Day 20: Madeira

This was probably the most enjoyable part of my trip. I've always liked road trips and this was made even more unforgettable by the fact that I was the first Singaporean to drive in Madeira. I think. :p


Our rented Daihatsu. Possibly the worst car I've ever rented.

Our rented car was a 2-door Daihatsu with a pathetic horsepower. I can't exactly remember the capacity but I knew the car gave us donkeypower. 40kmh was the maximum speed it could master when it tackled a 20 degree gradient slope. It managed to hit the 100kmh mark only because the car was cruising down a slope. At flat ground, a 80kmh speed was already impressive.

Possibly the worst car I've ever rented in my life, the only credit that I could give was that it looked small and cute. Being small, parallel parking was easy. Parallel parking had never been so easy before.

Funchal might be small but we spent quite a while trying to find the way to get onto the highway. Signs are not placed in advance and they will pop out near an exit point without warning. Thus, you need to peel your eyes constantly before you miss the turning point.

Yee-Chen, armed with a map, was responsible for navigation. Every time we had to make a turn, she would say, "这里转！"

With 3 to 4 possible exit points in a roundabout or a junction, what's a 这里转? We missed the exit point numerous times because she gave me the 这里转 instruction. I was constantly reminding her to use 左转 or 右转 instead.

When we finally managed to hit the highway, cars were already overtaking us in numbers since our donkeypower couldn't compete with their horsepower.

As we hit the outlying small villages, I was struck by the strikingly familiarity of the houses. The whole place looked as though we had been transported back to Malaysia. A very kampung feel, the people adopt a complete different fashion. Being farmers, it's more practical for them to wear casual instead of tuxedoes.


Parts of Malaysia in Madeira.

Different parts of the island will offer different perspectives. Laurissilva Forest is a large tract of protected forest which occupies approximately 20% of the island. According to Gonçalo, this is the largest protected forest in Europe listed under the UNESCO World Heritage Site.


Laurissilva Forest. Reminds me of Hawaii.

The island is small yet the climate varies pretty much. Up in the mountains in Laurissilva Forest, it was cloudy but it was sunny in Funchal when we left the city. Parts of Laurissilva reminded me of Oahu, Hawaii.

Numerous signs were put up, warning drivers of cows. I thought it was a joke and it turned out otherwise when we saw a wild cow occupying one lane of the road. It lazily staring at us when our car passed by.


The road seemed to stretch into infinity on this barren land

The landscape changed once more when we reached the top of the mountain plateau. In fact, temperatures can vary as much as 20 degrees Celsius when you drive from Funchal up to the mountain tops. A tundra landscape beckoned and we were transfixed by the vast landscape.

Lush greenery awaited us as we left the barren mountain plateau. A real significant change.

As soon as we reached the other side of the mountain chain, the scenery altered yet again. This time, we were greeted by lush greenery, which was a welcome relief. The tundra landscape looked too bleak and depressing. I had enough of crazy Swedish weather.



Peaceful landscape. I was wondering if there were occupants in the house. The place looked so isolated that a house in the middle of nowhere was really intriguing.

The road winded to another part of the island which offered another vintage point. There's practically nobody living in these parts of Madeira due to its undulating, mountainous nature. We felt absolutely peaceful and the tranquility serenaded the surroudings.

Inland, the road would snake around the sides of the mountains countless of times. A vertical drop would greet us if I were to veer too much to the side of the road. Being the driver, I couldn't afford to take my eyes off the road to enjoy the scenery. That's the con of being the only driver. Other than that, we would stop by the road side for photos whenever we were presented with the opportunity.


The gloomly side of the Atlantic Ocean.

There's something to do with the leeward side of Madeira and its windward side. The weather can vary a lot in different parts of the island. Skies were very clear in the south. Saved for the swirling clouds up in the mountainous, skies were gloomly in the north.



Traditional houses in Santana.

In Santana, you can find traditional midget houses where the natives used to live in. The houses are small yet cosy enough to accomodate a small family. It comes complete with a bedroom, a living room and a kitchen. The locals are very small in built. In fact, they are smaller in size than an average Asian. In Holland, I felt like a hobbit while here in Madeira, I felt like Gulliver in Lilliput. That's probably why the houses are constructed so small.

Some of these houses are preserved for tourists. Suprisingly enough, some Portuguese still live in these houses.



Ponta de São Lourenço Nature Reserve

Our last stop was Ponta de São Lourenço Nature Reserve. Situated at the eastern peninsula, it also includes the islands of Ilhéu da Cevada and Ilhéu da Ponta de São Lourenço. This is also the only part of the island where you can view the north and south part of the Altantic Ocean at the same time. The north side of the island faces rough ocean erosion, which accounts for its rugged landscape. In the south, the converse is true.

We were almost late in returning the vehicle by the time we reached the airport. An extra day would be charged if we missed the time. Lukily, we were there at the desk just a couple of minutes before the expiration of our rental agreement. All thanks to the staff at Hertz, they gave us the wrong information as to which town to fill up our petrol tank. Petrol is expensive! Although Madeira is a very cheap place, petrol prices are more than 1 euro per litre.

We spent the next couple of hours or so waiting for our flight to Lisbon. Upon arrival, Gonçalo was already at the airport, awaiting to fetch us to our hostel in his friend's car. (Gonçalo left Madeira one day earlier than us.)

Excellent host. He was already a fantastic guide in Madeira. Little did we expect to be driven to our hostel. We really appreciated his warm hospitality.

Then our nightmare began. The hostel was an absolute hell hole which deserved nothing but the most severe condemnation. I shall elaborate more in my next entry.