Cabo Girão

I was still thinking about what I should visit when my friends and I decided to go and take a typical beverage from Madeira. Trust me! It is the strongest one I’ve ever drunk, and there’s only one place to find it! You can find it near Cabo Girão (nearly 2 km from the city). All you have to do is ask for "Pé de Cabra" to any of the local natives. They will certainly tell you how to find one. "Pé de Cabra” is a mixture of stout beer, dry wine, sugar, lemon peel and dried chocolate. It tastes good but you should stop after drinking one or you will become dizzy for sure.

Anyway, there I was, on my way, when the idea of visiting, once again, and writing about the tallest cliff in Europe, second highest in the world, emerged. It is situated less than 2 km from the town of Câmara de Lobos. The length of the cliff reaches from approximately 1 km south of Campanário to the west of the urban sprawl of Câmara de Lobos.

Standing at the vertical rock face called Cabo Girão on the main island’s southern coast we begin to understand why it is a popular lookout point as well as a starting point for hikers. Above the cliffs there is a communications tower and the parish of Quinta Grande. In fact it was kind of hard to park there as there were 3 tourist’s buses plus private cars.

It is nearly 600 meters from the cape to the Atlantic Ocean. Atop these majestic cliffs, if you are lucky, you can actually have the chance to see whales offshore, because the waters around the island are so deep. You can also gaze at the horizon over the Atlantic to follow the bending corridor of the Earth. It provides this bird’s-eye perspective that made me wonder what is right next to that endless line. It also made me wonder how Mário Pardo jumped, off this cliff, on motorbike along with his parachute.
The top of the cliff is dressed with eucalyptus, mimosa trees stonecrops, mosses and lichens. A similar stunning view is also possible from the Sea. Hop on a boat to appreciate the enormity of the cliff. I have had the chance to see it, from that perspective because I used to go to my uncle's farm before the cable car was installed in August 2003, on the slope of the cliff, so farmers can reach these low-lying fields easily. I used to spend weekends down there.


The terraced fields lying beneath the cliff, like my uncle’s one, used to be, the only one accessible by boat. Before this, the resources (vegetables mostly) from these fields could only be taken either by boat or along a path with more than 1200 steps. When the boats were unable to get to the pier due to weather conditions, the farmers had to carry the products along this path until they had no energy left.

But the show had to go on and after nearly 20 minutes we made our way to the "Pé de Cabra" tavern. After 4 glasses we all went back home happy as never before. We just couldn't keep our mouths shut. But be warned! Don't you try to drink too much on your first try of the mighty “Goat's Foot".

As you can see this is a place you can’t miss if you ever visit the “Pearl of the Atlantic”, Madeira Island.

PS: You might want to check out the two jumps Mário Pardo has done in Cabo Girão. You can have a better idea of the huge cliff as well as the great landscape.

Links: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=35F2roxAI7A&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hhgBAcVfre4&feature=related