Bus ride
This morning we woke up early (at least, tried to) and set off down to find our bus to Câmara de Lobos. Luckily this bus was a bit more well known, only taking us two hours on the internet to track down. So we got on the bus and enjoyed the winding roads up to Cabo Girão. Eventually we made it to the viewpoint, with a lull in the crowds we managed to get tickets quickly.
Cabo Girão viewpoint
Making our way to the glass platform, Mum stopped to ‘examine this intriguing cactus’ aka didn’t want to go to the cliff. Regardless, me and Dad stepped on to the mind-boggling platform. I was fine and went straight to the edge; Dad on the other hand felt a bit of vertigo but soon it wore off. After enjoying the view, we managed to persuade Mum to come on, and after a few ‘one foot on-one foot off’ moments she had enough courage to embrace the 580m drop (hugging the railing). Reunited we enjoyed the view for another half an hour or so.
3,000 steep steps
Now that we had finished at the viewpoint, we ‘wandered’ down to Câmara de Lobos, with more than 3,000 steps and through all sorts of terrain it wasn’t easy. Nonetheless we made it to the bottom of that hill. Alas we had to go up and down again to reach the town centre. At this point only the promise of food kept me and Mum going. Reaching the top we could see our destination, then, after a steep descent, we managed to make it to flat ground. Then we realised that we could’ve cut through the tunnel, great.
Lunch
After the atrocious walk, we stopped for a delicious lunch at a snack bar in Câmara de Lobos. We ordered drinks which came with olives and peanuts. Mum and Dad had beer and I had a Compal mango juice, which I’d remembered from Victoria’s Bar in Funchal. A few minutes later our lunch arrived. Mum and Dad shared a plain bolo do caco and scabbard-fish lumps. As for me, I had a prego no bolo do caco (meat sandwich), with an egg surprise. Overall everything was delicious, for me the prego wasn’t as juicy as the one from Bar Madeira in Funchal, but this one had an egg in it for variety.
We then caught a taxi back to Funchal – a splendid day out.
