We joined The Algarve Gardener (TAG) shortly after moving to Carvoeiro. One of the neat features of our new club is an annual trip outside the Algarve, with this year’s trip being a week in Madeira. We signed up for the trip nearly six months ago and have been eagerly looking forward to it since then.
Our travel comprised an early train to Lisbon, a taxi to the airport, and an EasyJet flight to Funchal, Madeira. Folks who had been there before told us that pilots needed to be specifically certified to land at Funchal. As we approached, we could see only a narrow strip of flat ground hugging the mountainside. Half the runway was constructed as a bridge.
In our short time with this group, we found that the group’s organizers, Bob and Rosi, are meticulous planners. This week was a masterclass in logistics.
We were met at the airport by a fleet of black Mercedes vans and sedans. On the drive to the hotel, our driver imparted two bits of wisdom: “One day; four seasons” and “Madeira roads are like spaghetti.” Both were proven out over and over during the week.
After about ten minutes of driving, we had our first good look at Funchal as we emerged from a series of tunnels and flyovers. In the photo below, the piece that looks like a series of windows in the concrete, bottom-right, is a motorway that had been roofed to protect from rockfall.
We saw nothing flat. Funchal sits in a bowl with buildings densely packed up the steep slopes. Every building was sited on a slab of concrete carved out of the steep hillside. As we drew closer to the downtown area, we saw that the commercial part of town was achingly charming and spotlessly clean. Though sloped, the central area was much less steep than the city further from the sea.
We booked into the Turim Santa Maria, a modern hotel at the edge of the commercial district, with an easy walk (downhill) to the central market and numerous restaurants. Being Sunday, most of the restaurants were closed, but we had a decent meal at Noodle King, an Asian restaurant offering ramen, stir-fry, and sushi.
Over the next five days we would be booked for eleven gardens, two wine-tastings, and a driving tour of the island.
Monday
We got up early and hit the breakfast buffet at the hotel. It was a good spread although unchanging over the course of our week. Our fleet of black Mercedes picked us up at the hotel and took us to the western side of Funchal to the Madeira Magic Garden. The driver called the area the “tourism center” because of the upscale hotels and the shopping mall. The garden was operated in conjunction with a gym which seemed like a strange combination. The Magic Garden was originally the city’s landfill, and in the process of being rebuilt, it repurposed a lot of natural materials. It was well laid-out, with winding paths offering many ways to get through all the sights. It would be the lowest elevation of all the gardens we would be seeing, and provided great views of the sea and coastline as well as the rest of Funchal up to the clouds.
In terms of the plant collection, most of the plants could be found in our garden, although the ones here were on a massive scale. This was a very pleasant appetizer to prepare us for the coming week.
After lunch, our fleet drove straight up the mountainside to visit Quinta da Boa Vista orchid nursery. The winding roads supported two-way traffic by only a matter of centimeters. And not only two-way traffic, but parked vehicles and buses too! Again, I was reminded of the driver’s comment about the roads being spaghetti. We went left so that we could go right; up so that we could go down. We went through tunnels, on flyovers, and around sharp blind turns. The journey was like a game of three-dimensional chess.
The nursery was massive and had a very good variety of orchids. The owner, Patrick, is a trained botanist and gave us a personal tour. Doing so he answered every question. And he never settled for a simple answer but rather he provided answers that were both technical and detailed, often replete with anecdotes.
In addition to orchids, this nursery has many rare tropical plants. One of these is the Jade Vine, native to the Philippines. The striking turquoise flowers have apparently evolved to a symbiotic relationship with native bats, by developing in a way that allows bats to drink their nectar but prevents birds and bees from doing so.
Before leaving, Soo was able to purchase a few exotic plants small enough to carry home, one being a flowering vine from India and the other being a spider orchid.
