The Minister of Home Affairs also highlighted the importance of the GNR Protection and Relief Intervention Group (GIPS), a specialized search and rescue unit operating in mountainous areas, namely in the
levadas (waterways of Madeira), and is prepared for intervention in the continent, in forest fires.
WE spent a few hours walking the
levadas with a guide from Madeira Adventure Kingdom.
If you've a head for heights, walk along the
levadas (paths alongside water channels with steep drops) peer over 1,935ft high cliff Cabo Girao or trek the peaks at Pico Areerio.
Try taking a cable car up to the historical Jardim Botanico, where you can enjoy panoramic views of Funchal, or explore a banana or sugar plantation, practise your golf swing in Palheiro or walk along one of the
levadas through the mountains.
En general, los otros municipios le atribuyen un papel fundamental haciendo una descripcion de los diversos tipos de itinerarios por el paisaje natural madeirense a traves de las veredas y
levadas (canales de irrigacion que recorren mas de 2150 kilometros de la isla y que constituyen uno de los elementos mas ricos de la Identidad historica de la reglon) que pueden ser usufructuados por los turistas (Figuras 1 y 2).
The walk in question, near Sao Jorge in the north of the island, was along one of Madeira's
levadas - the 1300-mile network of irrigation channels that have been bringing water down from the mountains for centuries.
Protected by UNESCO as a world heritage site, the Laurissilva offered a variety of walks along
levadas - the mini canals flowing down the mountain providing water to Madeira's farmers.
Nesta localidade rural madeirense a memoria da agua reproduz-se nas recordacoes colectivas, suportadas pelas
levadas, nas suas inumeras estruturas, (7) e ainda, pelas regras sociais (8) e praticas culturais que gerem o recurso hidrico.
Levadas are water courses running round the mountains - irrigation channels bringing water down from the hills, and built by the first settlers.
Mostly, we walked on narrow paths along irrigation channels called '
levadas', first built in the 1700s when Madeira was a prosperous Portuguese province at the heart of Atlantic trade.
Mostly we walked on narrow paths along irrigation channels called "
levadas", built in the 1700s when Madeira was a prosperous Portuguese province at the heart of Atlantic trade.
The government of Madeira has confirmed that they are to invest EUR3 million to improve the island's network of '
levadas' (walking trails).
