Walking where lava flowed

São Vicente is a village on the north coast of Madeira, at the end of the valley that was the birthplace of the island. We were keen to take our grandchildren to walk where lava once flowed, so organized Ricardo and his taxi to take us across the island from Funchal to São Vicente, on a road where the latter part was prone to landslips and where there had been bad flooding a few years ago.

After bad flooding a number of years ago built-up concrete river banks now help protect surrounding areas.

A stepped street in the village of São Vicente.

The sea on one side, mountains on the other three.

Just a glimpse of sea through the gap between the mountains.

We arrived at the Volcanism Centre and Caves of São Vicente with only a short time to wait until the next guided tour.

View from the front of the Volcanic Centre.

The centre provides visitors with audiovisual demonstrations of volcanic eruptions and the birth of an island as well as a walk through São Vicente’s volcanic caves, walking where lava once flowed.

Part of the audiovisual material.

The caves comprise a number of lava tubes, the result of a volcanic eruption four hundred thousand years ago. The area covered by the volcanic tubes is over 1000 meters in length, the largest that has been discovered to date on the island. Some of the tubes have been dug out, with the floors lowered, to allow exploration.

Lighting in specific areas allows visitors to get some idea of the extent of the tubes.

Quite spooky in places.

The greenery looming through the darkness comes as a surprise.

An intrepid explorer having a closer look at something he’s found.

The last time we visited the caves the weather was dry but we were advised to wear light rain jackets because of drips coming through the ceilings. But apart from the odd plop of cold water on our heads the ground was dry and easy to walk on.

A dainty fern growing in the artificial light.

This time, there had been heavy rain prior to our arrival so it was wet underfoot with a few puddles, and many more drips from the roof. The plus side of this was that the underground pools of water looked more spectacular in the eerie lighting.

It was a good idea to watch where you placed your feet.

I was fascinated by these gouges though my camera struggled with the lack of light.

The ceiling height varied, lower in some parts than others.

This looks almost as if there are seams of gold though presume it’s merely the light.

The walk through the mountain is around 700 metres long, taking around 30 minutes. I found it fascinating to see the striations and patterns left when the lava surged though, parts of it reminiscent of intricately carved cathedral roofs.

More golden colour.

In places where there were lights plants grew, luminously green despite the lack of natural light, their seeds deposited by the water that seeps into the tubes through the rock above. The temperature here is fairly constant  about sixteen degrees centigrade I seem to remember.

This looked more like a hot climate plant than one for dark, dank caves.

The pools we came across took our breaths away and caused bottlenecks on the narrow path as we all stopped to take photographs.

Very clear and a wonderful eau de Nil colour.

Some visitors threw coins in the water and made wishes.

A wonderful pattern of light.

A truly amazing walk through the entrails of the earth during which visitors can admire volcanic stalactites, lava accumulations, known as ‘lava cakes’, and the ‘erratic block’ – a large boulder carried by the lava that, because of its size, became stuck in one of the lava channels.

One of the smaller tubes.

Part of the group further back on the route, admiring the water.

Another of our golden memories. It looks like a golden eye.

Our grandchildren looked slightly apprehensive as it was the first time they had ventured underground, but I’m sure they’ll remember aspects of their trip with fascination.

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