Monte Palace Tropical Gardens

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4th May

As we have booked 2 tours through Jet2 we received a half day tour free so Benita & I took the free option.

Sergio was our driver, our first stop was a viewpoint overlooking Funchal, a different one to the previous tour. I enjoyed admiring the swan agave as much as the view.

Next we had a stop in the village of Garajau, the home of our driver.



Situated here is the statue of Christ the King of Garajau, one of the most emblematic monuments on the east coast.

The statue of Christ the King of Garajau was erected in honour of the Sagrado Coração de Jesus. It’s inauguration took place on the 30 October 1927.



The statue was designed by the French sculptor Georges Serraz. The Christ the King viewpoint also allows you to see part of Funchal bay.

There was time to climb up to the statue and although we didn’t, you could take the cable car down to the beach & back again.



Our next stop was Monte, we decided to make our own way and leave the tour as we wanted to spend time in the Monte Palace Tropical Gardens, returning to Funchal via the cable car. We bid farewell to Sergio our driver.



The wicker toboggans were all lined up ready to take the tourists on a thrilling ride down the hill. David & i had done this many years ago and Benita was happy to give it a miss. Phew !



Time for a coffee before starting our exploration of the beautiful Tropical Gardens.

The African soapstone sculpture exhibitions I remembered from a previous visit but ‘Mother Nature’s Secrets’ - Wow! This is a stunning exhibition of about 700 mineral specimens, mainly from Brazil although others come from South Africa, Peru, Portugal, Argentina, Zambia and North America.

Truly amazing to see.



We started to wend our way through the different areas of the garden, not so many colourful plants at this point but they will come later, for now all the Japanese Gardens went down well with Benita.



interesting characteristics of the Monte Palace is the existence of a large collection of tile panels placed along the walkways and amongst the vegetation.



The central lake soon came into view, I spotted a pink flamingo briefly only for it to disappear but the swans and ducks weren’t so camera shy.



It was a nice place to sit and admire the beauty of these beautiful gardens with history dating back over several hundreds of years.



In the 18th century the English Consul Charles Murray, bought a property south of the church in "Monte" and transformed it into a beautiful estate, then called "Quinta do Prazer" (The Pleasure Estate).



In 1897, Alfredo Guilherme Rodrigues acquired the forenamed estate and, inspired by the palaces that he once saw on the margins of the Rhine River, he built a palace-like residence which was later converted into a Hotel. In 1943, Rodrigues passed away. Unfortunately his family did not pursue his undertaking, consequently leading to the closing of the hotel.



In 1987, The Financial Institution sold the Monte Palace Hotel to the entrepreneur José Manuel Rodrigues Berardo. This was how the "Monte Palace Madeira" originated.



Continuing on we came to a small cafe, time for a light snack and a rest overlooking the bay.



More Japanese gardens, koi carp, beautiful orchids, & strelizia beds so full of colour.



We made our way back to the central lake with it’s waterfall cascading over the parapet and picked up a ride back up to the top in a little Rolls Royce. A very happy driver who sang all the way back. Well worth the 5 Euro just for the singing!



No queues at the cable car and before long we were back down in Funchal where we met up with David for a well needed ice cream.



It’s been a little overcast today but still nice and warm, not looking forward to returning to all the rain forecast next week but we’ve still 3 days left.

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