In the blog about planning a safari I mentioned that Wooksie, a woman who has suffered many holiday traumas in her life, was absolutely adamant that she would not be camping among wild beasts and creatures of the night on the safari.
So in my discussions with Erick of Joining Safaris, I made it abundantly clear that a small tent would not be acceptable, but something with a bed would be fine, as long as it had a door.
After the day chasing elephants in the truck we were heading to our accommodation. We had seen our companions camp site in the morning when we collected the gear, so we assumed we would be staying there in a bungalow or something similar.
When we pulled off the highway onto this dusty road and Rashid (our guide) shouted out that we had arrived, it’s fair to say we were a bit nervous and I got a look from Wooksie that said “I warned you”.
We pulled up to some steel gates, that opened automatically and we drove into the parking area. It was like one of those scenes from a dystopian film where the people on the outside of the walls were living in squalor and the rich people inside the walls were living in luxury.
Looking at the photos I still can’t quite believe how this oasis of greenery could exist in such a barren landscape. There were gardeners tending flowers and mowing the lawn, it was stunning, in fact, jaw dropping.
Even more weirdly we were the only people staying at the complex. I can only imagine that this had been built for the American tourist market and there weren’t many around so we got it cheap.
Even Wooksie was happy and enjoyed the benefits of a warm shower, a comfy bed and protection from the mosquitoes. When we went to dinner, they even sent a chap come around to put mosquito treatment in the room, there were some big flying beasties around so we were grateful.
Dinner was spent celebrating Argyle’s home win over Luton, which turned out to be one of the high points of the season as Wayne Rooney took us to mid table mediocrity, a place we wouldn’t see again all season !
Meanwhile, our travelling companions had indeed been camping in some very nice tents and with some close up encounters with creatures of the night, so we kept a bit quiet about our luxury so we wouldn’t lose street cred.
In fact they meet creatures of many kinds and I’m glad I didn’t have to accompany Wooksie to the loo overnight
After some thought, we settled on a 3 day safari in Tanzania, mainly because we just wanted to see the Big 5 animals in the wild rather than hunting around for obscure animals and we get bored easily so we wanted excitement !
Rashid our guide picked us all up nice and early, and we all piled into the Toyota truck where we found our travel companions already installed in the back. We have found that one of the best things about these trips is the people you meet, so we would never consider having a private tour.
Our safari companions
On this occasion we were lucky enough to have some young fun people onboard who could speak perfect English. Yente from the Netherlands was volunteering in a children’s refuge teaching English and having her first adventure abroad on her own.
We also had Noa and Clara who were young German doctors using their work year to volunteer at the local hospital in Moshi to develop their skills. So great company for the trip and fortunately the truck wasn’t too full either.
So we set off early from Moshi on the 5 hour drive to the Tarangire National Park, which is famous for it’s concentration of elephants.
It was a long dusty drive and if you have long legs, try not to chose the seat behind the driver, where your knees hit his seat like mine did. On the way we picked up the camp cook, and somehow an entire kitchen was squeezed into the back of this truck, along with tents, camping gear and all the ruck sacks.
We had various breaks at townships along the way, which were mainly long settlements spread along the road with various little shops and stalls that keep the local population going with supplies. The countryside is just miles of savanna grassland with a few hills, the odd lake and not much else to see!
There was much excitement when we finally arrived at Tarangire as we were finally going to see some animals. The park gate was overwhelmed by trucks, they were scattered everywhere around the car park and packed with enthusiastic patrons and after the normal faffing around wherever there is African bureaucracy.
Mongoose family
Our first animal encounter, rather than elephants, was the exciting the sight of a little family of Mongoose running along the verge and wrestling with each other as they played.
Our first of the Big 5 – the elephants
It wasn’t long before we found our first big herd of elephants as a watering hole. It took time for the truck to find a good slot to watch, this is the value of a good driver as they know where to position the truck and second guess where the animals will head.
Initially they were in the distance and our truck was positioned in the shelter of some trees. Within a few minutes the herd started to make it’s way to our little hiding spot and we had the wonderful experience of being surrounded by these enormous animals who seemed to enjoy a good scratch on the trees.
Being surrounded by the enormous beasts was a spellbinding experience. They are so serene together, the big bull elephant is clearly the lord of the herd and doesn’t look like a fella you want to annoy. The babies follow the mothers around and most of them seemed to enjoy a good scratch on the trees that made their day that much more enjoyable.
Elephant stops play
The journey around the park last about 3 hours and we took up numerous lookouts and watched herds in the distance. There were very few other species on view other than giraffes and zebras.
Another highlight of the day was the close encounter with the baby elephant who popped out of the bush and took a shine to our truck and wanted to play.
It is fair to say we were not alone. With numerous other safari trucks bouncing around the tracks and we had some amazing traffic jams when an animal appeared. Basically the best drivers seem to second guess where they will appear and within minutes all other trucks appear.
