Câmara de Lobos

Let’s brighten up the grey skies and January drizzle with a throwback to the clifftops, banana trees and pastel houses of Madeira, shall we?  Or more specifically, Câmara de Lobos.  Just around the corner from the capital, Funchal, Câmara de Lobos is a pretty little town tucked away in a horse-shoe shaped harbour with colourful houses, clear waters and plenty of nice places to eat.  Apparently, it was the original landing site of the explorer, João Gonçalves Zarco, who discovered Madeira in 1419.  But I didn’t know any of that back in October when we parked up there for a stroll and an ice-cream.  🙂

While we were walking around the harbour we stopped to watch this kid who came along with a bucket, a loaf of bread and fishing rod.  He broke the loaf into tiny pieces and began fishing.  Sunny – who likes to think of himself as a bit of an angler (“If I went on The Island with Bear Grylls I’d be out there fishing every day!”) – went over and watched and asked the kid in broken Portuguese what he was up to.  I think even the kid was surprised when he actually managed to catch something, and said that he was going to take it home to his Mum so she could cook it for dinner.  Bless!  Mind you, to me it looked a bit small for that – the sort of fish you’d chuck in a fish tank not onto a plate…  🙂

If you’re starting to look into your travel plans for 2017 I’d definitely recommend Madeira; it’s such a beautiful island, and there’s a bit of something for everyone 🙂