We started our morning with breakfast in the yard of our Inn. The view, the service and the food was fantastic. It is so peaceful here. Today we drove west along the north side of Madeira. Our first stop of the day was at the lighthouse in São Jorge. It was very close to where we had dinner last night. From there we took in the sights wherever we could find a look out. The closer we got to the west end of the island the clearer the skies became. People have told us if we don't like the weather where we are...just drive somewhere else in Madeira and you can find a little sunshine. It seems to be true. The clouds roll in and out very quickly.
It was a little chilly this morning. I took this picture when I came up to the room to get a jacket.
Ponta de São Jorge Lighthouse is an active lighthouse located on the north coast of the island of Madeira. The lighthouse was built in 1959.
Looking down on part of São Jorge.
Views in Boaventura valley. No tunnels here. You drive up and around the valley. It was so pretty.
The town of Boaventura.
Chapel of Our Lady of Fatima in São Vicente is one of the most scenic churches in Europe. It was built in 1948 to celebrate the end of World War II. We climbed 200 and were rewarded with stunning views.
Views from the Chapel of Our Lady of Fatima in São Vicente.
Just past São Vicente was this amazing waterfall called Cascata Água d'Alto. It drops from the mountain and runs under the road to the sea. It's one of the highest on the island at 494'. Can you see the tunnel?
Less than two miles from the first waterfall we stopped at there was a lookout that was the perfect spot to see the coastline and the Córrego da Furna Waterfall. It has a drop of 192'
From the same overlook we could see the little beach town of Seixal. It has Madeira's only black sand beach and several natural pools.
Seixal Black sand beach...can you see the waterfall. Madeira only has a few sand beaches. Most are rocky and not good for swimming.
We stopped at a little café for lunch that overlooked the natural public swimming pool. We only had a few ponchas and bolo do coca (wonderful garlic bread). I put my feet in the pool and it felt nice.
After lunch we headed further west. By now the day was beautiful.
We took a small local road instead of the tunnel and found this beautiful spot and another waterfall.
Our next stop was at Ilheus da Ribeira da Janela. This is one of the most iconic viewpoints on the island, looking onto several uniquely shaped rocks that protrude from the ocean floor. There were hundreds of cairns along the beach. I don't know how they got some of them to balance.
From Ribeira da Janela we could see our next stop...Porto Moniz.
These are just a few of the natural pools in Porto Moniz. I will have more about these pools in the next post. On the high in the background is Ilhéu Mole Lighthouse.
A view of Porto Moniz from an overlook on our way to the Achadas da Cruz Cable Car
Our last stop of the day was on the far west side at Achadas da Cruz Cable Car. The car that took us to one of the most unique spots in Madeira, Fajã da Quebrada Nova. It’s a tiny place on the northwestern coast of the island that is isolated from the rest of the world by the tall mountain cliffs on one side and the ocean on the other. The cable car serves tourists and local farmers. In fact a cable car was installed to help the farmers transport their harvests.
This cable car goes down almost 1,500' at a 98% slope. It's the Europe's Steepest Cable Car
This was by far the hottest place we went on the island. Very dry and very warm. It was interesting but we definitely wouldn't wait in line to do this again. By the time we got to the bottom we didn't have a lot of time to look around before we had to get in line to come back up.
We read while doing research that you could actually spend the night in the little village at the bottom. You have to bring everything with you.
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