After the tour was over it was a 90 minute drive to find our accommodation. Yente, Noa and Clara were camping but Wooksie was absolutely determined she wasn’t camping, so we had booked mid range accommodation.
Everyone in the truck slept soundly on the way to the accommodation after a hot and dusty day.
When we decided to give Madeira a try, it was more for the scenery and the sun rather than Adrenalin fueled excitement. However, when I mentioned the trip to my mate Miniboy he mentioned that it was possible to roll down the mountain in a basket trolley.
Initially I thought he was joking. “Why on earth would anyone want to roll down a mountain in a basket” I pondered, but some investigation did reveal that this is a quirky local pastime.
So when in Funchal do as the Funchalians I decided, so Wooksie and I put half a day aside to have our adventure with the basket riders of Madeira.
This is largely a tale of queues, so the half day soon became a day that involved upwards of 3 hours of queuing at different points.
Getting to the basket riders wasn’t that easy as they live on top of a mountain, so we took the scenic route up, which is the gondola that rises from the city centre and passes over the suburbs of Funchal as it heads up the mountain.
Funchal Cable Car
One cannot but feel sorry for some of the inhabitants of Funchal, who probably lived quiet lives on the mountain with beautiful views and now have gondola pillars planted in their back gardens and now had people staring into their gardens and bedroom windows every 30 seconds as the gondolas pass by on their steady way up the hill.
When planning your trip up the gondola, it is best to check the number of cruise ships that are docked in the port. On the day we did it there was a monster MSC liner in the harbour with about 6000 passengers, most of who seemed to be keen on going on the gondola as well.
The locals have done a very good job of designing the gondola station, because it isn’t until you have spent £30 on two one way tickets that you discover there is an hour long wait. The queue forms at the back of the gondola station so if you arrive from the port or the direction of most of the hotels, you don’t see the queue until it is too late.
“Not to worry”, we thought, that is the queuing done. So we waited patiently in the sun and eventually enjoyed the panoramic views of the city on the way up.
Basket rides
At the top it is a bit confusing as most paths lead into the beautiful and spectacular gardens of subtropical bushes and trees. We weren’t interested in any of that because we wanted to go basket racing and eventually found the top of the run.
Baskets being unloaded at the top of the run
Immediately we had bad news, we weren’t allowed to drive our own basket, we would need to pay a driver. It turns out that the baskets sit on little go cart type trucks, and they don’t have any brakes. The brakes are the special soles on the drivers shoes, rather than the flip flops I was wearing.
At this point we discovered another queue, in fact, not surprisingly, it was almost the same size as the gondola queue we had already suffered, so we resigned ourselves to another long wait.
Here they come again, where their very special shoes that are in effect the brakes for the trucks
What we soon discovered is that the Basket Riders of Funchal are not as efficient as the gondola, which rumbles around all day, taking groups of 6 people up the mountain without any need for refreshment of rest.
The Basket Riders, are limited in number and when they ride down the mountain, they need a lift back to the top to take their next customers. The little backet trolleys have the same problem, there are a limited number and they too need to be carried back up the mountain on a lorry.
A nice moment when baskets and riders coincided, so we are about to get going
Basket queues
Those of you that appreciate process efficiency can no doubt see numerous flaws in the way this is organised. Some times there would be drivers and no baskets, other times there would be baskets and no drivers, we also had times when there were neither baskets or drivers.
Very rarely, we would have drivers and baskets, at which point the lucky people at the front of the queue would set off down the hill. There would then ensue a fearful race down through the streets at breakneck speeds.
Each truck has 2 drivers who brake frantically with their special shoes and then lean out the sides of the truck to counterbalance the weight and help get around corners, as the basket trucks don’t have any steering wheels.
So after 3.5 hours of queuing, it was our turn and before we knew it, 3 minutes later, we were dropped at that lower station where the ride ends. Rather surprisingly this was actually only half way down the hill, so we had another 20 minute walk to get back into the town.
The Basket Riders in front of us weren’t so lucky, getting this load of hefty lads down the mountain cant have been easy without brakes, must have been nearly 60st in that truck,
We only had a few days on the island and wanted to see what it was all about. An investigation into the options through Tripadvisor threw up options for trips in all directions around the island.
it was tempting to do something like canyoning or mountain biking, but it was pointed out by Wooksie that it was hardly her idea of a relaxing weekend, so we agreed to do the full day 4×4 tour of west Madeira with a company called Safari Madeira.
The company were pretty good. The truck was full (8 people) so a bit crammed but you expect that on a 4×4 adventure, the one criticism I would make is that they should have been clearer on the need to wear WARM clothing, at times it was freezing in an open top vehicle going over mountains.
