Hotel o Colmo, the hotel we stayed two nights. It's surrounded by traditional Santana houses. Today, again, we were picked up and taken to the starting point of our walk, a well-known, touristy and doubtless beautiful walk.

Walking towards Porto da Cruz with fine views, then a rather long and steep descent to the village where we were offered a rum tasting at one of the two still existing sugar cane factories and tried Poncha, the national drink, rum mixed with juice like passion fruit, lemon or orange and honey.

Beautfiful views back too although the colours were dulled by the clouds and rain.

We arrived at a view point, where we took a short break and realised just how wild and rugged the environment is. The walk from there towards our destination Porto da Cruz was absolutely splendid. A lovely small path quiselled into the rock high above the sea. It's hard to discern the hairline horizontal division in the cliff that is the path. Easy beautiful walking with stunning views.

We were picked up by a minivan that took us to the starting point of our first walk. It was a cloudy day, rained on and off (it was pouring down when the plane landed the day before), but it was very mild with a modest and equally mild wind and high humidity. We walked for quite a while along a levada, the levadas being an anchient irrigation system running across the entire island. Then a short climb to stunning views.

The hotel Solar do bom Jesus in Santa Cruz. I'm on Madeira. For Christmas. Or rather not for Christmas. But to walk. This time - for the first time ever - with a group. A walk organised by the Summit Club (part of German alpine association dav). I arrived by plane yesterday and was transfered to the hotel where I met our local guide Eduardo and the rest of the group of a total 12.

Goodbye beautiful, rainy, stormy Isle of Man and its friendly Manx people. Would I walk the Raad ny Foillan again? No. Would I walk certain stretches again? Definitely. Would I come back again? Absolutely.