Blogs from Madeira, Madeira, Portugal, Europe

2nd May We get some beautiful skies in the morning and today was a very pretty pink one. Another hot & sunny day ahead. Benita and I set off early to visit the Botanical Gardens. Located at about three miles above the town center of Funchal, this park was inaugurated in 1960 on the grounds of Quinta do Bom Sucesso, previously owned by the Reid´s family. The “Jardim Botânico” houses a varied collection of botanical species from all over the world, some of which are endangered. We arrived just as a large group were entering the gardens but we managed to bypass them and the gardens soon felt as if we were the only ones there. Only two very small ships in port today so it continued to be very quiet our entire visit. The views ... read more

Olá! Bom dia! Jawel! We mogen weer! Op wat kleine en absoluut geslaagde uitstapjes na, is het alweer een hele tijd (lees: veel te lang) geleden dat ik me voor een langere periode buiten de grenzen van ons koninkrijk bevond – wintersport daargelaten. Ook leuk. Ik roep niet helemaal voor niets ‘we mogen weer’ want deze keer ga ik met een heuse groep op stap in het prachtige Madeira om daar het Portugese leven te proeven. Met de vele opties die onze blauwe planeet te bieden heeft, was het enigszins een dilemma – hoezo luxe probleem – om überhaupt een top 3 te maken, laat staan de spreekwoordelijk knoop door te hakken. Ik heb het dus wel gedaan en niet te lang gekeken naar de bijbehorende kosten…Ach, dan maar een maandje geen boodschappen doen... Wie mij ... read more

The island of the levadas - that pretty much sums up a big part of the hiking trail network on Madeira. These water carrying, tunnel passing, the fields irrigating, hiker pleasing channels, formerly built by slaves, are a sight itself and should be at least one part of any Madeira itinerary. We saw several of them - Levada dos Balcoes, from Ribeiro Frio to Portela, the Levada do Norte to Cabo Girao, the Levada Nova and the Levada do Moinho, and the Levada da Serra. Each of them, all accessible by public transport, was special in its own way: - Ribeiro Frio to Portela: starts easy through a forest in Ribeiro Frio, passes walls of green with a bit of running water, has several smaller tunnels with steep descents right next to the path, and ends ... read more

Two things have struck me in nine years traveling to Madeira: 1) how amazing the roads are and 2) how few visitors take advantage of them. Some of the roads are quite epic, whether sweeping clifftop coastal roads or traversing the steep valley walls of the interior and, outside of the main towns, you have these roads largely to yourself. Both the quality of the roads and the scenery that surrounds them make Madeira a driving destination in its own right. Yes, Madeira for a fly-drive holiday First thing to mention are the highways or 'Auto-estrada'. Huge sums of public money have been spent making more of the island accessible, and the only way to put expressways through such difficult terrain (Madeira is essentially a mountain serrated by valleys) is bridge-tunnel-bridge-tunnel. Each and every metre of ... read more

Madeira - Day 10 We quickly disembarked so we catch the cable car to Monte before the tour buses arrived, and as we rode up in the first chairlift of the day it started to drizzle, at this stage we had no idea of what was to follow. We made our first mistake when we reached Monte, we decided to stop and admire the great views over a coffee. The tour groups over took us and we ended up in a huge line for the wicker taboggan ride back down the mountain. As we inched forward in the line, the rain fell heavier and heavier until it turned into a heavy tropical downpour. Ron kept telling me it would be worth the wait as it was such fun riding in the taboggan. After standing in the ... read more