As you can see from the picture above Madeira has some spectacular valleys with terraced fields on the lower slopes, sheep and cattle graze further up.
Mondays walk was to the top of a hill, one of the highest on the island at 1639m or 5377ft. Sounds impressive but we drove most of the way.
The hill is surrounded by an area called Paul da Serra which apparently translates to "swamp of the mountains" but fortunately is was not too boggy. The guidebook promised us stunning 360 degree views, what we got was about 100 degrees as the rest was thick cloud.
Still the trig point was impressive, I am not sure if the height is measured from the top or bottom, it must be 4m tall. I was going to climb to the top of it but Gill told me off for being childish.
We then drove down to a seaside resort famous for it's salt water pools, which looked cold, for a nice lunch in the sunshine. Driving back over the mountains later we could see the hill we climbed bathed in sunshine and probably with a wonderful 360 degree view.
Madeira is famous for it’s botanical gardens. The rich 19th century British liked the climate, built nice houses up in the hills and collected plants to be grown in their gardens. The climate at around 1000ft is ideal as it is cool and quite humid. Later in the week we intend to visit two of the more touristy gardens but on Tuesday, as it was cool and humid, we drove up to Palheiro Gardens which were established by the Count of Carvalhal around 1801. In 1885 it was bought by a Brit, John Blandy, his family have managed the estate ever since.
John Blandy lived and worked in Funchal and made his money in developing the coal bunkering business along with the Madeira Wine Lodges. He bought the Palheiro Estate at public auction in 1885 and was criticized by friends and family alike for having purchased “a white elephant”. The property was remote from Funchal and already by then in a state of disrepair.
Until the construction of roads and the advent of cars, the men of the family would travel in to Funchal on business in the morning by ‘carro de cesto’ (basket sledge) and return in the evening on horseback.
The gardens have some amazing trees (the picture is of a Australian Grass Tree which is supposedly fire resistant, its genetic name is Xanthorrohea which sounds like a nasty disease) and a great deal of colour despite it being early in the season. The family have build a fancy hotel in the grounds should you want to stay, the prices start at £200 a night which surprised me, I thought it would be dearer.
The picture below is of some hedges in the garden, being a bit stupid I could not work out what they were supposed to be but the lady at the gate told me they are birds!