Madeira - Day 54 - Ribeira Brava

When Nicola, Dave and I took the taxi tour we stopped in Ribeira Brava, looked at the church, had a coffee and custard tart and carried on. Today I took the bus there for a second look. It was a day of good luck, no sooner had I bought my ticket at the kiosk, down on the sea front, when the express bus to Ribeira Brava arrived. There went plans for a coffee and custard tart at Opan while I waited!

The forecast was, again, 60% chance of rain and the clouds were massing over the mountains but I only have a few days left here and I'm not huddling inside for that time. If it rains I'll sit in a cafe. How bad can that be?

It was about a half hour trip along Via Rapida ( or VR, the highway) and I am familiar with it from my various excursions; steep hillsides covered in banana palms, grape vines, vegetable plots and houses. The tunnels are long and also steep. My ears popped a couple of times on the route.

I sat on a bench and did a rather unsatisfactory sketch of the bell but sketching has the effect of imprinting a virtual photo of the subject on my brain and makes for a great " mental souvenir".

Just inside the church doors there is a big screen TV.

Probably for when the congregation is so large it spills out into the church square.

Ribeira Brava means "wild river" but like many of Madeira's rivers, out of necessity, it's been tamed. They have had deadly floods in the past.

It's a relatively small gravelly, stony beach and at the end there is a pool and restaurant.

I had wandered up and down the 6 or so blocks around the church and the beach, never did find the museum signposted, so I settled down for lunch at a beach side cafe.

I had octopus salad and asked for a vinho tinto. The waiter had spent 8 years in Glasgow so spoke English with a Scottish accent. He said they only had Madeiran wine so I asked for "dry". It was Ok as long as you prepare your mouth for sherry. The salad was lovely.

I was going to walk back to the bus stop when I remembered the tunnel at the other end of the beach front.

I'm so glad I did because through it there was a little fishing harbour

with great coastal views,

the fish farm and

crabs so well disguised I could hardly see them on the rocks until they moved with each wave coming in.

This little guy was investigating what might have been left on the dock, next to a fisherman. He might be a Turnstone, I'm not sure from my internet research, there are lot of wading birds found in Madeira.

Looking back from the dock to the other side of the tunnel.

Two little Virgin Mary statues set on the rocks beside the stored fishing boats.

As I walked up to the bus stop the Express bus pulled up. I would have preferred the "milk run" on the way back but as the clouds had by now obscured the valley I opted to get going rather than wait.

Back in Funchal, a cruise ship I hadn't seen before. One of the P&O boats. I think they are a British company.

There is a large open area on the sea front and it was now covered with portable basketball and volleyball nets. Looks like an elementary school tournament. What a lovely location.

As the clouds were looking more ominous, I didn't stick around and took the next available bus up the hill. It poured about half an hour after I got home. Good luck with my timing all day. And finally caught up on the blog posts.