Island Tour
Ile Jeudi
Bob and Lin Griffiths
Thu 9 Aug 2012 16:23
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Thursday 9 August 2012
We did a couple of local bus trips around the town
over the last couple of days and today we took a mini bus tour of the west
of Madeira. We were collected from the hotel about 8.30am and went on to
collect 3 more couples. The driver waited for the last couple to fail to
turn up at their hotel and we finally got going about 9.30.
The first town west of Funchal is Camara de Lobos
which apparently is where Winston Churchill often came to paint after the
Second World War. They play heavily on this and even named a restaurant
after him.
Camara de Lobos:-
 The area with trees at the high point used to have
houses but had become a drug trading area so a couple of years ago the
government pulled them down and planted a garden instead!
The coast farther west is quite dramatic -
this is Ribeira Brava on the coast looking inland to the long, steep
ride up through the centre to a high plateau:-
 We eventually reached Porto Moniz which is a small
town with a smaller harbour on the north west tip of the island. The north
coast is exposed to the prevailing winds but it was very still
today which made it a very pleasant place to be.
Looking down to Porto
Moniz:-
 There are very few beaches in Madeira and they are
usually rocky. In Porto Moniz they filled in between the rocks
to create a safe swimming area:-
 This was our lunch stop and we were immediately
visited by lizards who happily will come up to your hands, presumably hoping for
food. This one took an interest in my hat later poking it's nose into the
vent holes:-
 Part of the lush north coast:-
 And the steep cliffs right to the water's
edge:-
 Little villages on the north coast such as Sao
Vicente have been inaccessible for those working in Funchal until the
recent additions to the tunnel system. We met people who have now
bought houses here because they are cheaper than in the capital and getting
to work has become a practical proposition.
In the centre of Sao Vicente:-
 The tour ended at about 5pm when we were taken back
to our hotel but was really worthwhile. It's such a pretty island and the
people are very friendly, perhaps even more so than in mainland Portugal which
is saying a lot.
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