Mountain Expedition in Funchal, Madeira (Portugal) 2.0
Todays adventure is back in The Port of Funchal, Madeira. Today I decided to take a Mountain expedition off road adventure, with 3 others. This 3 hour tour started at 930am outside of the Museu CR7, a museum that is dedicated to Cristiano Ronaldo’s Trophies. Once we met with our Madeira Mountain Expedition tour guide, the four of us jumped in a the Jeep and began to make our journey up the mountain of Camara De Lobos, to Eira do Serrano lookout point, which is 1094 meters above sea level, over looking Curral das Freiras (The Valley of Nuns.) This place is now known as the heart of Madeira, a stunning natural village in the mountains interior. In the 16th century this was an isolated sanctuary and hiding place for convent nuns during a particularly unpleasant pirate raid, completely hidden and surrounded by tremendous mountains on all sides making it virtually inaccessible. It remained remote until access has improved and a new road and tunnel was built in 1959. After enjoying the breath taking view up in the clouds and discovering that secluded village, we then went off roading through the mountains to admire beautiful landscapes and more amazing views, continuing to explore nature. We saw lots of banana plants, wine vineyards, mimosa trees, and eucalyptus along our way and even made a quick stop for a picture of The Fishing Village of Camara de Lobos, along the coast. We also stopped to taste “poncha” a traditional alcoholic drink from the island of madeira, made with aguardiente de cana (distilled alcohol made from sugar cane juice), honey, sugar, orange/lemon juice. It is said that poncho cures the common cold and they encourage to drink when one has cold-like symptoms. Our last stop was Cabo Giro Cliffs Skywalk, here there is a heart stopping photo opportunity overlooking the magnificent cliffs with a glass floor view, that extends out over the top of the cliff and over the sea. Today the sun was shining down on me and this breath taking view has placed Madeira high up on my destination recommendations list! (I even had a short discussion while there about how it would make for the perfect proposal spot, so gentleman take note!) It was another incredible day exploring a new location, I hope you enjoy my video of exploring Camara de Lobos!
Cristiano Ronaldo (Madeira his Birth place) Statue in front of CR7 Museum