Jeep Safari

I'd never done a jeep safari here before. I wanted my friend to see more than just Funchal on her first visit and it wasn't warm and sunny. It turned out to be excellent.

We visited a lot of well known viewpoints and none were obscured by mist or cloud. The Nun's Valley, followed by a new stopping place was great as ever.

It was SO windy at the 1840 metre high Pico d'Areeiro, but from there we could see some of the damage of the recent fires.

Then we went off road in the Laurisilva Forest - like a perfect levada walk without any exertion (ideal as I'm not able to manage the 13km from Ribeiro Frio to Portela.

Finally we did an almost vertical descent into Santa Cruz, with the Desertas ahead of us, (today's blip) and back on the Via Rapida.

A morning well spent.