Northeast of Madeira

Day 3

The alarm rang quite early, it was still dark, but the home QiGong group started at 7 o'clock due to the time difference. Unfortunately, only half an hour for me, as we still wanted to have breakfast and should be ready at the door by 8:30 AM to start our excursion. A Mercedes luxury limousine with a chauffeur in a suit and tie picked us up. The bus couldn't drive down the narrow alley, so the man said. It was quite special to be brought to the meeting point like this. There, the other passengers of this travel group were waiting.

Then a first-class bus arrived – with cameras instead of side mirrors due to the narrow roads – and with a very fluent German-speaking tour guide.

It was a winding drive into the mountains up to 1818 meters. Up there, we were welcomed by fog and storm. I had great difficulty walking to the station with coffee and snacks. The cold wind made it only possible for me to walk the few meters to the door with my husband's help.

But after a Bica and a Pasteis de Nata, we made it to the exhibition room across the way. There, information was provided about the rare Madeira storm petrel, which breeds up here and covers incredible distances. To find food, it flies to Canada and back.

Then we went down to the northeast of the island by bus. The weather cleared up and there were beautiful rock formations to see, forests

as well as views of small villages. The bus took us to SANTANA. Here, the thatched-roof houses are still preserved, some of them painted in vibrant colors.

Some offered flower bulbs and seeds, others typical drinks and treats or embroidery works.

There was also plenty of dining and cafes here. Bica (espresso fits perfectly) and cake on the veranda were inviting. Since there was still time until the departure of the bus, we strolled around the village a bit. There were also abandoned and decaying houses on large overgrown properties.

The bus took us to the next stop at Porto da Cruz to a sugarcane processing distillery – rum is still made from it. However, we wanted to take a stroll along the promenade of the village first, past seawater swimming pools. Unfortunately, only the front area was accessible. The wind whipped the waves so high that the remaining path was closed. The spray was truly impressive, and we would have gotten completely soaked.

Therefore, straight to the distillery. Impressive barrels were there; we were allowed to visit the distillery because it was not yet the harvest season for sugarcane. Here, work takes place only from March to May. Our tour guide had organized not only a tasting glass for us but also cookies made with cane sugar. Both were delicious, but the dried banana chips were not for me.

On the way back towards Funchal, we made a small stop to take a picture of the sandy beach of Machico from above. The sand was brought in from Morocco.

Then past the airport runway, which stands on pillars in the sea – something the islanders are particularly proud of. Below, among other things, a dry dock has been created. This construction is definitely impressive. It is clear that pilots flying to Madeira need additional training – with the strong and changing winds here.

We were picked up by a minibus at the Hotel Ritz, which took us to our hotel. In the meantime, it started to drizzle and blow a bit. We prefer to enjoy dinner here in the house.

See you soon!