27 Aug 2025
We had a wonderful time on our levada hike with Maria - she was a friendly, engaged and knowledgeable guide, and our seven-year-old daughter absolutely loved her [and has already requested that we go back to Madeira so we can go on more hikes with Maria].
The hike was easy enough, and well paced considering the terrain - there was no incline, but the path is quite narrow in parts. Maria set a good pace that made it easy for the group to stay together [our daughter is an experienced hiker and would have run ahead if we'd let her, but Maria did a great job of gauging energy levels and keeping a bit in reserve for the return journey], and knew so much about the flora, fauna and history of the walk - it never felt like we were there to just get to the spring and tick the box; we got to really experience this beautiful levada!
Thank you so much to Maria and our driver - we hope to see you again when we come back!