Our last stop was Pereira d’Oliveira, a tasting room for Madeira wine. I learned that the primary difference between Madeira wine and port is that Madeira is made from white wine. Our arrangement was for four tastes of five-year-old wines: dry, semi-dry, semi-sweet, and sweet. Each was unique and filled a particular role in a meal. We were surprised when the servers also treated us to a flight of ten-year-old wines, and the improvement in character of these was obvious even to me. Finally, the servers brought around plates of Madeira cake. Imagine the best brownie ever, crunchy on the outside and moist on the inside, blended with a bit of dried fruit. I think the cake was my favorite part of the tasting.
Tuesday
Today was another in a series of days that Soo and I were both looking forward to. Our entire day would be spent touring the island outside of Funchal, culminating in an afternoon at Quinta da Arco, the largest rose garden in Portugal. We are starting to get used to leaving the hotel and driving straight up the side of the mountain. Our first stop was to be Pico do Arieeiro, the third highest peak in Madeira at around 1800 meters. On most days the peak offers a view that looks down on the clouds. This wasn’t most days. The higher we went, the denser the fog and mist became. By the time we reached the radar station, we could barely see more than a few car lengths ahead, and our tour leader decided to skip the peak and to head to our next stop. Now we have yet another reason to return to Madeira.
The next planned stop was Ribeira Frio, a national park comprised of dense forest, numerous hiking trails, a trout farm, waterfalls, and scenic overlooks. The misty rain had let up just a bit, but not really enough to make any of the aforementioned activities pleasant. We wandered around the gift shops and snack bars, trying to stay dry before moving to our next stop. Porto da Cruz on the north side of the island gifted us with a clear blue sky and majestic cliff views. Some of the viewpoints offered see-through plexi bridges that provided a look at the waves crashing on the rocks below.
From Porto da Cruz, we headed west along the north coast to the village of Santana. This was our lunch break, but the pretty village also had several examples of the original thatch houses from centuries past.
After lunch, Soo was delighted to find a couple heliconia roots and some unusual bulbs in a gift shop.
Finally, it was a short drive to Quinta da Arco. This garden is located between a steep forested mountainside and the sea and contains over 17,000 roses from over 1500 varieties. Being May, the roses were in full bloom.
Wednesday
Palheiro Gardens is a 143,000 square meter estate located east of Funchal at an elevation of 500 meters. The estate dates back to the 18th century when the Count of Carvalhal planted trees from around the world. Many of these trees still stand two hundred years later. In fact, the maturity of some of the plants is remarkable. We must have seen over a dozen plant types that were the largest we had ever seen. For example, we have a few protea plants in our garden. But here, there is an avenue of protea trees (!!!).
There was even a larger avenue of camelia trees, though the flowering had finished for the year. The other thing that really struck Soo was that the garden had plants thriving next to each other when they shouldn’t even be in the same environment, much less the same garden. There were succulents and cacti right next to plants from tropical rain forests and they were all thriving. (One day; four seasons?)
As for the weather, it was still misty from the day before, with a few intermittent sprinkles. The plan was to spend 4 ½ hours here and we had a small lunch about two hours in. After strolling for another hour, the drizzle hardened, and we headed back to the tea house for a brandy for me and tea for Soo.
Our second stop of the day was to the garden of Quinta Jardins do Lago, a cozy hotel down the hill. Here we received a guided tour from the Head Gardener, Michael. Michael is a botanist who eschewed a career in academia to keep his hands in the dirt. Here is Michael with Columbo, the garden mascot.
There were quite a few very mature plants, but what seemed most notable here was the variety. In his time with the hotel, Michael has brought many plants that are native to islands such as the Azores and the Canaries. There were also quite a few orchid species living “in the wild.” We also saw many Asian plants and trees such as jackfruit and rose apple. One particular treat was spending some time in Michael’s nursery, where he has his new acquisitions acclimatizing and cuttings rooting for replanting. A very welcome perk was about halfway through the tour, when the hotel manager surprised us with a tray of very a good Madeira wine.
Bob and Soo
Bob and Soo 