Sept. 20 – Levada do Caldeirão Verde Hike

By on September 27, 2024 in The Pearl
“When was the last time you did something for the first time?” ~Anonymous
Today we finally made it to one of Madeira’s levadas. Levadas are man-made aqueducts and irrigation channels that date back to the early colonization of the island in the 15th century. They were built to supply water to sugar cane plantations. Today they are used for walking and are often surrounded by greenery and pass through different types of terrain. Madeira has around 200 levadas, totaling over 1,800 miles of channels that wind through the island’s landscapes. We chose the Levada do Caldeirão Verde which translates to Levada of the Green Cauldron. The green cauldron refers to the waterfall and pool at the end of the hike. Unfortunately we didn’t make it that far. The hike is beautiful and fairly flat since it follows the levada.

CONTINUE READING HERE…»

Sept. 19 – Porto Moniz, Portugal

By on September 27, 2024 in The Pearl

“Life is better when it’s more important to know the tide than the time.” –Unknown

After our long day exploring yesterday we decided to spend today relaxing at the natural pools in Porto Moniz. The natural pools in Madeira are amongst the wonders of the island. They were formed over thousands of years when lava from volcanic eruptions solidified when hitting the cold water of the Atlantic Ocean. The natural saltwater pools are one of the most attractive and symbolic spots on the north coast. Since Madeira is  essentially the tip of an ancient volcano in the middle of the Atlantic the strong currents and high waves make it unsafe for swimming. The natural pools give visitors and locals alike a great spot to relax after a long day of hiking or sightseeing.

CONTINUE READING HERE…»

Guam to Chile Blog Post 9

By on September 26, 2024 in Spirit

 Guam to Chile – Blog Post 9

September 22 – At Sea between Lautoka and Vulaga

September 23 – Vulaga, Lau Group, Fiji



Seabourn Pursuit arrived off the reef entrance to Vulaga Atoll about 0300 and maintained station until sunrise at 0600.  The ship moved closer to the reef entrance, zodiacs and submersibles were launched and at 0700 the first trips ashore started, with the expedition team leader and three Fijian guides headed to the village for ceremonial kava and permission to enter the village and cruise the waters of the lagoon.  At 0730, Patrick departed on a kayak excursion and at 0800 guests were starting ashore for a wet landing in the lagoon and a roughly one mile walk to the village where there were dances, tours, and opportunities to shop for native handicrafts.  Julie participated in that excursion.


Reef entrance to Vulaga Lagoon

Rock formation in the lagoon

Coral formations at 100 feet deep

The lagoon has dozens of the mushroom rocks

Eagle Ray from Submersible

Meanwhile, Patrick was kayaking in the lagoon among the limestone/karst eroded pinnacles which looked like mushrooms in many cases.  The lagoon is popular with cruising sailboats, there were five anchored in various places around the lagoon.

At the end of the 2-hour kayak expedition, Patrick was ferried back to the Seabourn Pursuit for another dive outside the reef on one of the submersibles  This trip had many more fish visible than in previous excursions, and we were able to identify 21 separate species in the videos and photos  The trip was notable for diving to 130 meters and for the relatively rough seas encountered when boarding and disembarking the submersible itself, along with the wet zodiac ride back to the ship.

Julie reported a good visit to the village, with dances, shopping and even a discussion on what life is like on an atoll with only a monthly supply ship carrying mail and staples.

In the afternoon there were two lectures, one on wildlife conservation, and the second on whale conservation.

Seabourn Pursuit departed Vulaga shortly after 1300 and headed for a technical stop in Tonga early on September 24 to drop off the tour guides and the Fijian government officials we carried from Lautoka.

September 24, 2024 – First Time

Lectures today included one on ancient ferns, one on phytoplankton, another on the evolution of the modern naturalist (from shotguns to smart phones), and finally one on the impacts of plastic pollutions in our oceans and current mitigation strategies for that plastic pollution.

Today we cross the International Date Line eastward, so we will set our clocks from GMT+12 to GMT-11, effectively gaining a day. That means we experience September 24 for a second time.

