I can’t seem to shake off whatever is “bugging” me as I woke today feeling dizzy – and I can’t even blame a hard night on the booze! However, nothing was going to stop us going on the trip.
We were a full minibus of 8 + Andre and unfortunately, we had a real pain with us – no, NOT Tom! A registered blind man called George who should be registered as a liability. He didn’t stop talking almost the entire time except, thank goodness, when Andre was giving us information – well, most of the time anyway!
Our first stop was at a viewpoint called the Miradouro do Pico dos Barcelos, altitude 355m, giving us what Andre described as a 365 degree (!!) view over Funchal. It was a fantastic location, and lived up to his description,
although Tom moaned that he couldn’t find the missing 5 degrees – perhaps they’re on Platform 9 ¾ !! As we were enjoying the view, the bells were ringing in one of the churches on one of the hills surrounding the town They were playing Beethoven’s “Ode to Joy” and pretty well too.
We then had another interesting drive up into the hills, with Andre deciding that, in order to show us the vertical drop on the opposite side of the road, he’d just drive on that side, as you do!! And guess who was sitting on that side of the bus – yes, that’s right, it was ME! The next point I remember is stopping to take in yet some more precipitous views down into a chasm, which is the valley paralleling the Socorridos river valley, which is the one leading to Curral das Freiras.
I’d better explain the story of why the village of Curral das Freiras is so called. It translates as the Nuns’ Refuge. In 1566, the Nuns of Santa Clara were fleeing from French pirates who had already murdered the Governor of Madeira and all the soldiers guarding the castle. They headed up the Socorridos River valley and took refuge in the area which is now called Curral das Freiras.
Even today, there is no road access up the river valley and the main road now goes up the parallel valley then through a tunnel into Curral. Until the 20th century, the only access was up the parallel valley to the ridge between the 2 valleys, called Eira do Serrado, from where a narrow zigzag path had been built leading down to the settlement which had sprung up at Curral. In the 20th century, a precipitous road was built leading down to Curral, but with the construction of the tunnel, this route is now closed. 
We drove up to Eira do Serrado on the old road where the views are stupendous. It’s mind-boggling how the Madeirans continue to build their houses on these almost vertical mountain sides – and there is building going on everywhere you look.
We take for granted all this flat land we have in UK and there is nothing flat HERE. Truly amazing.
After a “pee” stop at Eira, Andre asked which of us would like to do the walk, which is advertised in their brochure as being “facultative” ie. Easy! He showed us the start of the footpath and said he’d meet us at the other end in just over an hour. As George had informed us he was registered blind, we didn’t expect him to take part in the walk that was scheduled as part of today’s itinerary. But no, even though we could see that the path started off quite steeply, he was going to do it and elected himself our leader. (It turns out that he has hardly any peripheral vision but can see quite clearly straight ahead.)
Andre provided staves for those of us who didn’t have walking poles (we did) as they would help on the way. What he hadn’t told us was that the path starting at 3600ft, goes all the way to Curral,
dropping 1500ft in the process and only over half a mile horizontally. The relentless downhill slope took us an hour and a quarter,
led by George for most of the way, chivvying us “girls” and trying to round us up like a sheepdog if anyone looked as if they weren’t keeping up. Tom appointed himself as back marker so he could make sure everyone was OK
– although what we could have done if anyone did get into difficulties, I’m not sure. It was the hardest walk I’ve ever done and I did slip at one point, sat down quite hard and had difficulty getting up again. But one of the men, who hadn’t mentioned that last year, he fell and broke 3 ribs and had a back injury, was in real trouble by the time we got ¾ of the way down. He ended up walking bent over to the right by about 20 degrees, using his stick to stop him falling over.
I was very relieved to see the minibus waiting for us at the end and even more relieved when we then stopped in Curral for a very welcome coffee and cake and a loo stop! Looking back, we could see the hillside path we had just walked down.
George still hadn’t stopped yakking! I’ve decided Tom isn’t SO bad after all – George’s wife must be a saint!
Looking down the valley from Curral, you can see 2 or 3 settlements.
As I’ve already written, there is no road access up that valley from Funchal, so the only way in and out for these residents is to come all the way up to Curral, through the tunnel and down the other valley – it’s a very long way round!
Although there is no convent at Curral, occasionally an odd (!!) nun can be seen there!
The drive back through the tunnel and down the hill was uneventful and we dropped off George and party first, thank goodness, so we had a little peace and quiet on the last couple of miles. Chatting to Andre on the way back, we agreed that, as we haven’t seen the eastern part of Madeira yet, and there is space in the bus, we would join the day trip tomorrow. When we got into the hotel, Tom booked it, so it’s another early start.
