The Trip Back Home

On Friday between leaving our room at twelve and the taxi to the airport at three we spent time on the hotel roof and ate lunch at Cachalot. Marveling at how three waitresses handle a big room. Smooth flight to Madrid. 5-minute taxi to the very adequate Ibis hotel where they quickly moved us to a room with 2 beds because the first room only had a double bed. It was an extra pleasure not to have to get Covid tested on the morning of our flight. that would have added a lot of time tension. Good flight to New York. Exceptionally good views of Long Island on the way to JFK, all the way from Montauk, including Three Mile Harbor in East Hampton. Good taxi to East 20th. Good bed for surprisingly good night's sleep. Shocked to find that someone had sneaked an exotic ananas-banana fruit into the US in Emma's luggage. Unfortunately, the little we ate was not special.

Thanks to Emma for discovering Madeira and carrying me through the levadas and veredas. Once again I had a long vacation in a foreign country without any money in my pocket.

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We Go South

 On Thursday we explored the southwest coast, after reaching it on a fog-free drive through the mountains.

All these taxi drives started about 9AM and finished about 4 hours later for 100 Euros.

It is banana land, whole mountain sides planted with a tree that takes three years to produce a single crop, after which it is cut down. We went from Calheta to Magdalena De Mar to Ponta Do Sol to Ribeira Brava before returning to Porto Moniz. 

In Magdalena De Mar we walked a few kilometers along the seafront and its black stone beach. Ponta Do Sol was a little gem of a port with a nice pedestrian bridge to the lava rock in the ocean. 400 inhabitants, one of whom served us excellent fresh orange juice at a cafe. Ribeira Brava is a bigger town on the coast with 14,000 inhabitants, including our driver, Aries. We just cruised through it. The weather was sunny, the warmest day yet but not too hot. As always, spectacular sights, both natural and engineered.

After dinner at the hotel we went to the spot Emma had chosen as the best for sunset viewing.

Before descending to the south coast we examined the beginning of a spectacular mountain vereda which would have taken us down the mountain but Danny wanted something easier.. 

Beginning of the rejected stairway. You reach the first step by hanging on to that flexible plant stalk.

Signs of the rejected stairway

Our driver, Aries, points to a map of the rejected stairway

Fairly ugly Calheta, where concrete sea wall blocks view

Calheta promenade

I can't remember what Emma was pointing to - and she's napping.

Madlena do Mar

Boat feeding fish at fish farm on the way to Madalena do Mar

Interior of old cactus on the way to Madalena do Mar

Closeup

Madalena do Mar's black stone beach. Bananas on the hills.

Russian oligarchs

Madalena do Mar

Two tunnels visible at end of our Madalena do Mar walk. (Second one is just right of blue arrow) Bananas on the hills.

The pickup after our walk

On to Ponta do Sol

Waterfall/carwash on the way (mirror image)

Ponta do Sol

Ponta do Sol bridge to rock

Ponta do Sol as seen from bridge/rock

Interior of Ponta do Sol. Orange juice stop in back.

Woodworking on bench in Ponta do Sol

Road view after Ponta do Sol

How much of this can one take?

I almost forgot. When walking to the rock bridge in Ponta do Sol I looked up a side street and, for a split second, I thought these were statues of the Virgin Mary seen from the back.
Time to head back to "civilization." Tomorrow we fly to Madrid and the next day we fly to New York.

Emma's sunset spot

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High Fog, Low Sun

Wednesday we planned a hike on the high plain of Fanal but when we arrived on an exciting, curvy, foggy drive, heavy fog made it impossible to walk. Emma had a backup plan to ride a gondola at another spot. That turned out to be a life saver. It went almost straight down to an otherwise inaccessible, sunny seaside area and a beautiful long walk with cliffs on one side, ocean on the other and narrow old cultivated fields alongside, with occasional small stone "shacks" now used as weekend houses - and very few other people. We finished the four-hour session with a visit to a lighthouse viewing point and another viewing point over Porto Moniz where we are staying. then, lunch at a decent restaurant, nap, and good news from Amir that the US no longer requires covid testing for entry. We had tests lined up for Friday morning at Madrid airport before we fly back that day. Also, from Madeira to Madrid we don't need to get the QR certification to enter Spain because we are only going from one EU country to another. For the rest of the day, who knows? We might even do nothing.

As it turns out, nothing was too much to hope for. Emma led the way into the center from the hotel and, on the grounds of the improved lava swimming pools, found the best place to sit and watch the sun go down over the Atlantic. Not quite until sunset.

The hotel placed a cautionary sign to keep oblivious guests from walking over its floral first anniversary celebration.

From the top of the gondola location downward you can see the terrain where we walked at the very bottom.

Descending

Walking

Walking

Walking

Walking

Standing

Wild grapes

Figs

Cactus

Flowers

Vegetation

Habitation

Elevation

Next stop - lighthouse

Next stop - panoramic view of Porto Moniz. Our hotel is the large brown building in the upper right.

Part of lunch, my tuna steak, my share of Emma's enormous fish stew. Fried maize cubes in upper left, beloved potatoes above.

One of many Portuguese white wines we have enjoyed.

Best passion fruit pudding so far. It had the fruit inside the pudding, not just as a sauce.

Rust

Tourist art

The enhanced lava pools

End of day in sunset viewing spot found by Emma (selfie makes this a mirror image)

American Pharaoh

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