September 24, 2024 – Second Time, At Sea

Lectures today include one on Gaugin’s art and Tahiti, discussions on Longitude and the importance of accurate time measurement for mariners before the advent of GPS, etc, another lecture on the impact of the Challenger Expedition on underwater exploration, and finally, a lecture on the human story, from being hunter/gatherers to AI and what might be next.

September 25, 2024 – At Sea Enroute Papeete

As Seabourn Pursuit continued the voyage to Papeete we had more lectures to fill the day, as well as fun activities. The lectures included one on the geography of French Polynesia, one on Polynesian Sea Turtles and the first of two lectures on HMAV (Her Majesty’s Armed Vessel) Bounty, the mutiny, the relation between Fletcher Christian and Bligh and how one decision led to death and the other to life.

September 26, 2024 – At Sea Enroute Papeete

The final day at sea had the last set of lectures for this segment of the trip.  The most interesting lecture was the second part of the Bligh/Christian story following the mutiny, where William Bligh ends up a Vice-Admiral in the Royal Navy, and Fletcher Christian ends up dead.  In a few days we will be at Pitcairn Island, where some of the mutineers landed and finally perished.  If the weather cooperates, we will get ashore.


September 27, 2024 – Arrive Papeete

 

 

 


Guam to Chile Blog Post 9

By on September 26, 2024 in Spirit

 Guam to Chile – Blog Post 9

September 22 – At Sea between Lautoka and Vulaga

September 23 – Vulaga, Lau Group, Fiji



Seabourn Pursuit arrived off the reef entrance to Vulaga Atoll about 0300 and maintained station until sunrise at 0600.  The ship moved closer to the reef entrance, zodiacs and submersibles were launched and at 0700 the first trips ashore started, with the expedition team leader and three Fijian guides headed to the village for ceremonial kava and permission to enter the village and cruise the waters of the lagoon.  At 0730, Patrick departed on a kayak excursion and at 0800 guests were starting ashore for a wet landing in the lagoon and a roughly one mile walk to the village where there were dances, tours, and opportunities to shop for native handicrafts.  Julie participated in that excursion.


Reef entrance to Vulaga Lagoon

Rock formation in the lagoon

Coral formations at 100 feet deep

The lagoon has dozens of the mushroom rocks

Eagle Ray from Submersible

Meanwhile, Patrick was kayaking in the lagoon among the limestone/karst eroded pinnacles which looked like mushrooms in many cases.  The lagoon is popular with cruising sailboats, there were five anchored in various places around the lagoon.

At the end of the 2-hour kayak expedition, Patrick was ferried back to the Seabourn Pursuit for another dive outside the reef on one of the submersibles  This trip had many more fish visible than in previous excursions, and we were able to identify 21 separate species in the videos and photos  The trip was notable for diving to 130 meters and for the relatively rough seas encountered when boarding and disembarking the submersible itself, along with the wet zodiac ride back to the ship.

Julie reported a good visit to the village, with dances, shopping and even a discussion on what life is like on an atoll with only a monthly supply ship carrying mail and staples.

In the afternoon there were two lectures, one on wildlife conservation, and the second on whale conservation.

Seabourn Pursuit departed Vulaga shortly after 1300 and headed for a technical stop in Tonga early on September 24 to drop off the tour guides and the Fijian government officials we carried from Lautoka.

September 24, 2024 – First Time

Lectures today included one on ancient ferns, one on phytoplankton, another on the evolution of the modern naturalist (from shotguns to smart phones), and finally one on the impacts of plastic pollutions in our oceans and current mitigation strategies for that plastic pollution.

Today we cross the International Date Line eastward, so we will set our clocks from GMT+12 to GMT-11, effectively gaining a day. That means we experience September 24 for a second time.

September 24, 2024 – Second Time, At Sea

Lectures today include one on Gaugin’s art and Tahiti, discussions on Longitude and the importance of accurate time measurement for mariners before the advent of GPS, etc, another lecture on the impact of the Challenger Expedition on underwater exploration, and finally, a lecture on the human story, from being hunter/gatherers to AI and what might be next.

