Dizzy Heights

Today is a bit cooler but still t shirt weather. We plan to drive out along the coast to the west of Funchal. The first job is to put diesel in the car which is achieved without difficulty. Finding the coast road out to Camara de Lobos, the next town along, proves a bit more taxing. Somehow we miss a turning and find ourselves two streets inland, heading west, parallel to the coast but without any views. Eventually we work our way down to the winding coast road which delivers us to Camara de Lobos.

This is believed to be the original landing place of the Portuguese explorers in the early 15th Century. They were struck by the large colonies of lobos-marinhos (monk seals) lounging about on the shore that they named it Camara de Lobos (Parliament of seals). Monk seals are now rather rare in these parts but the name lives on. The town's other claim to fame is that Winston Churchill came here to paint. The traffic is heavy and parking at a premium. We follow the main road through without seeing anywhere to stop but we see enough to make us think that an excursion by bus might be in order later in our stay.

The town is dominated by the towering headland of Cabo Girao, which fronts the ocean with spectacular 589 metre high cliffs. Still unable to park we find the road climbing steeply, at first in the direction that we want to go, but then turning through 180 degrees. There are only roadsigns point to Funchal. Eventually we consult Google maps. This requires us to turn around and retrace our route for a couple of km. We see a signpost that we had missed and this takes us up to the viewpoint at the top of the cliffs. There is a platform built out over the abyss with a glass floored section. Neither of us has much of a head for heights so we lurk timidly at the edges. The view is spectacular.

Further progress westwards is hampered by all roads seemingly heading to Funchal. In desparation we decide to join the Via Rapida, high in the hills above the coast, and head east in the hope that we can reverse direction at the next junction. This nearly ends in disaster as there is no sight line and no run in on the slip road as it joins the main carriageway. We are not travelling anything like fast enough and a couple of cars have to brake before overtaking us with horns blaring and fists shaking. The next junction is not far at all and doing a u turn is very simple. This time there is a nice slip lane to allow us to join the main road without scaring the locals.

The small town of Ribeira Brava provides a suitably calm interlude. We have a coffee, stroll along the prom and watch flocks of small birds. After some debate these are identified as Atlantic Canaries. Lunch is splendid sandwiches bought from a local bakery and eaten on a bench overlooking the sea. The local pigeons make sure that we don't leave a mess.

Apart from the sea front Ribeira Brava's main tourist attraction is the Museu Etnographico da Madeira which has displays of photographs and artefacts from rural life in days gone by. The museum is in a former rum distillery, is well laid out and has informative notices.  For the first time we are asked to show the certificates of negative Covid tests that we were awarded last Saturday. We also get 50% off for being ancient. 

The most impressive exhibit was the  coach sprung bodied toboggan that the upper classes used to get down into town from the leafy suburbs. There was no mention of how the uphill journey worked. Second prize went to the enormous wooden wine press that was brought in to replace trampling by foot.

After spending most of the morning getting here by the scenic route our trip home on the Via Rapida takes about 20 minutes. The rain has held off so we walk down into town for supper. We don't find anywhere offering Burns' Night haggis so it is braised tuna for R and pork escalopes for D, washed down with a very pleasant rose wine.