Madeira
To travel to an island by sea is the best possible way to arrive. After departing from Lisbon and steaming over 500 nautical miles across the Atlantic Ocean, sunrise this morning revealed the archipelago of Madeira on the horizon.
As the light improved and we drew ever closer an increasing amount of detail could be seen. Formations and colours in the rocky cliffs of this volcanic peak along with passing seabirds such as Fea’s petrels that make these islands their home. And along with the seabirds several marine mammals were sighted. As is usual on these voyages, time is taken to divert our course and investigate more closely. As the saying goes: ‘We brake for whales.’ The blows of several baleen whales were thought to belong to Bryde’s whales while bottlenose dolphins rode on our bow wave in the calm and clear blue waters.
Around midday we made our way to our berth and disembarked to begin our exploration of Madeira. Afternoon excursions on Madeira took us to the sights of the main city of Funchal and out to the eastern end of the island at Punta Sao Lorenzo. Here we were able to find some of the more unusual wildlife of the islands including wild canaries and Berthelot’s pipits, while curious Madeiran wall lizards investigated anything or anyone that stopped for a rest along the hiking path.
Our evening dinner at a fine local restaurant in the hills above clouds included entertainment by a typical fado singer and a local dance group. Tomorrow we will extend our journey within Madeira and seek out more that this island has to offer.