September 25, 2024 – At Sea Enroute Papeete

As Seabourn Pursuit continued the voyage to Papeete we had more lectures to fill the day, as well as fun activities. The lectures included one on the geography of French Polynesia, one on Polynesian Sea Turtles and the first of two lectures on HMAV (Her Majesty’s Armed Vessel) Bounty, the mutiny, the relation between Fletcher Christian and Bligh and how one decision led to death and the other to life.

September 26, 2024 – At Sea Enroute Papeete

The final day at sea had the last set of lectures for this segment of the trip.  The most interesting lecture was the second part of the Bligh/Christian story following the mutiny, where William Bligh ends up a Vice-Admiral in the Royal Navy, and Fletcher Christian ends up dead.  In a few days we will be at Pitcairn Island, where some of the mutineers landed and finally perished.  If the weather cooperates, we will get ashore.


September 27, 2024 – Arrive Papeete

 

 

 


Sept. 18 – Exploring the Northern Coast of Madeira

By on September 26, 2024 in The Pearl

“If you find yourself having to tiptoe around others, you’re not walking amongst your tribe.” -Tanya Markul 


We started our morning with breakfast in the yard of our Inn. The view, the service and the food was fantastic. It is so peaceful here. Today we drove west along the north side of Madeira. Our first stop of the day was at the lighthouse in São Jorge. It was very close to where we had dinner last night. From there we took in the sights wherever we could find a look out. The closer we got to the west end of the island the clearer the skies became. People have told us if we don’t like the weather where we are…just drive somewhere else in Madeira and you can find a little sunshine. It seems to be true. The clouds roll in and out very quickly.

It was a little chilly this morning. I took this picture when I came up to the room to get a jacket.

CONTINUE READING HERE…»

Sept. 17 – Moving to the North Shore

By on September 25, 2024 in The Pearl
“Wherever you go becomes a part of you somehow.” – Anita Desai
Today we left Funchal to a place on the north shore. On the way we drove up to Pico Arieiro. It’s one of the most popular hikes on the island. It’s also one of the highest peaks in Madeira. Being at the top of this peak put us above the clouds. We felt like we were on top of the world. The full hike takes you from Pico Arieiro to Pico Ruivo is seven miles, but most of the trail has been closed since the fires in August. The hike is impressive; it takes you along narrow paths on sheer ridges, down mountain staircases and through rocky tunnels. We didn’t plan on doing the whole hike, but we didn’t even do what I’d thought we would. We had to park over 1/2 a mile down from the trailhead and viewing platform. Going straight up for that long was enough. Stan injured his foot earlier in the summer and hiking has been difficult. We enjoyed the view and time at the top and then returned to our car.

CONTINUE READING HERE…»

Sept. 17 – Moving to the North Shore

By on September 25, 2024 in The Pearl
“Wherever you go becomes a part of you somehow.” – Anita Desai
Today we left Funchal to a place on the north shore. On the way we drove up to Pico Arieiro. It’s one of the most popular hikes on the island. It’s also one of the highest peaks in Madeira. Being at the top of this peak put us above the clouds. We felt like we were on top of the world. The full hike takes you from Pico Arieiro to Pico Ruivo is seven miles, but most of the trail has been closed since the fires in August. The hike is impressive; it takes you along narrow paths on sheer ridges, down mountain staircases and through rocky tunnels. We didn’t plan on doing the whole hike, but we didn’t even do what I’d thought we would. We had to park over 1/2 a mile down from the trailhead and viewing platform. Going straight up for that long was enough. Stan injured his foot earlier in the summer and hiking has been difficult. We enjoyed the view and time at the top and then returned to our car.

CONTINUE READING HERE…»

Sept. 16 – Monte in Funchal, Portugal

By on September 25, 2024 in The Pearl
“The goal is to die with memories, not dreams.” –Unknown

Today was Stan’s birthday and it was probably our best day yet on the island. We took the Funchal Cable Car to Monte to visit the Monte Palace Tropical Garden. At the beginning of the 20th century, tourists reached the mountain by steam train. Nowadays, they make the same journey from a cable car. The ride from Funchal old town to Monte takes 15-20 minutes one way, which gave us plenty of time to enjoy beautiful views of the city and its surroundings. It covers a distance of 2 miles and makes an impressive ascent of 1,902 ft.

