[Caniçal / Santana, Madeira, May 12, 2025]

After our fun day in Funchal, it was time to leave the walkability of Madeira’s capital behind and start driving around the island. For our first day outside the capital, we decided to head west. Our plan was to check out the highest skywalk in Europe, then continue west to Madeira’s famous natural pools in Porto Moniz. But our day turned out entirely different.

We did make our first stop, Cabo Girao. The 20-minute drive took us on the highway, then on our first narrow winding road up to the cliff.

The famous cliff skywalk is very similar to the one at the Grand Canyon. It’s perched on a cliff almost 2,000 ft (580 m) above sea level. We arrived very early, and there were some workers still doing some landscaping and leaf blowing around the skywalk. At first, we thought we had to wait for actual opening time, which was about 30 minutes away. But there was an automated ticket machine and a turnstile to enter, so we decided to get tickets and enter if we could – and we did!

We enjoyed the solitude and the views, although it was pretty cloudy and it soon started to rain a little.

There is a cable car here, but we didn’t take it. Maybe it was the poor weather, but I thought this stop was overrated. There are so many fabulous viewpoints around the islands, this skywalk seemed like a tourist trap. At least we arrived early and didn’t have to deal with any crowds.

As we started descending back to the highway, we got some very strange messages on the car’s dashboard. “Engine Malfunction. Power reduced. Service Now.” is not a message anyone wants to see! Argh! We got to the bottom of the hill and pulled over to google the messages. That confirmed what we already knew – don’t keep driving!

We had no choice but to switch out the car. The company we used had an office in Funchal, so we went there first to maybe save ourselves a trip to the airport, which was farther east. On the highway, I could tell the car was operating on partial power, because I could not get it much past 60 kmph (37 mph).

Once in Funchal, I missed a turn, and ended up on a one of the steepest roads in the city. Not only that, but I had to stop at the top of the hill and turn right. It was absolutely nerve-wracking! Since I had to stop on such a steep angle, I got the front tires on flat ground first, which meant my front end was sticking out into the intersection. I just had to trust any cross traffic would see me and stop! Luckily, there wasn’t any. Then, I had to set to handbreak before going into first gear to try to get out of that hill. I gave the car a lot of gas and I did burn some rubber, but I did make the turn without rolling back or stalling the car!

At the Funchal rental car office, they told us they couldn’t exchange the car and we had to go back to the airport. Rats! Not only did we not save any time, we wasted some! I was already pretty upset with this news and still reeling from the stress of the hill earlier when… I had to back out of the parking spot, and I hadn’t bothered to figure out how to get the car in reverse yet… There is usually a button or you just push the gear down before going into reverse, but not on this car. After googling instructions for our exact car – a Nissan Qashqai – we finally watched a video that showed how to do it. Our first extended driving experience was not going well!

Finally, we made it to the airport and got yet another car – our third! I think it was a Renault. That one did have a button for the reverse… but it it was also a bigger car, which I knew would be more of a challenge on the narrow Madeira streets. Oh well.

It was already past 11 am and it was too late to go back to the west side of the island. The closest thing to us was the Sao Lourenco hike. Normally, I would have gotten here much earlier in the day, but since we were so late, parking was already a hot mess. People were parked on both sides of an already narrow road. Even though this didn’t seem legal to me, I followed suit. At least we weren’t too far from the trailhead.

This 4.7-mile trail takes hikers along the southeastern tip of the island, with panoramic views both north and south. The semi-arid climate and the north winds here keep the vegetation low, which is quite different from the rest of the island. There was no shade anywhere, and I was glad to have brought my sun hat! Although the terrain is undulating, the trail is not difficult, but it was quite busy. The cliffs and viewpoints were quite dramatic! I loved all the views. We didn’t make it all the way to the end, but we still enjoyed this marvelous hike!

I had to laugh when I saw the little cafe in the distance. Of course, you’re never too far from a coffee shop in Europe, even on a trail in a preserve!

After a few hours on the trail, we were getting hungry! We decided to grab a bite to eat in Santana. It was located north of us but it was still on the east side of this island, and we wanted to see the traditional houses there.

We had picked up a guidebook from our Airbnb, and Restaurante Caldeirao Verde was listed and being affordable and delicious. We sat outside and enjoyed the clouds and cooler temps at this higher altitude.

Teddy got veggie soup, which she quite enjoyed, and we shared some bolo do caco – the famous circular Madeira flatbread. Then we both had the black scabbardfish, which is very popular in Madeira. It was delicious!

The typical houses of Madeira were just a short drive away. These small triangular houses with sloped straw roofs and colorful exterior are part of Madeira’s heritage. They were mainly rural homes, used by local farmers during the settlement of the island. Most of the surviving buildings are tourist attractions, although some are still private residences.

We finished our day with some late afternoon coffee and desert at a small restaurant within walking distance from the houses. Teddy had a passionfruit pudding/custart type dessert, and I had something called Allegria das Criancas, which translates to “Children’s Joy” from Portuguese. It’s a popular Brazilian desert that typically features layers of chocolate and vanilla pudding.

Even though this day did not turned out the way we planned, we still managed to pivot and do the most of it!