After a quick walk descending stairs and ascending them again thee was time to go back to the jeep.

Off-road track

As this event was a part of the Nature Festival (as mentioned above), we did not turn back for Funchal yet. We went to explore laurel forests. Madeira is a unique place in Europe where you can find these forests. We got to a road which was full of mud, puddles and holes. We had a lot of fun while being on this road because we could finally feel abilities and power of the jeep. And as we were passing many laurel trees, Miguel stopped, got us a leave of it and let us smell it. I am sure most of you use laurel leaves for cooking but I have never seen it on a tree (supermarkets does not offer them in this way, they prefer to pack it).

Picnic

How lovely it was to be taken also to a place somewhere on a meadow between forests and receive a pack full of typical food products from Madeira. So we sat down on the ground and ate sweet cake Bolo do Mel, typical bread Bolo do Caco with chouriço, banana and drunk lemonade Brisa maracuja/apple. While this picnic there was enough time for talking. So we were getting to know each other better and learning about Madeira and its culture.

Picture: A box full off typical products from Madeira

Half of the day with a pirate..?

There was time to go slowly back home. But still – before getting to Funchal we stopped in a bar to taste traditional drink called poncha. The drink came witha little tapas (snack) – tremoços. These are also very typical and it is a kind of beans.

Picture: Poncha and tremoços

Miguel was wearing sunglasses almost during the whole trip but once he took them off, I just stared at his eyes. If you think that almost everyone in Madeira (as a part of Portugal) has got brown eyes, it is not true. There are actually many people with beautifully clear sky-blue colour of their eyes. And that is exactly what the colour of Miguel’s eyes was. Later on, he told us a story which explained why some people has such a light colour of eyes. As Madeira is an island “in the middle” of the Atlantic Ocean, many groups full of pirates were conquering the island. As they were from different countries, many of them had this eye colour which their children took after them. So some people say that those Portuguese inhabitants who have blue eyes are some pirates’ descendants. Was Miguel some pirates’ descendant then? I do not really know, but I was happy he took us for that nice trip. You know, I almost missed this all!

How much was it all?

Again, I have to say that as this activity was a part of the Nature Festival, we did not have to pay anything. However, normally the cost is 35 EUR per person (it can be also between 35 – 45 EUR, depends what tour you would choose).

Would you choose a jeep tour for exploring Madeira yourself?

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