Nuns, Winston, Poncha and Nikita

We joined a half day tour to the Valley of the Nuns today, only 8km as the crow flies, but 17km by road from Funchal, and at an altitude of 1,095m. The road out of Funchal is very steep and windy and the views spectacular. The south coast is thick with eucalyptus trees... but some history fun-facts first...

Madeira Island was discovered in 1419 by the Portuguese navigators João Gonçalves Zarco, Tristão Vaz Teixeira, and Bartolomeu Perestrelo. It was uninhabited at the time. Due to the number of trees, they named the island "Isla de Madeira" (Island of Wood).

Most of the islands' trees were cut for timber by early settlers. In the 16th and 17th centuries the southern side of Madeira was converted to sugarcane plantations, and Eucalyptus was also planted extensively, displacing native species.

We began our day with a visit to a viewpoint over the Valley of the Nuns, which was the best way to see the village (named when Nuns fled there for just 3 days in the 1500's fleeing a pirate attack in Funchal... so there is no convent and no Nuns!

On the way back to Funchal (the name Funchal derives from the plant Foeniculum Vulgare, the fennel plant, prominent in the early regional cuisine and confectionery), we stopped in at Câmara de Lobos, a fishing village famous for black scabbardfish and Winston Churchill's visit in 1950 where he painted landscapes in his leisure time.

In the afternoon we partook in some traditional Madeiran drinks - Poncha, made with sugarcane rum, honey, sugar, and fruit juice, and
Nikita, originally from Câmara de Lobos, consisting of pineapple ice cream, pineapple juice, and either white beer or white wine. It was created in 1985 by a man called Marcelino, who named it after his favourite Elton John song.Read more