I’m sure you will be absolutely sick to death of hearing about my trip to Madeira. What with all my blog posts, twitter updates and instagram posts I’ve not stopped banging on about it, so soz #sorrynotsorry. My last post is all about our full day Safari road trip of the East Coast, Madeira. The more rugged side of the island. We ummed and ahhed about whether we should do the East or West but after chatting with a local guide it seemed that East was more suited to what we were looking for, plus James wanted to go to one of the highest points on the island, Pico do Arieiro (I think Mr C has a serious thing for heights?)
We started the tour from our hotel at 8am. With it being a jeep safari there was only six of us, nice & snug in the back of the jeep we headed up to a viewing point to look down on the old town of Madeira. We’d seen this similar sight from different angles through the week and this was one of my favourites. The town was still pretty sleepy when we were up there so it was really peaceful. We stayed there for about twenty minutes just taking it in, watching a ship dock in the harbour. Perfection!
We then made our ascent to Pico do Arieiro, through Madeira’s National Parks, farms and coastal Levada trails. At this point of the island has an altitude of 1818 metres it is the third highest peak on the island which offers the most breathtaking views if you pick a good day. We were very lucky, it was the first day in weeks that there was hardly any clouds meaning we have the most amazing views. Whilst James climbed up and down the rocks (leaving me feeling a little vomity from watching him) he had fun getting plenty of photos of the peaks. It’s amazing that so many people walk to the highest point and if my memory serves me correctly the full Levada walk is around 13km!
As we made our way down we popped in to a local bar who were serving up some fresh, home made poncha. Of course, it would have been rude not to have partaken in this local custom wouldn’t it? Then we headed to Santana to grab a late lunch of local fish and veg! It was super yummy and I finally met a holiday dog (isn’t it like a customary thing to do when on holiday? Find a pet you wanna take home!) We got to look in all the cute traditional Madeiran houses too. I want to live in one, period.
Further in to the descent and the fear inducing drops we rode alongside the cliffs hanging on for dear life, we parked up at Porto da Cruz to take in some fresh, sea air and it was a perfect opportunity to do one of those photos where you look out to sea in a “oh-so-dreamy” kinda way us bloggers do, well #lolz it kinda didn’t work for me cos I’m so awkward. But seriously, dodgy posing aside, those views. Aren’t they just gorgeous?
We left after about twenty minutes and headed to our final spot of Santa Cruz, the only way to describe the scenery here was something like the Yorkshire Moors with a hint of Cornwall coastline. Sound a little bizarre? I watched a few planes land at the airport just above me. It’s a pretty hairy airport and landing because of the crosswinds but it was fascinating to watch the pilots navigate their way in. After another fifteen minutes we all packed back in the jeep to head back to our hotels. It was pretty safe to say most of us were all very weary (bar the couple who decided to buy a few bottles of lager for the ride home!)
If you are going to travel around the island I’d recommend using the jeep safaris rather than the mini bus tours. They take the most hairiest routes but it’s so much more fun. Any questions, don’t hesitate to ask me!
I’m sad to say that this is my last Madeira post, sad face emoji or what? I can’t wait to go on our next adventure to Oslo at the end of the month when I will no doubt be spamming you once more with my travel posts! So until then, keep travelling because who the heck would stay in one place (we were given legs not tree stumps) is that how the quote goes?
Finally I’d like to say a massive thank you to icelolly.com because without winning their competition I would not have even thought of travelling to Madeira. A place I will now hold dear in my heart!
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Bee xxx
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