First stop was Porto Moniz, the little village where the fleet of little boats which fish for the Scabbards live, nice stop for an early cup of coffee and a stroll around the streets. Unfortunately the fishing fleet was out to sea so we didn’t get to see all the colourful boats.
Cabo Girao skywalk
Next stop were mighty cliffs of Cabo Girao where they have a skywalk, a glass floor, bridging the gap in the walkway between the cliffs. Unfortunately, we arrived at about the same time as a coach from a cruise ship so walking around on a glass floor with a load of overweight Americans made it a less than terrifying experience, although their combined weight was probably the biggest risk when walking around the gantry.
It was at this point Wooksie and I considered pushing loads of the Yanks off the cliff as a protest at tariffs, the plan became quite well developed at one point but then it was time to leave.
Then we headed up into the mountains and the off road adventure, it was bouncy and fun to be honest, but the main use of the 4×4 power was just getting up and down the steep roads not through the mud. It felt like being in a rodeo standing up in the back of the truck, but the novelty soon wore off as it was bloomin’ freezing !
Paraque Florestal
We traveled over the mountains, through the clouds and ultimately above them to get to Fanal, where there were more huge cliffs but they were unfortunately covered in clouds, that took the edge off the scenery.
It was at this point that the passengers in the truck started to rebel. The cold mountain air in an open truck became unbearable and the Joao, the helpful driver in a thick warm jumper, noticed the blue lips of his passengers and offered to shut the roof, and not surprisingly, we all agreed.
I even did the trek to the top of the cliffs in an attempt to warm up, you will probably notice that the other people in these photos are much better prepared than us, Madeira Safaris please note. Even Wooksie climbed to the top of the cliffs, she doesn’t like to be beaten and she was still blaming me for her not having jeans on.
Seixal
We then dropped down into the spectacular Seixal seaside town where the spectacular volcanic scenery reaches the sea and the water turns a spectacular pale blue as the waves smash into the cliffs
The locals have been very innovative in creating rock pools between the various rocky outcrops to create a spectacular array of swimming pools, some of them are a lot more dangerous and “refreshing” than the others. It is a lovely place to have lunch, luckily Madeira Safaris didn’t say anything about bringing swimming gear either, which I was secretly grateful about because I was only just warming up and didn’t fancy another freezing experience.
Mighty waterfalls
Then it was back to Funchal. Firstly along the north coast road and turning south through the centre of the island and passing through super steep valleys surrounded by huge volcanic mountains that were surprisingly green and covered in stunning vegetation.
But not before being doused by a huge waterfall that nobody mentioned, there were lots of them around the Seixal area and made for some spectacular views.
I’d been told years ago that if you want to go to Madeira, do it in the spring because it is colourful. Invariably, I’d notice Madeira at some other time of the year and would make a mental note that I needed to remember to go there in the spring, and then forget.
This year I remembered and last week we finally made it to the island. This is a quick summary of what we found that will hopefully be helpful to others.
So in general, there are loads of things to do when you get away from Funchal, hotels are cheap, beer and food is very reasonable and if you are lucky, you too will bump into an old mate from Plymouth on the plane and get the chance to investigate the bars together.
The weather. I was watching the forecast in the week leading up to the flight and noticed that it seemed to be a bit chilly, and indeed it was. I’ve been to Portugal a few times and the weather has never lived up to the hype and the same applies to Madeira. When the sun was out it was lovely, as soon as the clouds appeared I might has well been in the UK. I’m hardy soul when it comes to cold but I was glad to have a jumper, so if you go in spring expect to take a coat.
Funchal is a concrete jungle, as bad or worse than the Canaries or the mainland. It stretches along the coast to the west away from the centre for 2 or 3 miles and then it suddenly stops and starts to become rural, but they are still building so it will only get bigger. The hotels are more upmarket than say, the Canaries, they are nearly all 4* and a lot more individual in design, they are also cheaper, you should be able to find a 4* with breakfast for about £100 per night.
Once you get out of Funchal the scenery is stunning and it feels like a totally different world.
Steep and colourful – the whole island is steep as it pops out of the sea and is well over 1000m high, so wherever you go expect to be walking up or down a hill, many of which are not for the faint hearted. People who just stay around their hotels in Funchal will never see or experience the things this island has to offer.
There is a really vibrant tourism industry specialising in a whole range of activities from hiking to canyoning that take advantage of the islands natural beauty and gradients, we explored the west of the island on the 4×4 truck tour and it was fantastic. We regretted that we did not have more time to try some of the more adrenaline filled events, but that’s life.
Ugly sea food, they have the best sea food selection of any place I had stayed. The restaurants are full of locally caught fish and it is very cheap. They also have the ugliest fish I have ever eaten, but fortunately it also happens to be the best tasting fish I have had the pleasure to eat – the local name is Scabbardfish and they live in a 1000m of water off the coast, absolutely lush.
