Enseada das Cagarras, Selvagem Grande 30:08.4N 15:52.3W
Brindabella's Web Diary
Simon Williams
Sun 25 Oct 2009 17:30
Share:
We are anchored off a little rocky cove on the SW corner of Selvagem Grande, the largest of the Islas Selvagens (Salvage Islands). We are nervously listening to our anchor chain dragging across the rocky bottom, praying that the anchor itself is holding. These islands are a nature reserve and we had to obtain permission to stop here from the National Parks head office in Madeira. The islands are volcanic, rocky and barren - sometimes it does not rain for 3 years. There are only two dwellings on the island for the national park wardens, who get relieved every 3 weeks by the Portuguese Navy. Hopefully we will have time tomorrow to do a walk with the wardens on the island, and also do some snorkeling. Apparently in the cove here is a vast school of Barracuda! The islands are an important nesting place for Cory's Shearwaters, White-faced petrals and Berthelot's Pipit.
Next stop will be an anchorage on the southern coast of the small island of Grasciosa, just north of Lanzarote.
