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Funchal, Madeira
Sunday 23rd December 2012
The South-East quarter of Madeira
Up at 0725 & an amazing Sunrise but clear sky behind it. We were really rather late to Madeira.
Funchal panorama
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Our tour had been readjusted to muster at 1310. This did not leave time to go out before an early lunch, so we only had an effective half-day in Madeira. We were booked on a tour up the Pico di Areeiro, the second highest hill at 1800 odd metres. Funchal is fairly steep & the roads twist & turn up the hill. We stopped at a 'Peace Memorial' put up in 1917. This was a gross Mary statue with a more attractive little chapel beside it. |
The Peace Memorial |
The Peace Memorial Chapel |
Panorama of Funchal from the Peace Memorial
Then, the road wound up through woods to a sort of plateau but with huge gorges cut down in it. The harder (slower cooling) rock survives but the softer stuff had long been washed away. There was a radome on the summit, a café & a research centre for the petrels, once thought extinct but now, there are a reasonable number of breeding pairs, although they only have one chick at a time. The views were splendid & although the air temperature was in the early twenties, there was plenty of wind chill, as we looked down on wind turbines.
On the way up, showing the erosion |
The "Nun's Valley" from the top |
The path to the highest peak |
Panorama South-East from Areeiro with the "Desert Islands" in the distance
A better view of the "Desert Islands" |
The view to the East from Areeiro |
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On the different way back, we stopped at Camacha (right), where they tried to sell us baskets of wicker, the local industry (impossible to get home if you wanted one!), gave us tea & cake & put on one of the best folklore dance sessions we have ever seen but there was otherwise, much of interest: a modern church with the usual tacky but well done Xmas stuff. In a marquee, there was a Festival of Agriculture & Crafts. |
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 The view down from Camacha |
Camacha Church |
Camacha Church interior |
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Above: The usual tacky but well done Xmas tableaux in the church Below: The Agricultural & Craft Festival | ||
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Back to the port quite quickly on their mostly-in-tunnel motorway.
Funchal Front in evening light
After dinner (osso buco done very well) I went on top to photo the lights, as we sailed at 8 when it was quite dark.
Funchal Front at night
More pictures of Madiera: Highest cliff & Câmara de Lobos Funchal & Along a Levada Funchal & the replica Santa Maria
Contact: Ken Baldry at 17 Gerrard Road, Islington, London N1 8AY +44(0)20 7359 6294 or e-mail him
URL: http://www.art-science.com/Tourism/Cruises/CV2012/CV2.html Last revised 7/1/2013 ©2013 Ken Baldry. All rights reserved.