Funcahl; Sunday, 04 March, 2018

I’d had an email overnight from the company running todays tour confirming that I would be collected at 08:30, so I had an early breakfast and was down outside the hotel ready to be collected when the minibus arrived.

After a couple of stops at other hotels to pick up the other guests for the tour, we headed out West along the South coast to start the tour in Câmara de Lobos before heading up to the viewpoint at Cabo Girão.

From Cabo Girão it was then a very pretty ride down the side of the mountain towards the coast at Ribeira Brava where we had a 30-minute stop, enough time to have a wander round the town and take in the key sights – including the impressive views along the coast in both directions and the very pretty church sunken down from the road.

The next part of the tour was supposed to be up into the mountains and then a 20 minute or so walk along a Lavada. Unfortunately, due to the storms the previous Wednesday many of the mountain routes were still closed with landslides and rockfalls making all bar one route impassable. The route that was open was much longer, and with the poor weather at the top of the mountains, it meant there wasn’t time – or really the conditions – to do the Lavada walk part of the tour. Instead we went on a very pretty drive up through the only open mountain route and back down towards the North Coast at Porto Moniz, stopping on the road just outside of, but high above, the town to take in the stunning views.

Down in Porto Moniz we had the included lunch in a pleasant restaurant overlooking the natural swimming pools – rock pools that have been carved out by the actions of the sea over years and now form sea water swimming baths, albeit closed today as the seas were still really rough.

After lunch we had a bit of time to wander around the town before heading back to the bus and continuing along the North coast, taking the modern highway, but occasionally catching glimpses of the former coast road that wound its way round the edges of the cliffs, that had been the main way of getting round the island up until 2005!

Just outside Seixal we stopped on a small part of the old coast road that has been retained as a viewing platform to take in a stunning waterfall that cascades over the old road and to see how in just over 10 years much of the road has been swallowed up by cliff falls and erosion.

Back on the road and we headed to the town of São Vicente for the last stop of the day and a long look round this pleasant little town. It sits on a river valley surrounded on both sides by high cliffs that protect it from the winds, which meant in the sun it was a really pleasant and warm sun trap.

From São Vicente we headed back South the quick way along the main highway that passes through the mountains in modern tunnels that knock hours off the previous times to cross the island that involved heading up over mountain passes.

Back in Funchal I headed back to the hotel, freshened up and then headed out for dinner in the Old town before returning to the hotel and turning in ready for an early start the next day.