Weather or Not - 10/19/13

Since our interactive tv still doesn't work, and since the weather line on the phone still doesn't work, I stopped off at the purser's desk to find out what the weather forecast is for today so I would know how to dress for our tour of Madeira. The young lady reached for the Princess Patter to read me the forecast. The Princess Patter is the daily newsletter which is printed the day before and delivered to your room in the evening so you will know what is happening the following day. In other words, the weather information in the Princess Patter is OLD. I said, no, I didn't want to know what the Patter says, I wanted a new weather report. Since they know that many TVs aren't working and the weather line on the phone isn't working, perhaps they had obtained a current weather forecast from the bridge? No, and they can't call the bridge now since we are approaching port. They did call our room 30 minutes later with weather information (partly cloudy and high of 77), so it isn't a lost cause.

As we approached the port of Funchal, I was startled to see a fairly large city perched on the side of a mountain with dramatic cliffs everywhere.

Funchal in the early morning hours

Madeira is part of that same Mid-Atlantic tectonic ridge that we encountered in Iceland where the North American and Eurasian plates are pulling apart. Thus, everything is volcanic and relatively new, geologically speaking (but not as new as Iceland).

Madeira is an autonomous part of Portugal with a population of 280,000. It is neat and tidy and prosperous looking. All the houses are either white or cream with dark green doors and shutters and terra cotta roofs. Every spare bit of ground is cultivated for some useful crop. Instead of lawns, most houses had yards full of banana trees and grapevines. They export a lot of bananas, most of them grown in fairly small patches.

Because it is so hilly and rugged, most of the hills are terraced to allow for extra space for planting. There are four vegetation zones. From sea level to 400 meters one finds tropical plants such as bananas, sugar cane, avocados, and flowers. the next level contains things like potatoes and sweet potatoes and grapes. The third level, which the guide called "endemic," consists of members of the laurel family. The fourth level, mostly above the tree-line, the guide called "areca."

From Funchal, the capital, we headed out over steep, narrow, winding roads with unbelievable hairpin curves, to a quaint fishing village called Camara de Lobos, named after seals in that area. 

Everything seemed well-maintained. The houses were in good condition and there wasn't much trash in evidence. It was Saturday, so the fisherman were mostly just hanging out in the central areas of the town. 

 

We continued on to the villages of Cabo Girao and Ribiera Brava and saw some pretty churches - not that old or large, but very picturesque. Then we crossed over the middle of the island on steeper, curvier roads, climbing through the different levels of vegetation and seeing more terraced farms on even steeper slopes. I don't think Portuguese has a word for "guardrail." We also saw "levadas," aqueducts still in use.

We eventually ended up on the northwest corner of the island in Porto Moniz. We had lunch there. We tried the local fish - black scabbard with banana. It was good, but maybe a little tough.

Black scabbard

Activities across the street from our restaurant

Yes, that is a tunnel at the end of the road

We had to cross the central mountain range again to get back to Funchal, but we took a different route. 

We stopped at several interesting rock formations

A Madeiran cow welcomes our bus

There were a lot of cows on the road at the higher elevations. Apparently there aren't any wild mammals or reptiles except some form of porcupine. 

Where we have been and where we are going

On the way back we passed through at least a dozen long tunnels through the mountains, and over many new bridges across steep valleys. The Madeirans have put a lot of money into their transportation infrastructure.

A popular "sport" in Madeira is racing in a wicker basket on wooden runners (like a sled has), being pulled by men wearing white clothing and straw hats. We didn't take this tour, so don't ask me where this came from.

We boldly tried out an indoor basket sled

In addition to wine and port, there is a popular local drink called "poncha." It is a fruit-flavored liqueur or punch, I think. We bought some, but I haven't tasted it yet.

Tourists from Europe come here a lot, mostly to go "trekking" in the mountains, alongside the levadas. There are lots of trails following some sort of water channels that were built for irrigation and hydroelectric power. There are also opportunities for windsurfing and such. Most of the beaches were rather rocky, but we did see a black sand beach. The weather is always moderate, but they do tend to get big storms.

Adeus, Madeira

All in all, Madeira was a delightful place with dramatic scenery. We really enjoyed our visit.

In the evening there was a "mindreader" performance on the ship. We didn't go to see him.