We were a full minibus of 8 + Andre and unfortunately, we had a real pain with us – no, NOT Tom! A registered blind man called George who should be registered as a liability. He didn’t stop talking almost the entire time except, thank goodness, when Andre was giving us information – well, most of the time anyway!
Our first stop was at a viewpoint called the Miradouro do Pico dos Barcelos, altitude 355m, giving us what Andre described as a 365 degree (!!) view over Funchal. It was a fantastic location, and lived up to his description,
although Tom moaned that he couldn’t find the missing 5 degrees – perhaps they’re on Platform 9 ¾ !! As we were enjoying the view, the bells were ringing in one of the churches on one of the hills surrounding the town They were playing Beethoven’s “Ode to Joy” and pretty well too.We then had another interesting drive up into the hills, with Andre deciding that, in order to show us the vertical drop on the opposite side of the road, he’d just drive on that side, as you do!! And guess who was sitting on that side of the bus – yes, that’s right, it was ME! The next point I remember is stopping to take in yet some more precipitous views down into a chasm, which is the valley paralleling the Socorridos river valley, which is the one leading to Curral das Freiras.
I’d better explain the story of why the village of Curral das Freiras is so called. It translates as the Nuns’ Refuge. In 1566, the Nuns of Santa Clara were fleeing from French pirates who had already murdered the Governor of Madeira and all the soldiers guarding the castle. They headed up the Socorridos River valley and took refuge in the area which is now called Curral das Freiras.
Even today, there is no road access up the river valley and the main road now goes up the parallel valley then through a tunnel into Curral. Until the 20th century, the only access was up the parallel valley to the ridge between the 2 valleys, called Eira do Serrado, from where a narrow zigzag path had been built leading down to the settlement which had sprung up at Curral. In the 20th century, a precipitous road was built leading down to Curral, but with the construction of the tunnel, this route is now closed. We drove up to Eira do Serrado on the old road where the views are stupendous. It’s mind-boggling how the Madeirans continue to build their houses on these almost vertical mountain sides – and there is building going on everywhere you look.
We take for granted all this flat land we have in UK and there is nothing flat HERE. Truly amazing.After a “pee” stop at Eira, Andre asked which of us would like to do the walk, which is advertised in their brochure as being “facultative” ie. Easy! He showed us the start of the footpath and said he’d meet us at the other end in just over an hour. As George had informed us he was registered blind, we didn’t expect him to take part in the walk that was scheduled as part of today’s itinerary. But no, even though we could see that the path started off quite steeply, he was going to do it and elected himself our leader. (It turns out that he has hardly any peripheral vision but can see quite clearly straight ahead.)
Andre provided staves for those of us who didn’t have walking poles (we did) as they would help on the way. What he hadn’t told us was that the path starting at 3600ft, goes all the way to Curral,
dropping 1500ft in the process and only over half a mile horizontally. The relentless downhill slope took us an hour and a quarter, led by George for most of the way, chivvying us “girls” and trying to round us up like a sheepdog if anyone looked as if they weren’t keeping up. Tom appointed himself as back marker so he could make sure everyone was OK – although what we could have done if anyone did get into difficulties, I’m not sure. It was the hardest walk I’ve ever done and I did slip at one point, sat down quite hard and had difficulty getting up again. But one of the men, who hadn’t mentioned that last year, he fell and broke 3 ribs and had a back injury, was in real trouble by the time we got ¾ of the way down. He ended up walking bent over to the right by about 20 degrees, using his stick to stop him falling over.I was very relieved to see the minibus waiting for us at the end and even more relieved when we then stopped in Curral for a very welcome coffee and cake and a loo stop! Looking back, we could see the hillside path we had just walked down.
George still hadn’t stopped yakking! I’ve decided Tom isn’t SO bad after all – George’s wife must be a saint!Looking down the valley from Curral, you can see 2 or 3 settlements.
As I’ve already written, there is no road access up that valley from Funchal, so the only way in and out for these residents is to come all the way up to Curral, through the tunnel and down the other valley – it’s a very long way round!Although there is no convent at Curral, occasionally an odd (!!) nun can be seen there!
The drive back through the tunnel and down the hill was uneventful and we dropped off George and party first, thank goodness, so we had a little peace and quiet on the last couple of miles. Chatting to Andre on the way back, we agreed that, as we haven’t seen the eastern part of Madeira yet, and there is space in the bus, we would join the day trip tomorrow. When we got into the hotel, Tom booked it, so it’s another early start.
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