Madeira - Day 5

What a relief not to find myself sharing my shower with a cockroach on our final day. Headed off very early to take advantage of the morning sun. Apparently it rains in the mountains early afternoon. We made our way to the much talked about Curral das Freiras. Again the mountain road was spectacular. We headed for the lookout, Eira do Serrado, which is high up above the village and looks down into the valley of the nuns (its famous name). Amazingly dramatic views, and just a short walk to the lookout point (Miradouro) from the car park. Wow!!!!! Glorious sunshine, beautiful views and fab company, couldn't be better! There is a cafe/restaurant, hotel, toilet and gift shop by the car park. Curral das Freiras is famous for its chestnuts; taste some chestnut liqueur, chestnut cakes, bread etc while your there. You can pick up some chestnut liqueur from the airport on the way home. There is a walk from this car park down to the village which looks like it has become very touristy. You can also drive down to the village, although there does not look as if there would be much parking down there. We would have liked to walk down but had other places to visit before the afternoon rain set in. We will definately do this walk next time we go. There is a market in this little village on a Sunday if you like hustle and bustle.

Seeing as we had glorious sunshine we decided to be brave and take another attempt to see the supposed breathtaking views of Pico do Ariero. WOW, WOW, WOW!!!! what a magnificent difference the weather had made. Not a cloud in the sky (maybe a few) We walked along a man made path that runs along the ridge to a lookout. Carried on for a while, probably walked a mile and then started to head back as the afternoon cloud and mist was due to arrive. We were very lucky we went when we did; as soon as we got back we couldn't see in front of our nose for the thick cloud and mist. This was certainly one of my most favourite, most spectacular views I have ever seen and recommend everyone to go and visit this (even if you have difficulty walking because you don't have to do any walking to be impressed by this, just simply get out of the car/bus)

We headed back towards home and made a pit stop at Monte seeing as it is such a quaint village. Had a relaxing walk in the gardens and had food. Perfect end to a fantastic day. Went back to hotel and went out for food and well earn't drinks.

Already decided to try to go back next year! If you like walking, gardens, mountains, historic towns, brandy, etc then you will love to visit Madeira! Book now! When we go back we won't be going back to Canico de Baxio or Hotel Tropical. Will think about finding something in Funchal. Something a bit more central with more options for eating and drinking out.

A word of advice, if you hire a car and you have to take it back with the tank full, keep an eye out for the petrol stations because they seem quite rare when you're rushing to find one on the way back to the hire car depot to catch you flight on time.

Madeia Day 4

A rather unpleasant start to the day; waking up to sharing a shower with an unwanted giant cockroach. We called reception thinking that they would send a muscular 6 ft man down to wrestle with it, a small young lady came instead. She shut the bathroom door and after 5 seconds there was a flush of the toilet and this lady left our room. She had gotten rid of the roach with her bare hands. Very brave if you ask me, needless to say I spent as little time as possible in the hotel room for the remainder couple of days. The roach was no reflection of the hotel as you can obviously get cockroaches in the poshest of hotels in this type of climate. We finally made an escape (still early) towards Serra de Agua and Baca de Encumada. The drive was another spectacular one. We stopped at Bacca de Encumada and could see all the way to Sae Vincente (North coast). This small place (lay by) was crowded with bus loads of tourists. Luckily the levada walk spotting many lizards basking in the sun and flowers in full bloom. We followed the trail for about a mile each way although if you wanted you could follow the path for miles if you have the time, but when you are trying to see as much of this lucious island in the space of 5 days it is near impossible to complete the full length of the walks. There are simply too many walks to do in 5 days. However at least there are always new walks to do every time you go back to this island on holiday.

We followed the coast road to Sae Vincante with breath taking scenery. The North of the island sees a lot of rain and therefore it is cloudy and quite dull but none the less beautiful! We stopped at Seixal beach- one of the first sandy beaches we had come across (apart from Funchal) both with black sand. Drove to Porto Moniz - A little resort full of rock pools which have been made bigger so that public can swim in them. There are a few cafes here and an aquarium.

We then drove inland to Rabacal which was very high up. Parked for free and walked down the never ending windy road to the start of the Risca waterfall walk. There are a few waterfall walks of varied lengths here. Be prepared to walk back up the never ending windy road to the car. Although if you cant face it, there is a mini bus that goes back and fore continually for a small price. Not sure if that service is available all year round. Again the scenery was amazing. I didn't think I would ever recover from the walk back to the top. We drove home, had food and collapsed after another fantastic day on the island to prepare for the finally day of adventures.