It’s my last full day in Madeira so I decided to check out the other half of the island – the east side. I scored a front seat in the minivan again, but unfortunately a middle one squeezed between the driver and a Polish Facebook fanatic so I wasn’t able to take many photos during the drive itself. There were only 8 of us in the van, 2 being German so the driver conducted the commentary in both languages. Unfortunately, this particular driver seemed to have forgotten to bring his personality along today so I was able to give the scenery my full attention!
Our first stop was a wicker factory, which didn’t fill me with high expectations for the day, but I dutifully checked it out and was pleased to see a lady actually making a basket. It’s a dying art as there’s been a 50% decrease in weaving in the last 20 years alone as demand has plummeted.  I think now they’re primarily making only ‘treasures’ for tourists.

We then drove up to the highest driveable point of the island, Pico do Arieiro, at 1801m. Very windy, very ch-ch-chilly, very view-tiful. It’s also a very popular spot for hikers to start on various treks and ambles.

We descended down to Ribeira Frio, a tiny bend in road which my guidebook tells me has some of the most scenic walks on the island , including the .5 mile one to the waterfalls. My driver/guide told us to go see the trout farm and cafe….

Then, we stopped for lunch, saw another viewpoint, then drove out to the far, dry, eastern end of Madeira.

A re-creation of the original type of home built on Madeira

All in all, it wasn’t a bad day. My Polish seatmate said literally one word the whole time, and our guide not much more, so it was really quite relaxing; the landscape wasn’t quite as stunning as the as the west coast but how can you compare great unless there’s a less great?

My trip to the Madeiras has really been brilliant. I’d love to come back some day and do some of the great hikes they have but tomorrow I move on:  a layover day in Porto, then on to Salamanca for two weeks.