Levada do Curral: do not do it !!!

DO NOT TRY TO DO THIS WALK !! Not even as a test of your daring, fear of heights or surefootedness. The reason I include this walk in my RouteYou collection is to warn of its extremely dangerous nature. The Levada do Curral is shown on the OpenWalkMap as a doable, logical and nice connection between the very popular Curral das Freiras (Nun's Valley) and Funchal, but it is not. This levada is no longer used nor maintained between Curral das Freiras and the tunnel under Ribeira da Lapa. This is a stretch of 6.2 km in the deep and almost vertical gorge of the river called Ribeira dos Soccoridos. The levada consists of a narrow, 40cm wide and 40cm deep channel in concrete separated from the valley by a wall of barely 30cm wide that is overgrown with moss, cacti, sugar cane, thorny bushes and small trees. In several places the canal has been destroyed by stone avalanches or fallen trees or simply by the age of the construction. In any case, the canal is almost everywhere full of rock debris and it is impossible to walk in it. Therefore the whole distance the walk is on the narrow wall just wide enough to place two feet next to each other with nothing but a deep and empty abyss on your right side. There is virtually no fall protection in the form of cables and railings along almost the entire length, nor opportunities to hold on to the rocks where it is most needed. Where they do exist, they are usually destroyed or unreliable. So there is no protection, although you walk almost the entire route along vertical cliffs and it is very easy to fall as much as 170m deep!! Following the levada is therefore a life-threatening and frightening experience that you should not start. Don't let the railings in good condition and the agricultural setting in the first few hundred meters convince you to start it like I did. Not convinced? Then read these comments, or watch one of the several YouTube videos. Contrary to the information in the comments and videos it is possible to get end to end, however don't try it !!

The last 4km of the levada is still used. It is in a much better condition and so is the drop protection. So, if you want to walk in the Ribeira dos Soccoridos gorge, do the walk in the opposite direction and don't go beyond the tunnel under Ribeira da Lapa.