We are back on our beautiful emerald island, Madeira, but this time we are spending our first few days in Rosario before moving on to our perfect cottage in Lameiros.
This gives us the opportunity to take a longer walk down to the seafront, as has become our first day ritual, to have a lovely lunch and a bottle of vinho verde at The Quebramar, to the sound of the waves crashing onto the rocky beach beneath us - a multisensory experience I will never tire of.
We leave our house and head down the hill, following a road whose sign promises will lead us down towards Lameiros. We always try to walk off road if we can, where possible following one of the many levadas that carry water around the island, but for now we have no option but to follow the road downhill, a steep descent from Rosario.
At the foot of the hill, a stunning river tumbles down in waterfalls from beneath a small settlement on the hillside, and looking up, we are immersed in the craggy folds of the Sierra Agua and Encumaeda above, recent winter rainfall leaving the Sao Vicent valley luscious and green.
We follow the quiet road, downhill again, the delightful view and sounds of the river distracting us from the construction wholesalers we pass (to be fair they do hide their less pretty but essential utilities really well on Madeira).
Reaching the main road, we turn right and almost immediately climb a steep path to join the Levada de Cardais, running north towards the mouth of the valley.
We have walked the lower section, from the Capelinha de Nossa Senhora da Fatima to the sea, before. But this section, which was previously overgrown, is now clearly under renovation; much of the foliage beside the levada has been cleared and the levada itself has been repaired in parts.
However, the paths remain very narrow in places and there are no handrails despite some quite steep drops. This does not detract from the walk, which winds in and out of the folds of the valley taking us into shady gullies where springs bubble to the surface and out again to walk beside vineyards. In sections the spring flowers, Bermuda buttercup, Lanterna and the first of the Agapanthus, cover the banks at the side of the levada and the views across the valley and back towards Encumeada are quite breathtaking.
When we reach the Capelinha, we cross the road to join the now familiar section of the Levada de Cardais, winding its way down through the lower valley giving ever more tantalising views of the sea, until we descend to walk beside the river again, down to the seafront.
This is a lovely, and easy walk of about 8km and takes you right down to the seafront. There is always the option of a taxi for the return journey, but we choose to walk back to work off our lunch, a much more demanding walk than the descent, but still giving us an easy hour on the levada with those lovely views in reverse.
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