The First Day at Caniço da Baixo

It was already 7:30 in the morning. Soon as I woke up, I ran quickly to open the curtain on a glass sliding door to the terrace. I was excited to see the view outside. Our room lies on the 5th floor of the Four Views Oasis Hotel at the Caniço de Baixo, Madeira Portugal. It overlooks the promenade and the ocean. An orange tint on the horizon has welcomed me. It was beautiful. I called Honnepontjie while  I was opening the door to the terrace. I went outside. "What is this a perfect day!", I whispered and smiled.

After the breakfast we have got a brief introduction about the island from our contact person. She was friendly and assertive. She has also welcomed us when we arrived at the airport. After the presentation we have arranged the Levada Trips with her.

We walked down the promenade to the nearby Spar supermarket. The promenade made me think of the Baywalk in Manila, but it is not as busy as the Baywalk. I should not compare the two, because they are both beautiful in different way.  The promenade is very clean. I love the palm trees along the way. The view of the ocean gave me also a satisfaction. I love the place. It is very peaceful.

The promenade is a home for many endemic animals in the island. One of these are the Madeira wall lizards (Lacerta dugesii), which were constantly running across our path. Lizards are not really my favorite animal, except for the few species of it. The population of the wall lizards in Madeira is abundant. They are so many and they continously running here and there. Honnepontjie was happy to see them. His astonishment was lovely. How can someone be so happy just seeing the lizards? Of course I was happy, too! But he was two times happier than me. I guess all people with a Biology background have that.

There are many cacti and other succulent plants in the island and they grow bigger as the trees. Normally, in the Netherlands you can buy the succulent plants in pots as house decorations, but in Madeira, all these plants are gigantic. We were totally amazed. It was our first time to see cactus and other succulent trees.

at the Promenade Caniço de Baixo

After buying our necessities, we wandered a bit in the area. I noticed that most of the hotels are on the coast and the residence houses are located on steep hills. Almost all vehicles run fast though,  the roads in the island are zigzag with sharp turns.

Houses on the steepy hill facing the ocean.

Bridges

We went back to our hotel and did siesta. Evening, we walked again in the promenade to the restaurant and then went back at the same route. I noticed that there are two or more stray cats along the way. I am surprised, I did not expect it. Other tourists have surely noticed the cats, too. A young one was following us and later his attention diverted to the flying insect.

Our first day was really, really great. The succulent plants and trees, the ocean, our hotel room and all other I have seen the whole day gave me full enthusiasm. I was excited for the day after - Our Trip to Funchal!



See you on my next post.