Madeira's natural phenomenon above the clouds | A Guide's Journal

In the second and final part of her Madeira journal, Julia Williams discovers the island's extraordinary hospitality, its remarkable food, and a natural phenomenon she will never forget.

The Madeira you find off the beaten track

One of the pleasures of leading walking holidays is knowing where the path goes before your guests do but still being surprised by what you find along the way. Madeira, as I have come to know across many visits, has a particular gift for the unexpected.

Off the beaten track is where this island is most itself. On several of our walks we find a tiny locals' bar for coffee or a beer, the kind of place that has no menu, no Wi-Fi, and absolutely no interest in changing either. On one occasion, the elderly owner speaks only Portuguese, and our guests find themselves in the cheerful predicament of trying to pay for their drinks.

The fruits of Madeira: what to eat and where to find it

The restaurateurs are rightly enthusiastic and proud of their food, always encouraging you to try something new: their own recipe poncha, clams, fish and fruits in extraordinary variety. I make a habit of visiting the local market and hunting out the most unusual and exotic fruits I can find. Each day the following week I bring some on our walk so everyone can share a taste at picnic lunchtime. Have you ever tasted a custard apple? Chocolate-infused figs? The variety and freshness of the fruit here is fantastic and sharing it on a ridge with views that no picture can do justice to is one of those small moments that somehow becomes a highlight of the whole trip.

Walking Madeira's mountain ridges

And then comes the moment I think about most when I describe this tour to people who haven't been.

We are climbing a path that rises gently but steadily, and we reach the col. Below us, pooling in the valleys and spreading across the lower slopes, is a complete cloud inversion. The clouds have dropped; we are above them. This is a special moment in itself, the kind that mountain walkers know and quietly cherish. But then we round the corner, and nature decides to do something extraordinary.

A circular rainbow, formed when the sun shines from directly behind you as you stand on a ridgeline, projecting your own shadow onto the clouds below and surrounding it with a ring of colour. It is one of those phenomena that sounds unlikely until you are standing in front of it, at which point it takes your breath away completely. We linger. We take photographs that will never quite capture it. We marvel at what nature can do when it has the right ingredients and the right audience. And it is all for us. There is not another soul in view.

Porto Moniz, in the far northwest, is where the island feels most remote. Few visitors reach it, which makes arriving there by foot feel genuinely earned. The natural saltwater pools here are among the best on the island. We end our journey with the Atlantic on one side and the mountains on the other, and the particular satisfaction of a group that has walked its way across an entire island, coast to coast, centre to centre, levada to levada.

Madeira is full of surprises. That, more than anything, is what I would want anyone considering this holiday to know. It rewards the curious, the unhurried and the willing. Pack your layers, bring your appetite and let the island do the rest.

Experience these journeys yourself on a collection of our Maderia walking holidays with Ramble Worldwide.