A Walker in the Suburbs

The trees beckoned — the twisted, moss-draped laurel trees of Fanal Forest. These are giant, shaggy specimens, ancient and protected, but not exactly on the beaten path. Having missed the trip our friends took there earlier in the year, we booked a tour, not reading the fine print. Only the morning of the hike did I note the mileage: 11 kilometers. And this after 15K the day before. Could we do it? We hoped so.

What we didn’t know we learned when we arrived. “This trail will go up and down, up and down,” our guide said. He was right. There was barely any level ground for six and a half miles. And much of the path was slick rock and mud.

But we walked on … and on … and on. The fun really began after our hastily-consumed picnic lunch, when the rain began, light at first but worsening with every step. By the time we reached Fanal Forest, we were fighting sleet and gale-force winds.

I hesitated to take my phone out to snap a shot, but I couldn’t pass up the chance. After all, one of these trees (the one below, I think) is 600 years old.

We walked across the island yesterday, entering a levada near Machico on the south side of Madeira, then cutting north after an hour or so to hike Boca do Risco, one of the region’s most popular trails, along the northern coast.

Boca do Risco is not for the faint of heart. It’s “exposed,” to use the guidebook language, which is another way of saying it’s hanging off the side of a mountain. But the path is wide enough to prevent major vertigo and fairly level once you get to the top.

At points little streams cascade across the path, slicking the rocks and further slowing movement. But it’s all part of the ambiance, the unique blend of trail, water and sky. The ocean is many shades of blue, all of them lovely.

Three hours in, we could see our destination, Porto do Cruz, but it was still hours away, including 30 minutes straight downhill at the end. But once there we found coffee and tea and a well-deserved meal before climbing back onto a bus to return home, a plodding trip at best. But for a few hours, we were walking on air.

We had intended to visit a museum today — and in a way we did. The British Cemetery in Funchal records the histories of many lives and loves, of those who arrived here, stayed here, died here. Like any cemetery, this one had graves, stones and monuments. Like many, it had flowers. But unlike any other I’ve seen, this one had a vegetable garden.

Tucked along the wall were cherry tomatoes, onions, spinach and squash. Rosemary and sage scented the air. With a wall to break the wind, palm branches to filter the sun and watering cans stationed every few feet, these plants are thriving. They are a gentle, green reminder that life goes on.

It’s easy to think that the blowout parade Saturday night was Madeira’s premier Carnival event. And it was, when measured in glitter and glitz.

But today’s Slapstick Parade was a crowd favorite, too. Think of it as the people’s event. Anyone could enter. Costumes were as plain or fancy as you’d like them to be. Floats were homemade, and silliness reigned.

Many of the jokes went right over our heads; they required inside knowledge of Madeira politics. But I could get the gist of them, and laughed along with everyone else.

If Samba dancing was a focal point of Saturday’s event, children were a centerpiece of today’s celebration: little pirates, ballerinas, princesses and clowns running and twirling and throwing confetti.

Speaking of confetti, there was plenty to sweep up. A cleanup crew was waiting nearby, ready to begin.

The pigeons of Madeira are on the move. They’re on the wing and on the take. The pigeons of Madeira are making out like bandits, if you want to know the truth.

After only a few days on the island I’ve witnessed more bird-sponsored thievery than I have in years. Pigeons snatch french fries from the plates of unsuspecting diners. Diners fight back. Pigeons, unrepentant, try again. Diners give up and move inside.

I’m a bird person, as many of my posts will reveal, but the birds here have gotten entirely out of hand. They are undeterred by swats, towel flaps and glasses of water thrown their way. I would say these pigeons are hungry, but they don’t appear to have missed many meals. I will give them this, though. They know how to pose for the camera.

Forget its pious origins, the blowing off of steam before the Lenten fast. Carnival in Madeira is noisy and naughty and fun. It pushes right past Ash Wednesday into the next weekend.

The Allegoric Parade on Saturday night featured hours of dancing and prancing, each float and troupe more elaborate than the next. So many feathers, sequins and glitter! So many bare derrieres!

We sat at a cafe carved into rock, right next to the parade route, and our table was tucked away enough that we could stand up and bop to the music without disturbing those behind us. Midway through the evening, everyone was on their feet. Wait staff were dancing with patrons. It was impossible to sit still with samba pulsing, confetti flying and thousands lining the parade route along the Funchal waterfront.

With its international visitors and vibe, it can be easy to forget that Madeira has close ties to Portugal and Brazil. But not during Carnival time.

We’re back in this island paradise, our second trip in as many years. For me, it’s a getaway crammed into spring break, but no less of a getaway because of that. Maybe more of one!

Last year we walked and hiked ourselves silly. We traveled east, west, north and south. We sampled many of the island’s attractions: the museums and restaurants and a cable car in the clouds.

Which means that this year is gravy, the cherry on the sundae. No agenda but hanging out with family and friends and soaking up as much of the island vibe as we can in 10 days. I’m so grateful and happy we could return.

(One of many jaw-dropping views on Madeira, where the mountains meet the sea.)

She made her home in D.C., but she was a citizen of the world. In 1946, at the age of 21, Shirley Duncan hopped on a bike and rode 11,000 miles across Australia with a friend. It took three years and also included transit in boats, on camels and on sea turtles.

The pair slept under the stars and air-dried their creek-washed clothes by stringing a line between the handlebars of their bikes. To finance their expedition they made beds, mustered cattle and served as spokespeople for Peters Ice Cream, which entitled them to free ice cream throughout their trip.

Duncan never looked back. She lived for a while in London and wrote a book called Two Wheels to Adventure. She explored Lapland, Siberia, Morocco, Malta, Turkey, Yemen, Tibet, Japan and Tahiti. She journeyed overland from Paris to Singapore, hitchhiking through the Soviet zone of Austria and lodging on a houseboat in Kashmir. She worked for Reuters in Laos and National Geographic in Africa, where she spent a week with Albert Schweitzer.

When she “settled down,” Duncan made travel her business. Her company, High Adventure Tours, took travelers to exotic destinations throughout the world. This woman had a life! And it didn’t end until a week ago, when she died of renal failure in a District hospital at the age of 99.

In her poem “The Summer Day,” Mary Oliver once famously asked the question, “Tell me, what is it you plan to do with your one wild and precious life?” For Shirley Duncan, the answer was travel.

The 2,500-year-old Swayambhunath Temple in Nepal, one of Duncan’s favorite countries.

I may have discovered a no-fail sleep aid. It’s not melatonin, Lunesta or Benadryl. Not a hot bath or a cup of warm milk, though these homespun remedies have their place.

My secret, if you’d like to call it that, is taking a red-eye flight the night before. Yes, good old-fashioned sleep deprivation can work wonders for insomnia. It may require a day of disorientation before it clicks in, but perhaps such deep, sumptuous sleep is worth it.

The thing is, a red eye from the West Coast makes sense. In addition to being affordable it provides more visiting time on departure day. And leaving at 11 in the evening (2 a.m. back home) means you’re landing by dawn’s early light. The only problem is how to grab 40 or even 20 winks in the air. But if this doesn’t happen, you have the promise of a nap followed by sublime catch-up sleep to come.

A bit unorthodox? Yes, but not without merit.