Today we took a bus excursion in and around Funchal, Maderia, Portugal. This island is about 600 miles southwest of mainland Portugal. Once we got off the ship, as you might guess from the photo, the only way to go is up,or up, or up. The he change in elevation was enough for my ears to pop a couple of times and we did get into some low hanging cloud. And the roads...
other than being well paved, these are the most tortuous roads that I think we have been on – including Italy, Germany, Peru, and Alaska
. Those other places had sections of hairpin turns and steep embankments, but here they are continuous.
We were surprised at the vegetation here – eucalyptus, grapes of course, Chiquita bananas, sugar cane, mango, four crops per year of potatoes, and flowers including bird of paradise, bougainvillea, acacia, poinsettias and nasturtiums that grow like weeds. Housing and crops are very dense but looking well maintained. The climate is temperate and the primary industry is
tourism. We tried the local drink called Poncha, which is a mix of local rum, lemon, lemon peel, and honey, accompanied by walnut and chestnut flavored sweet buns. We stopped at the second highest cliff in the world and at a fishing village for photo ops.
Right now we are hearing the ships horn and seeing the pier buildings pass by as we sail on to Spain. So time to assemble some pictures and post this note.
Day 10 - Apr 8
Saturday, April 08, 2017
Funchal, Madeira Islands, Portugal
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Comments

2025-02-15
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Rose Ault
2017-04-09
It looks like you back-track now and then. How do they terrace those hills? I can't even fix my little hill to look like that. Also, I am wondering just how big is that island is. This looks like a very interesting trip. However those roads wouldn't be for me. :) Love and enjoy the rest of the trip. Rose