São Vicente is another town — or village, we are not quite sure — in the Northern part of Madeira. The main attraction there is the caves in the mountain — the caves are actually lava tubes from the volcanic eruptions that once created the island. A visitors centre has been set up now — with the compulsory souvenir shop that sells a random collection of pricey stuf: all from poncha sticks, to Madeira wine, to images of volcanoes and […]
Only a little further away from Funchal than a stone’s throw, Câmara de Lobos is probably one of our favourite towns so far visited on Madeira.
Paúl da Serra is the top plateau on the middle of the island. I can tell you one thing: it doesn’t feel tropical here, and your ears will probably have popped several times on the way up. Where there were palmtrees there are now wind mills and fog, fog and more fog over a rocky landscape.
Jardim do Mar is not actually listed in our guide book, but our guide book has picked the most touristy spots on the island, only, so we are happy to leave the guide a bit behind. Why exactly Jardim do Mar became a destination, we cannot say. But lunch time was approaching, we weren’t hungry and decided to go somewhere close for a stroll first.
We are exploring the southern part of Madeira now. On Christmas Day, when most everything is closed, we somehow end up at a place named Boa Morte — “the Good Death”. It is a small village, placed high up on the mountain side. A trail goes from here: we can either follow the levadas to the next village, or we can walk down the steep mountain side through narrow streets down to the city — Ribeira Brava — “the Wild […]