Madeira - island tours

After seeing the sights in and around Funchal we decided to explore further afield.

 
We joined a small group on a grand tour of the west side of the island

Mario was our driver for the day - and it was a very full day. We set off at 9am and were dropped off at our hotel at 7.15pm - a super day. Here is a flavour of where we went and what we saw

 
Our first port of call was Câmara de Lobos - a fishing village to the west of Funchal.

 
Decades ago this was the home of the monk seal (also known as the sea-wolf) and that’s where the name Câmara de Lobos comes from.  Being the main centre for fishing, the black scabbard fish “peixe Espada”

 
This village was also where Sir Winston Churchill came to paint in the early 1950s. He liked Madeira and was a regular at the Reids Hotel in Funchal

 
Fisherman hanging his catch out to dry

 
Cabo Girão is the second highest sea cliff in Europe at 1902 feet.

 
It now has a glass-bottomed look out point.

 
Needless to say that I did not venture onto this platform. In fact my eyes were closed when I took these photos

 

 

 

Then across to the North side of the island

 

 

 

 
Spectacular view of the coastal road

 

 

 

 

 
Bird of paradise flower

 

A fish farm

For more photos of this island tour see West island tour

We also took a half day tour to Nun's Valley - a small village situated in the crater of an extinct volcano, which has kept its 16th-century Santa Clara Convent where the nuns used to hide from pirates who were attacking Funchal.

 
Initially, during its early settlement access to the valley of Curral was difficult, and was only attempted by semi-nomadic shepherds and slaves who gained their emancipation or escaped from servitude. These people built small homes, and a small hamlet developed towards the end of the 15th century. More permanent residents began to dwell in the valley shortly after, although the area remained little developed

 
The views were spectacular

 

 

 

 

 

 

An excellent week's holiday 

Madeira - Monte and a Levada

"Levada" is a Portuguese word derived from the word "levar" - which means to carry and is roughly translated as "carriageway", but more correctly defined as mini-canal.

The mini-canals are irrigation systems developed to distribute water from the rainfall heavy and wet regions on the north of Madeira island to the drier sun parched regions of the south.

The water is usually stored in reservoirs or tanks, or captured directly from natural fountains to be redirected and channeled across a wide network of winding canals. These narrow water carriageways deliver water along far distances to banana plantations, vineyards, fruit orchards and vegetable gardens, as well as to hydro-electric power stations dotted around the island.

The levadas criss cross the mountains and cover a total distance of 2500 km, and date back to as far as the early 16th century.

We travelled by bus to Camacha - a village outside of Funchal - and found the Levado dos Tornos which runs from Guala to Monte (near Funchal).

This was not the easiest of levadas to walk along

We came across three long tunnels - without finding an alternative route around

However, we saw some views of the countryside which you would not see from the road

After some 4 hours of walking we were still quite some way from Monte so we decided to call it a day and when we came near a road we caught a bus back to Funchal and left Monte for another day

Monte is perched up in the hills overlooking Funchal, 6 km away from the centre of the capital. Monte was formerly a health resort for Europe's high society

Views of Funchal from Monte

The Monte toboggan ride - this is now a great tourist attraction - two toboggan drivers push and steer passengers down the streets of Monte to the suburb of Livramento some 2 km away

Madeira - fun time in Funchal

We've just returned from a fun week in Funchal, Madeira.

We stayed at the Enotel in the Lido area of Funchal - the capital of Madeira.

Funchal gets its name from the fennel plant Funcho that was growing abundantly in the area when the Portuguese explorer, João Gonçalves Zarco, discovered it back in 1420 and was captivated by its natural beauty

We spent our first couple of days sightseeing the city - using the hop-on, hop-off Tour Bus, which at 12 euros for two days was a bargain

This really gave us a feel for what places we would want to explore in a bit more depth

Some of the views were stunning - like this one from Pico dos Barcelos

There was even a cable car

Rua Santa Maria, in Funchal Old Town was one where we spent a bit of time

“Arte de Portas Abertas” is a public art program that aims in transforming Funchal´s Old town into a permanent outdoor art gallery by displaying over 200 works of art, by guest artists, painted on the doors of Rua de Santa Maria.

The market - Mercado dos Lavradores - was another on our "must see" list

There is a huge variety of vegetables, exotic fruits and fish in a very picturesque setting near the Old Town.

There are two floors and a huge central courtyard, where vendors engage in a direct and personalized sale of day-to-day products

At the back section of the market, there is the fish market. Here we saw fish freshly caught from all over Madeira and brought here to sell

One of the most well known fish is the black scabbard fish with its huge eyes, razor sharp teeth and long eel like body. Its a deep sea fish that dies as it is brought up to the surface. Its white flesh is very tasty and is served all over Madeira grilled or fried with banana - a dish known as Espada. We had this quite a few times during our stay.

 

This park was another place on our "must-see" list



This public park has a huge variety of indigenous plants, an aviary with exotic birds ...

... there is also a Christopher Columbus Statue ...

... and a small lake with black swans - although the swans weren't there when we visited

For more photos of our hotels - Enotel and the Pestana (where we stayed on our "extra" day when our return flight was delayed) - see Our hotels