Our last stop today outside of Funchal is at the ruined Saint George Fort near the ocean. We weren’t really planning to stop here initially but we found it on the map and decided to see what is here. We are surprised at how popular this site is supposed to be with multiple parking spots but most of them are empty. So we park and go to explore the site which is quite scenic from the beginning.
We then soon understand why there is a need of a large parking and why it is empty, there is a large restaurant here with a couple pools but it seems closed today. Or forever it is not clear. But that makes it less popular today.
We continue through the three house village nearby which seems to be inhabited by only cats before continuing towards the ocean through the old fort ruins.
The seagate is still standing and there are people there taking photos for hours so in the end we just pass through their photos to arrive at the beach. It is a small one but nice to explore with some nice views over the ocean. And then it is time to return back to the car for the return home.
On the way back we decide to pass through the mountains instead of following the coastline and it is quite a rollercoaster of a drive. First we go up through the fog and the pines until we reach the top of the main road. From here a side road goes to the Zino Petrel location we explored earlier. But today we are continuing down the other side towards Funchal.
The descent is quite scenic with some great views of Funchal and the ocean below us. We just can’t look at it as there are switchbacks after switchbacks that we have to focus on.
And then when reaching Funchal the road switches from switchbacks to straight down for more than two kilometers. We haven’t seen such a stretch before and it is quite stressful on the brakes but also kinda fun.
After a short break at the AirBnB we go outside to find dinner. Today we decide to go closer to the AirBnB to the Rua de Santa Maria near the Mercado dos Lavradores to find some good restaurants.
After some searching we find one that is reasonable ok and it has some good food even though a bit fatty. And then we return to the AirBnB to pack, tomorrow we are returning to Paris and then it is time to go to Lyon to meet with relatives.
