Tag 6: Goodbye Porto Santo - Good Morning Madeira!

21.7.2025

The night ends at 6:30. The breakfast buffet is not open yet at 7 o'clock, but we are allowed to quickly grab something to eat beforehand. 

The taxi picks us up promptly at 7:15 and the driver goes into gossip mode as we mention that we are not sure when exactly our flight to Madeira is leaving. 

He complains about the ferry and also about BINTER, which never sticks to its flight schedules. BINTER does whatever it wants and since everyone relies on them (quickly getting to Madeira for a doctor’s appointment can only be done with the fast island flights) and there are virtually no alternative flight options, the islanders feel powerless.

Well, great...

The ride to the airport takes less than 10 minutes; it’s still dark everywhere, but the main door opens. A handful of employees are preparing the shops, and there’s no one else around. 

The departure board shows in bright letters that BINTER is flying to Madeira at 9:30! Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr.....😤😡🤬

The flight schedule is very simple; today, 5 planes are departing!

So, it’s 7:30, which means we have 2 hours to wait... such a bother!

Getting upset doesn’t help, so we make the best of it, sit down at a table next to the café, and play a round of cards.

At 8:30, the counter opens and we want to check in our luggage. Looking at my email from BINTER, I go into shock:

I had to enter the passport numbers when I booked. I entered the passport numbers! The only one traveling with a passport is my son - we only have our ID cards with us!

In a cold sweat, I imagine we won’t be able to fly now, and I’m already considering booking two new seats - if there’s even anything available....

I don’t have much time to think because we are the second in line at the counter. The helpful man scans my son’s passport - all good, then my ID card - 'beep' - again... - 'beep'. Crap!
He sighs annoyed and types the ID card number into the computer, then prints my boarding pass. Phew!!!!!!!!!!!

The same procedure for my husband. Made it - we are all flying together to Madeira 😅😅😅

The turboprop plane is on the runway; we walk from the back to the plane and board from the back as well (I don’t think there is another entrance?)

We have seats with a view of the propeller. 

In just 15 minutes, we fly to Funchal/Madeira and land without any 'wind problems'. Honestly, I was a bit nervous about landing in Madeira since there are often problematic wind conditions there.

Our bags arrive quickly and we pick up our rental car at Guerin/Enterprise. We get a Peugeot 2008 with a few scrapes and nearly 40,000 km on the clock - in the color 'gold-orange' or whatever that is supposed to represent. 

This morning in Funchal, it’s fresh, and it’s drizzling as well. Actually, I was registered as the only driver, as I booked the rental car, but we invest the 90 € in a second driver (and that’s a good idea!).

I had no idea there were so many tunnels in Madeira! On the way to Calheta, for the next 50 minutes, we hardly see anything of the island as we’re basically just driving through tunnels. Crazy!

Especially, it seems that there is different weather behind every tunnel on the island! 

For example, Funchal: heavily clouded, drizzling rain, and 2 tunnels later, blue skies and sunshine! Crazy - it will probably be difficult to plan our outings according to the weather since apparently in every valley the weather is 'somehow different'.

The landlord of our holiday home is already on site (we can check in earlier than planned, which is nice) and has sent us the exact directions. I’m freaking out as the road gets steeper and narrower. Luckily, I’m not driving, and when we arrive at the house, I know for sure that I will never drive here! 

The house is great, a huge pool deck with a terrace & sea view, an outdoor kitchen, and outdoor bathroom, 3 bedrooms, living space, and a well-equipped kitchen. We are very satisfied!

Élvio, our landlord, shows us everything, gives us helpful tips, and says goodbye. We then drive down to the promenade to the supermarket. Wow, it’s crowded here! Only with luck do we find a parking space not too far from the supermarket. 

Our next problem: change! Parking spaces cost money, paid by a parking meter (with change). After we have exchanged money, we explore the promenade, check out the sandy beach, and walk through the harbor with restaurants.

Afterward, we go to the Pingo Dolce supermarket to shop. Here we discover many new and unknown things (dried fish, strange vegetables, unknown bread & sweets etc.).

With a full shopping cart, we leave the supermarket and chill for the rest of the day at the house by the pool. Calheta seems to be the sunny corner of the island. In the afternoon, the clouds have partially cleared, and it’s a proud +34 degrees outside, which I’m mildly overwhelmed by. 

Wasn't Madeira supposed to be 'cool'?? 

I really hope the temperatures drop in the evening since our house has no air conditioning 🥵

Well, this could be something since I don’t feel like hiking in over 30 degrees 🫣

For statistics:

Flew: Porto Santo - Funchal/Madeira / BINTER ATR 72-600                  Turboprop

(Seats 8 C/D/F) Flight duration 0h15 /  9:30-9:45

Walked: 6.8 km

Drove: 62.2 km

Overnight: Villa Cró in Calheta

Weather: A mix of clouds/sun & drizzling till +34 degrees