Western Madeira

Sunday, July 28, 2019 Day 17

Running out of days! Sunday. Church bells played an extended chorus this morning. Got up to a clouds but our plan was to head up the west side of the island that is the sunniest side. The first stop was Cabo Girao, a lookout with a glass floor that extended out over a cliff that went down 580 m. Some of us didn't like the concept and others were good with it despite the crack in one piece of the glass and a bit of shaking.

The road deteriorated from this point. Windy, narrow, and with cliffs that dropped straight down into the sea. We reached Ribero Brava, a pretty little, ocean front, small town at the end of a ravine. Back in the car, heading west, and into a 3 km. long tunnel. Madeira has over 100 tunnels covering more than 140 km. Felt like we did many of them today. The option, sometimes, was a winding narrow road that went along the cliff and other times there was no option...just the main road or the old road.

Our next destination was Ponta do Sol, the sunniest area on the island. There was no option but the old road so we headed through tunnels that had been carved out of the rock with water dripping from the ceiling through water that was coming over the cliff. Our lunch stop was a place that Dave had read about that was populated by locals and fish. He had a big platter of limpits, a Madeira favorite. We wandered through a banana plantation after lunch and then headed on out west. Lots of bananas up this way as well as tomatoes, squash, and grapes.

Paul do Mar was a very small town known for surfing. Many of the streets were just pedestrian and ended in a harbour with a mix of traditional and more modern fishing boats. Behind it was a waterfall that dropped probably 500 m.

Onward to the Ponta do Largo lighthouse, Madeira's most westerly point. The new road hasn't gotten that far so the only option was the narrow twisting road. The roads are beautiful, lined with blue and white agapanthus and hydrangea for miles. The view from the lighthouse up and down the coast was spectacular and then there was the concept that there was nothing between us and the Southern US to the west or south to Antarctica.

Time to head back through the tunnels, along the main road when possible, and home. Lucas has just started to use a camera, even tho he has had a little help the rest of these pics are some of ones he took today.