CONTINUE READING HERE…»

Sept. 15 – Porto da Cruz, Portugal

By on September 24, 2024 in The Pearl
“Stop being afraid of what could go wrong, and start getting excited about what could go right.” -Tony Robbins
While we were in the planning and research stage of our trip to Madeira we watched several YouTube videos. One talked about the Santo da Serra Farmers Market held every Sunday. It looked like a great local place to check out. In reality it was packed with tourists. I guess everyone watches the same videos. The road was jammed with at least 20 large buses and 100s of cars. It’s a very small market with some great food booths and a few vegetables and fruit vendors. There was also a flea market across the street. Neat to see but definitely not worth being tied up in traffic. 

CONTINUE READING HERE…»

Sept. 14 – Exploring the Southern Coast of Madeira

By on September 23, 2024 in The Pearl

“If you never go, you’ll never know.” –Unknown


Today we drove west along the southern shore of Madeira. We decided to drive all the way to the end on the main road (freeway) and slowly make our way back to Funchal using the smaller more local roads stopping at places that looked interesting. The faster road goes through a series of tunnels, some of these tunnels are miles long. All the roads in Madeira are well maintained and well marked. It would be hard to get lost even without a GPS.
Do you see the cloud in this photo?
Our first stop was at the Ponta do Pargo Lighthouse. It’s an active lighthouse that was built in 1922 on top of Ponta Vigia, a rocky cliff escarpment and is 1023′ above the sea. The views were unbelievable.

The color of the water was so blue and it was so clear. Amazing!

Our next stop was an out of the way short hike to the Gorge Funda Viewpoint. We love waterfalls and wanted to check this tall fall out. We read it was 460′ high. I’m sure it would have been impressive, but unfortunately it’s the dry season and there wasn’t any water. But the view was fantastic.
We could see this little house on the cliff from the trail.

What we saw and how it looks during the rainier season.

We could see the lighthouse from this little hike.

From here we started back towards Funchal. We took small roads and found several rocky beaches and found a wonderful spot for lunch in Ponta do Sol overlooking the ocean. It became increasingly cloudy all day. So the pictures don’t show the true beauty of what we say. Every turn brought another unbelievable view.
The rocks are so large it was hard to walk on this beach.
Cascata dos Anjos (Waterfall of Angels) – we drove under this waterfall.

Ponta do Sol. The beach is so rocky they had a boardwalk to walk on and wooden pallets to sit on.   

What a view. We had our first Prego sandwich. A Madeirian traditional steak sandwich. So good. 

This is the Sol Poente Restaurant where we had lunch. If you look close you can see the blue deck we were sitting on that hung over the water.

Even with little sunshine the water looked inviting…so clear and blue.

After lunch we stopped at the Cabo Girão Skywalk. It’s the highest promontory in Europe, that juts out the side of the mountain 1,900 feet above sea level. The suspended glass platform offered incredible views of the coastline, Funchal and the town of Câmara de Lobos.  
I found this photo online to show what the area looks like.
I was a little afraid to put my phone over the side to take a picture. I thought I might drop my phone.

Looking down through the glass floor.

Looking towards Funchal.

Our last stop of the day was Câmara de Lobos. A beautiful little harbor town known as the Land of Fishermen. The town’s name means Chamber of Wolves and was given its unusual name due to the large influx of monk seals, known on the island as sea lions (literally ‘sea wolves’ in Portuguese), which used to inhabit the cove and the local caves. 

Stan and his buddy Winston Churchill. He liked visiting Madeira and spent his days painting. He would set up his easel and canvas and paint the bay of Câmara de Lobos in oil.

The boats were beautiful.

The streets in Câmara de Lobos are filled with art.

We went to dinner at a little place on Rua da Santa Maria called Galeria. Stan had Tropical scabbard fillet with passion fruit and banana and I had the  Risotto with mushrooms and truffle oil. The food in Madeira is very good and very reasonably priced. Most dinners were under $50 including cocktails.

We went to a roof top bar for a nightcap. Another wonderful view.

We ended our long day by sitting on our little patio listening to a concert in the park across the street.