Madeira Fitness Holiday Recap (Antonia-Stella Q&A)
This is the second time we’ve run a fitness holiday in Madeira, and you've also visited a few other times. What was your original motivation to choose Madeira as a destination for More Life Adventures retreats?
We wanted a year-round destination with plenty of opportunities for outdoor activities and a welcoming attitude towards travellers. I visited Madeira in late 2021 and found both of these elements in abundance.
Did anything new surprise you this time? What were they?
We like to choose accommodation that is as sustainable as possible. Sorry for the cliché overused word there! Travelling can be pretty damaging to the environment, so we try our best to choose partner businesses that give back to the land.
As a result, we have previously chosen to stay at farmhouses, both in Madeira and previously in Mallorca. What we love about those places is that they often serve food grown on the premises. For example, this time round, we picked and ate fresh bananas from the farm, and previously, we had fresh eggs, fresh bread, local olive oil, and so on. Finding enough farmers to work the land in Madeira is getting harder and the economy relies on it, so supporting that is important to me.
One thing that surprises me every time, and I think it’s because I live in a big city, is the friendliness of our local hosts: our accommodation, our drivers, our paddleboarding coach, our guide on the hike, our host when we volunteered, pretty much everyone we came in contact with. They were all so attentive and kind.
What were some of the highlights? Any memorable experiences or moments that stand out to you?
From the guests’ point of view, one highlight is having an opportunity to discuss the challenges of everyday life, look at their lifestyle from a different perspective, and return home ready to make some changes. That’s probably the most important thing that we do as a business.
Reaching the summit of the Pico to Pico hike is also an achievement that always gives guests a sense of pride and accomplishment.
Personally, I managed to stand up on the paddleboard for more than a few minutes in the open water so that felt good! I also went snorkelling and found some amazing fish underwater! I also made my own poncha, which turned out pretty good, or so I was told by our teacher!
Describe the activities and adventures you participated in while in Madeira.
This time, we made it a fully outdoor experience. We swam in the beach and rock pools of Seixal and Porto Moniz, which were colder than normal but so invigorating! We hiked the Pico-to-Pico hike. We went paddle-boarding and snorkelling in the sea at Câmara de Lobos and explored the village afterwards. We perched over the glass floor at Cabo Girão to see the island from 850m above sea level. We volunteered with the locals on a tree-planting project.
Which ones had you done already, and which ones were new? Why did you choose to repeat them?
This time, we wanted to allow more time for guests to experience the outdoors in Madeira, so we made a conscious choice not to train with our CrossFit gym. Leaving the weights behind was personally quite challenging!
Something I have always wanted us to do and finally managed was to spend some time volunteering with a local community. Madeira Friends is an excellent local organisation aiming to help expats and digital nomads settle on the island and make friends. We absolutely love working with locals everywhere we go, and Madeira Friends is a really vibrant organisation that runs a wide variety of events. This time they had an opportunity for us to get involved in some tree-planting, to help repair the damage caused by the recent wildfires. We want to leave places better than we found them and this was a good way to do some of that. It’s important to help maintain the beauty and biodiversity of the places we visit, otherwise we will have nothing to visit.
How would you rate some of the local partners you worked with, e.g. accommodation, guided tours, and other activities?
Quinta da Saraiva were our hosts, Madeira Adventure Kingdom took us on the Pico to Pico hike, and Madeira SUP Tours gave us paddleboarding lessons. They were incredibly professional and friendly, and their English is impeccable! We also had an incredible driver take us around the various spots on the island and give us inside information about them!
Did you encounter any challenges or unexpected situations during your holiday? If so, how were they handled?
The weather was hotter than I had planned for. My own Google search findings underestimated it, it actually got to 27 during the day! Suffice to say, I came home unexpectedly tanned!
Madeira is warm all-year round and a great destination for springtime when the rest of Europe is still cold.
I’ve also been there in December and January when the rest of Europe is in the middle of winter, and you can walk around leisurely with a light top on. It’s an amazing destination if you’d like warmth all-year-round.
What was your impression of the local culture, cuisine, and people in Madeira? Any particular dishes or cultural experiences you enjoyed?
Ahhh the food. I can talk about it for a long time. Madeira was the main exporter of sugar before they passed the baton to Brazil. So they have a long tradition in baking and I always love checking out the bakeries and buying Bolo de mel (honey cake). I also love a poncha, the local post-work drink. We even made our own this time!
When it comes to meals, we are on an island in the middle of the Atlantic, so it’s a great place to eat seafood. As a Greek person, I also find it cool that they have a huge tradition in skewered meat, just as they do in Greece, and they call it espetada. But if you go for a barbeque al fresco, the skewers are huge, and it can be quite a sight to order espetada. We had a BBQ on the last night, which tasted and looked incredible.
How did you find the level of difficulty or intensity of the activities you engaged in? Were they suitable for everyone's fitness level and interests?
For someone who is used to doing some type of movement or training during the week, I think it was very reasonable. Within our group, our training routines varied from pilates to functional fitness, and I think everything we did was equally accessible. We are experimenting with leaving the gym behind to do more active-recovery-type activities. This allows us to invite guests who love to move and get active but not necessarily in a gym setting.
Did you feel safe and well taken care of during your time in Madeira?
It’s a really safe place. The scariest I’ve ever felt was when a dog I didn’t see barked at me! We walked in the dark every evening, the village streets were well lit and there were people out until late into the evening so we felt really safe.
What kind of travellers would you recommend Madeira as a destination for? Why?
You should be okay with walking uphill and downhill, as you’ll need to, it’s an island of steep cliffs and getting anywhere involves a steep incline!
I’d also say you ideally wouldn’t mind being at height, as we will take you up some mountains. I’m personally scared of heights, and even so, I don’t find the hikes scary, so I don’t think many will.
Other than that, it’s an ideal spot for anyone looking for some peace and quiet from the hustle and bustle of the city. The landscape is the closest we have to Hawaii in Europe so if you like lush green landscape, you will love it.
Overall, how would you summarise your experience of the holiday in Madeira?
An active adventure in Jurassic Park? :)
Any final thoughts or recommendations for others considering a similar trip?
We are looking to vary the itinerary a little with every trip, as there is so much to do on the island. I’m looking forward to introducing you to a few new spots each time!