Vivenda Belo Horizonte Canico

Day three;



Hello everyone and greetings from Funchal, Madeira Islands, we are about 300 miles off of the coast of Africa in the Atlantic ocean.


We had a wonderful sail away from Malaga on Monday, got to see the Costa del Sol and waive good bye to my home for the last week in Benalmadena. We passed the Rock of Gibraltar about 830p just as dinner started but since it was dark you couldn't really see it. The straights of Gibraltar is ...

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.

... the ship on the tender for a bite to eat in the Aquarius Grill. At about 18:00 we watched Independence maneuver very slowly away from the berth and out into the open sea. Once she had gone our ship was gently maneuvered into the berth being secured by 19:00

... at cloud level. That is quite a site. Then we went down into Nun’s Valley where we got to buy some chocolate, Madeira wine, and special Rum with Honey and Lemon. That chocolate was excellent. The use a lot of chestnuts and that made the chocolate very tasty

Then the part that I waited for…riding the toboggan down the mountain. First we rode the cable car to the top of Monte which takes about 10 ...

... definite return visit in our book. Although a little pricey the actual meal was less than what we would have paid for a buffet at our hotel. The steak with Madeira sauce was excellent, but best of all the steak was perfect. The imagination ran out when it came to the vegetables but it did not detract from the dining experience. The also do a set meal which is of the same quality but slightly cheaper. (GPS Location 32°38'39.05"N 16°55'8.79"W)

... not recommend this hotel to anybody.

This hotel shows a decided lack of attention to detail and without a doubt that the concept of a quality hotel is beyond their understanding, from the simple things like service to the finer touches like toiletries in the spa area. One look at the vastly over priced buffet menu and we ate "a la carte" in town at an utterly delightful restaurant for substantially less. So avoid if you can but be prepared if you can't rather ...

Start
Time 10:08:10
Altitude 2922 ft
Location 32°44'6.09"N 16°53'10.45"W

End
Time 14:45:37
Altitude 2086 ft
Location N 32.74654° W 16.82567°

By far the best of the walks that we did and the most enjoyable, following the lavada as it remained cool and particularly easy walk. The way is easily found and there is only one point to watch out for, after the foresters hut, but this is easily corrected if ...

... are few taxis that will go out there on the off chance of picking up a fare.

Finding the starting point is easy and following the route is simple. There are a number of offshoots to the way and most of them are worth the detour.

About an hour into the walk you reach a folk in the trail from here on there is a circular route including a fairly steep ascent, (N 32.74489° W 16.68618°). Check ...

... road.

The town was not what was expected, an old hamlet charming in the mountains but rather a removed suburb with some updated buildings.

All in the entire walk and its spectacular setting was good and satisfactory.

Start
Time : 12:54:14
Altitude 3287 ft
Location N 32.70417° W 16.95435°
End
Time 15:06:24
Altitude 2083 ft
Location N 32.72039° W 16.96506°

... these old folks all work out--almost every cardio machine was occupied and there was a wait for the weights! 1200: Had sushi again for lunch (big surprise) then headed to group trivia in the Crow's Nest Deck 11. They basically had you break yourself into teams of six--Terry, Carolyn and I were conveniently sitting at the bar so made up our own team--bartender Ramón wasn't much help--just smiled a lot! General trivia--our team "high flyers" (I wanted to be "peanut pushers ...