Madeira October 2022
Bedecked with dramatic cliffs, fertile mountains and sun-gorged beaches, Madeira is a lush, colourful island of plants, paradise and Portuguese-flavoured pleasures. Bathing in year-round sunshine, Funchal - the low key capital of Madeira - is perfect for slowing the pace, and toasting the thrilling scenery with a bottle of the island's famous wine. Narrow, cobblestone streets line the old town, where whitewash buildings, iron-wrought balconies, and tiled patterns carry echoes of Lisbon
The ship docked here before 11. Some guests disembarked here: There had been just 91 people on this first part of the first leg, changing to 135 between Madeira and Cap Verde. I played Trivia and we had a lecture by Manuel Jaramillo on ´Land of Fire. . Lunched in la Terraza and then went on an excursion ´Geology of the Origins' . We had a very good guide, Sergio, seemingly the head of the tour company. We drove straight to a very scenic peninsula at the northern end of the island where he unrolled a map and explained about the island´s volcanoes. Then we drove to a cafe for a pit stop where Roddy treated us to coffee and an ice cream before stopping at a hotel complex, with problems, where we walked down to a volcano by the water where we saw a cross section of the cone of the volcano, half of which had fallen into the sea.
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After this we stopped at the island´s concrete statue of Christ the Redeemer
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A quick briefing and then we dined in Hot Rocks
Thursday 6th October Funchal. Vineyard visit
Off early for an excursion to the Laurissilva Forest 4 wheel . 7 of us in a vehicle. We drove to a view point to the west of Funchal and then turned north to the centre of the island, where the temperature fell dramatically at the n N S divide of the island. Stopped at a cafe here for a pit stop and saw the water conduit system for transferring water from the rain soaked north to the dry south part of the island.
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Then downhill through vines for a while before turning off off road for a 10 to 15 minute forest drive.We could stand up during , this which was great. Then to a vineyard where we had a short walk through the vines before a tasting; the wines were below average but it was a pleasant experience. We were at the Quinta do Barbusano.
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Then back the short way across the island, through a 3 km tunnel, and many short ones. Once aboard ship, lunch, a swim, then bridge, tea and Trivia, Recap and Briefing. Dined in La Terraza