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Published: January 31st 2011
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dredging
one of the canals in funchal We've been to Madeira four times now and we still love it. This time we're here for three months. Long enough to feel a bit what it's like really living here.
Half of that period has passed, and we're already sure we're going to have a hard time leaving in the end. Like we did last year.
Though at that time we were very lucky leaving at the time we did. Just three days before the big cloudburst hit Madeira. When all the canals overflowed and the entire downtown of Funchal was flooded with water and mud and rocks.
Ribeira Brava, a small seaside town to the West of Funchal, was hit the worst. There a rocky gorge brings the water from the mountains in the middle of the island to the sea. This worked just fine for centuries, until the population started growing, and tourism was seriously developed. From then on construction was going on everywhere. Madeira has some very steep slopes. In fact the whole island is one big slope, from the sea to the high peaks inland of the old extinct vulcanic mountain range.
To accommodate for the construction of houses and roads, mountain streams and rivers
were canalised, built over with bridges and access roads to buildings, etc. Because all this energy going into construction of new, maintenance of the exisiting was pretty much neglected. For instance, the canals in Funchal hadn't been dredged for years, while the rain kept carrying mud, and grit and small and big boulders down from the mountains, clogging the canals more and more. Making it easier for them to overflow during excessive rainfall.
All this making the flooding of last year an accident waiting to happen.
A cloudburst of just four hours, and their lives were turned upside down. Some have lost their houses, and are still living with relatives, because the insurance company didn't pay out 100%. Shops and restaurants, whole shopping malls, had to close and clean out for at least a month, before being able to open again. The streets have been cleaned of all the mud and debris in a joint effort by many Madeirans. Some shops and restaurants have stayed closed because their owners went bankrupt. And many Madeirans lost their lives.
It was a catastrophic and devastating event for the Madeirans.
They may have learned a lesson, because now we see they
are dredging the canals and carrying away the rocks and boulders to use elsewhere. In road construction, but also to enlarge the beach. This has become higher and wider, not more beautiful :-(
We've had our share of rain again this time. Just this last week a depression was hanging over Madeira and rain was pouring down. A good thing they had already removed so many rocks from the canals, so they didn't overflow. But they'll have to keep at it, in the sense that each time the bottom is getting higher, they'll have to start dragging and dredging. Imagine the cost of all that. But then, imagine the cost if they don't do it. Already tourism is down from last year, which is their main source of income. They have to keep up their image as a wonderful holiday destination. Eternal springtime, floating flowerpot, shopping paradise...
As far as we are concerned, they're doing a good job, and we'll keep coming back as long as we have money to spend and legs to walk.
We came before Christmas and this is a wonderful time to be here with all the lovely decorations and lighting and music
in the streets. Culminating in a spectacular fireworks display on New year's Eve. The best and biggest in the world, they say here. But I've heard a rumour that Rio de Janeiro claims the same. And some of the Portuguese will agree with that.
Last week we took a local bus to Curral das Freiras, the Nuns' Valley. This is a village up in the mountains (633 m) surround by even higher mountain peaks.
Going there and back is hair raisingly spectacular, as are most trips on the island, to tell the truth. Most of the roads are winding and narrow and either going steeply up or down hill. And driving is practically always scary, but the views are worth it.
The bus drivers all end up as Formula 1 drivers. According to the bus schedule, the drive was supposed to take an hour and fifteen minutes. Our driver managed to do it in under an hour. In spite of having to slow down, because his gears messed up half way down the long tunnel just before the end of the trip, and we ended up rattling into Curral in a snail's pace.
Curral thrives on spectacular views
and chestnuts. The village istself is pretty nondescript. No picturesque alleyways or quaint little houses, just lots of snack bars and restaurants catering for the busloads of tourists that must arrive daily during all seasons. Winter being the low season, they were all trying very hard to lure us into their establishment, with promises of all sorts of chestnut goodies. As if they didn't all have more of the same.
We chose one with a lovely view from the terrace and had a reasonable lunch with a good wine. I had a chestnut soup, which was really just a thick soup with chestnuts in it. Nothing to come back for.
On the trip back, we had another Formula 1 driver. Going down most of the time he drove even sharper and faster than the first one, and we got back in Funchal in 50 minutes. Maybe they get a bonus for every minute they arrive earlier than scheduled.
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