Hotel Oasis Atlantic Canico

On Sunday we got up, had breakfast and we went off on a tour organized by P&O to the top of the second highest cliff in the world, and very spectacular it was. On the way we saw all sorts of plant life, including banana trees and the very colourfull South African trees, with very large red flowers. We passed through Camara de Lobos and on to Pico da Torre where a magnificent view over the cliffs down to the sea showed how beautiful Madeira is.

... perusing the "embarkation photos" revealed an 8x10 glossy black and white of Terry and Carolyn--I had conveniently been cropped out! Lesson learned: Never assume! Day 2: April 26, 2009 At Sea Great night's sleep even with losing an hour (will lose an hour each night of cruise till we get to Europe) Set the alarm for 0715 with great aspirations of going to 0730 aerobics class--instead, woke Carolyn up at 0800 and met on Lido Deck for coffee and light breakfast. Eight ...

On Friday morning, April 10, I flew to Madeira to visit Maria Susanna Marques. Madeira is a small Portuguese island in the Atlantic, just over one-hour flying time, southwest of Portugal. Madeira is a very clean island with an amazing number of new houses and highways. I was surprised by the great amount of recent construction on the island. Susanna lives in an older suburb near the main city, Funchal. Getting to her home was by itself an ...

... and thoroughly worth the 20 euros we paid (10 off the usual price!). A quick bite to eat and some manic packing later, Patricia returned home and both she and Wally accompanied us to the airport - not only to wave us goodbye (which they did even as we took off) but to collect their next set of guests! Madeira is a gorgeous, lush and colourful island, that is slow-paced, luxurious and thoroughly relaxing. Going back we will be - thanks Patricia and Wally!!!!

... withered away and we were forced to abandon the car in favour of our bipedal attribute. I had not known the extent to which we were about to walk. I'm glad I didn't, as I ...

... fish friends around the headland. Needless to say, despite initial nerves and being thoroughly ...

... stacked with fresh fruit, vegetables, flowers and enormous wet fish caught that morning and of a quality I marvel at, being from London. We grabbed a crunchy apple, bought vegetables for dinner and meandered the little Portuguese streets back to ...

... lunch we explored a bit, bought the boys some crazy European bike helmets (god knows why) and did some grocery shopping. Back to the boat and all rather tired, so decided a movie and very light dinner. Appropriately the movie chosen was Casablanca, with Humphrey and Ingrid, just to get us in the mood for the forthcoming adventure. It would be a great place to chill for a week. Maybe on our way back to the Caribbean.

... jump in! or should I say climb up! It was great fun, we overcome the parking problem by all three of my passengers seeing me in to the parking spots! we didn't hit too many of the obstacles! and after a few days I found if I drove it like a bus and gave a larger turning circle as I pull into the lots it ended up pretty near perfect! Given the steep terrain and the maniac local drivers we did actually feel much safer in the tank ...

... botany for J and Portugese, child-loving attitude for the bambino. The flight was hell. The sheer amount of stuff - pushcairs, babycarrier, nappies, wriggling baby etc meant the relief of finally being checked in was amplified by a factor of ten (if only you could check the baby in!). When 'it' began to scream on take off , a major nagging guilt materialised. Is it fair to subject the baby to this? Was it the pressurised cabin? More red-faced, arched-back screaming distress ...