Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Volcanic cliffs at Ponta de São Lourenço
^
Ponta de São Lourenço
shore Ilhas Desertas (“Desert
Isles”), which form part of the
same volcanic formation. Though
arid and uninhabited, these
islands nevertheless host all
sorts of rare and endangered
wildlife, including spiders, monk
seals, petrels and shearwaters.
An application has been made to
UNESCO to have the islands
declared a World Natural Herit-
age Site. For a closer look, con-
tact one of the boat companies
based at Funchal's marina, many
of which offer day-long trips to
the islands
(see p52)
.
d
Map J1
*
Portela
The long, narrow chain of
eroded volcanic cliffs and ravines
at the eastern tip of Madeira is
an exciting and dramatic
wilderness, protected as a
nature reserve because of its
coastal plants. The rocky
peninsula can be explored from
the much-used path that starts
from the car park located at the
end of the south coast road.
d
Map M4
&
The Ilhas Desertas
Ponta de São Lourenço is
linked underwater to the off-
The viewing point at Portela
has more than its fair share of
roadside cafés because it was
once the transport hub for the
east of the island. New tunnels
linking São Roque do Faial with
Machico have changed all that,
but Portela is still an important
landmark for walkers. You can
walk south from here to Porto da
Cruz
(see p78)
along a trail once
used by wine carriers, or west
along the Levada do Portela
through dense primeval wood-
land and mountain scenery to
Ribeiro Frio
(see p76)
.
d
Map J4 •
SAM bus 53, 78
The Ilhas Selvagens
Also part of the Madeiran archi-
pelago are the arid and treeless
Ilhas Selvagens (“Wild Islands”),
which lie 285 km (178 miles)
south of Madeira and 165 km
(103 miles) north of Tenerife, in
the Canaries. These tiny volcanic
islets, claimed by Portugal in
1458, have Europe's largest nest-
ing colonies of rare shearwaters
and storm-petrels. Since 1976,
military sentries from the Nature
Guards team have been perma-
nently stationed on the islands to
protect the birds, which were
once caught, salted and dried as
a delicacy.
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