I originally posted this story here around 2012 and it gained a lot of interest and responses from people who were genuinely intrigued about what happened. I ended up having to delete the post because people I know used this sub and I was worried they would know it was me. So now 10 years later I feel it’s time to post it again because I still think about it quite often. I hope that doesn’t break any rules!
So it was summer 2010, I just turned 18 years old, just finished school and while most of my friends were heading to university all over the country I was just working a full time job, I was having a tough time knowing my main friend group was going our separate ways combined with having just split from my first girlfriend which hit me hard. I wasn’t depressed but I needed to decide what I was going to do for the foreseeable future. I needed to get away alone, from my hometown (in Wales, UK) just for a few weeks to clear my head and try to get thing straight.
My Dad is Portuguese from the island of Madeira, an archipelago off the coast of Portugal that is a well known holiday destination, albeit mostly for retirees. He has a house over there and I decided to get a cheap flight and stay there by myself for about 10 days just to get away. During the times I visited Madeira throughout my childhood I hated it, there’s was next to nothing to do as a kid I easily got bored, which is a stark contrast to how I feel about the place now as I literally want to move there. It really is an underrated gem if you ever get a chance to visit.
So I headed out in July of 2010, happy to be able to get away by myself and clear my head. Looking back as a 30 year old the reasons I was stressed seem pretty ridiculous now. I packed my hiking stuff as I’d planned to get out into the mountains, it’s an awesome destination for mountain walking. I arrived at my Dads house and the weather for the first few days was pretty crap, torrential rain and strong winds meaning I couldn’t really do much outside meaning I spent most of my time drinking coffee and watching Mythbusters reruns on tv.
The weather finally improved after about 3 days and I woke up to a glorious sunny day, no clouds in the sky, no wind, 30°C/86°F. The sea crystal blue and the green mountains with rolling clouds over the summits. Perfect day. I headed out after breakfast about 10am and decided to get a bus about 10 miles to a town called Curral das Freiras (Pen of the Nuns) an isolated settlement well within the mountainous interior of the island, it got its name from being a safe haven for a convent of nuns who were hiding from Arab raids on the island in the 15th century and until the 80s there was only one sketchy road into the town that was often described as one of the most dangerous in Europe, now there’s a modern tunnel into the town and it’s a popular spot with tourists and locals.
My plan was to hike from the town up one of the many trails to the mountains above. I stopped for a quick espresso in town, the place was bustling with tourists in cafes and gift shops and I never would expected what happened to me later.
I finished my coffee and headed towards the trails, I had a steep walk up a single track road that left the town, a few houses dotted on either side that became fewer and fewer as the road climbed. I got around 300m/1000ft above the town and the views were already incredible, the clean air and sense of freedom were exactly the reason why I went there to get away. I kept walking and the asphalt road became a dirt track, a lot narrower and with a lot more tree cover, still walking I kept climbing up almost into the clouds, the temperature dropped and there was a lot of moisture in the air, I stopped to put on a jacket.
As I was fumbling in my backpack for my jacket and a granola bar I noticed a small shed, or what used to be a garage. The outside walls were black almost as if there’d been fire damage and the roof was partially caved in. I didn’t think anything of it, a lot of small buildings were abandoned in the area but what caught my eye was an opening in the rock face behind the building. It was a small cave, but what intrigued me more was the bottom half of the opening had been bricked up, and I think the whole opening at one point was blocked up but the top section was open.
Being a boy a heart I was curious as to what was inside, I headed over and the opening was big enough for me to climb in, I’m writing this now wondering why I even chose to do this. I got through and surprisingly it was quite big inside, I was able to stand upright and I’m 6ft. The smell was damp and there was a lot of running water on the rocks and the ground, and plenty of green slime on the walls. It was dark and I had to use my phone torch to see. As soon as I lit up the cave I could see the extent of its size it was about 3m/9ft wide and about 5m/15ft long.
I didn’t think much of it and I was about leave until I noticed at the back end of the cave was almost a doorway to the right, it was a little lower than my height but it almost looked like an entrance to a room. I for some reason decided to explore further, note Madeira is effectively crime free and there’s no dangerous predators so I had little doubt there’d be anything sinister ahead. I stepped forward around half the length of the cave towards the opening, this was then I noticed the damp smell ended and was replaced with a foul, rotting flesh odour. I stopped to think what it could have been but I carried on holding my nose. I got to the opening and ducked down to get through, it wasn’t hugely narrow but I had to get on my knees. I shone the light into the opening and it revealed a small square room within the cave, about the same size as a large lift/elevator. But what I saw next has stuck with me ever since.
The smell was unbearable at this point and there was thousands of flies in the room, the noise of which was almost deafening. On the floor was about 6/7 dead sheep and goats in a circle, all of which had their eyes gouged out. There was blood everywhere. Some had limbs missing and some had kitchen knives stabbed into their necks and bodies. There was also two that been decapitated. Their heads placed on top of their bodies. I gasped and took a step back, doing so I moved my torch towards the walls and it showed they were covered with dead birds and more sheep heads nailed into the rock, blood running down the stone onto the floor.
I started panicking and quickly clambered out of the cave, repeating “fuck! fuck! fuck!” over and over out loud as I ran out. I squeezed through the opening and stumbled onto the road, I fell onto the dirt track on all fours and tried to catch my breath, I turned into a sitting position and I didn’t realise I’d cut my shin on a rock and blood was running down my leg into my sock. I stood up quickly and ran back down the hill into the town, this was genuinely the only time I’d felt legitimately scared at something wasn’t an immediate threat to me. I got back to the town, pretty shaken and luckily I didn’t have to wait long for the bus back to my dads place. This completely shook me for the rest of the day, I didn’t sleep that night.
I wanted to tell somebody, but I knew they would not believe me or think I was exaggerating. I had a week left in Madeira and to be completely honest I carried on as if nothing had happened, even heading out on other hikes albeit as far away from Curral das Freiras as I could. It was only until I got home that it started bothering me. It took a few months for me finally sleep normally again but I can say even now 12 years later I think about this at least once a week.
I’ve been back to Madeira many times and even to Curral das Freiras, at the time I said I’d never go back, but as I said at the beginning I now want to live in Madeira because of its natural beauty and way of life, a stark contrast to drawl of living in the UK. I’m glad this didn’t taint my view of a beautiful place but my memory of what happened is still as vivid as ever. Although I hope this doesn’t deter anyone from visiting Madeira, it really is a paradise.
Part of me wants to go back to that cave, I’ve got a morbid fascination with knowing if it’s still there and the other part of me doesn’t want to go anywhere near it.
It’s weird how the human brain works.