200km innovative coastal walk
JM reports that André Rocha is touring the coast of Madeira on foot, in what he calls the “Great Indigo Route”. The walk involves 200 kilometres that the founder of The Escapist intends to map to mark a future land route. The adventure has the support of the Madeira Promotion Association.
After having travelled, in 2021, the 961 kilometres of the coast of mainland Portugal, from Caminha to Vila Real de Santo de António, André Rocha began last Monday, to discover the coast of the island of Madeira.
The route is being done solo, as happened in the walk mapping the Portuguese mainland coast, but, while this route took 19 days, the coast of Madeira should be covered until next Friday, the 17th. Departing from Funchal towards West, there will be about 200 kilometres on what André Rocha calls the “Great Indigo Route”, due to the colour of the sea that bathes the archipelago.
The project began to be designed a few months ago and has the support of regional entities, namely the Madeira Promotion Association, but also the Institute of Forests and Nature Conservation and the Caminho Real da Madeira Association. The objective is to map the entire coast of the island and, in the end, allow the generated GPS file to be used to mark a new land route.
The president of the Madeira Promotion Association and Regional Secretary for Tourism and Culture, Eduardo Jesus, emphasizes that this initiative by André Rocha, by presenting an innovative coastal pedestrian route, will allow us to offer another attraction in the set of recommended routes in the Region. “Madeira is a destination that privileges experiences and this future route will certainly reinforce the differentiation and offer in terms of nature tourism”, he says.
André Rocha, a 45-year-old university professor and manager, is the founder of The Escapist, a non-profit project that promotes hikes and expeditions in unusual or remote locations.
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Knowing just how rugged the Madeira coastline is I would have thought this a risky undertaking for one man on his own. When you think back to how many tourists have vanished when out walking on their own and their bodies never found…………….⚰
I can’t see this walk getting anywhere near the actual coastline for long stretches. As Maurice says he would be clambering over dangerous cliffs for long stretches.
Ponta do Pargo would be difficult, other than to walk out to the lighthouse and back inland. The coast around Sao Jorge would also prove a challenge.