Laninga's Travel Blog

Madeira is a Portugese territory, discovered in 1419 by Henry the Navigator.  It is located some 700 miles south west of Lisbon, and is a popular tourist destination.  It is best known for Madeira wine, but also exports bananas to the mainland.  One thing you notice right away, everything is on a hill side… very little flat land in Madeira.  The farmers still use old hand methods since tractors will not work well on the steep slopes.

Our cruise ship docked in Funchal, the main city of Madeira.  We had a very interesting tour that included the Cliffs of Madeira (2nd highest in the world), the banana farms, a Madeira wine tasting, and a visit to downtown Funchal.

Early morning arrival

Some fine looking ships in the harbor

A fishing village

Drying sharks

Some colorful local boats

A local, contemplating fishing (?)

Everything is on a hill side

Looking down from the cliff top

The Cliffs of Madeira

Must be hard to find a place for a soccer field

Inside the Madeira winery

An artist shot of the wine tasting

What we really did at the wine tasting

Local flowers

I think this was Henry the Navigator

A local church

Downtown Funchal — lots of taxis

A downtown fountain

Funchal Harbor