Funchal Warnings and Dangers

Driving a car in Madeira requires some special skills...
Rule #1: HONK
Whatever happens, honking is allways appropriate. After spending about 12 hours in several taxi's in Madeira, I still can't understand all signals :-) Some are: honk when you are in the mountains to let people behind the corner know you're arriving. (Driving in the mountains is done with open windows, to hear other people using their horns as well. First honk has priority.
Rule #2: TRAFFIC LIGHTS
When it's green: drive
When it's yeloow: drive
When it's red: drive if you have seen the yellow before.
Extra tip: don't pass as a pedestrian immidiately after the lights are green, wait till all cars have effectively stopped.

I've seen in one week about three pedestrians being hit by cars when Xing the roads while the lights for them being green...

A Gecko is about 10 to 15 cm long, with large heads, big eyes with elliptical pupils and thin toes. They have thick tails that narrow to a point and, like their bodies and heads, are slightly flattened from top to bottom. Most of their scales are small and granular.

Don't be afraid of them, because the primarily eat insects, fruit, spiders, snails, small lizards, birds and bird eggs.

You'll find them in hot and dried out areas like her at Madeira!

Do take care whilst driving, some of the roads are quite narrow and right on the edge, with barriers sometimes. Not much fun for the driver, as you have to keep your eyes on the road at all times........

For years, we have all been told of the importance of water. The general guideline has been to drink 2 litre of water each day. For a person who is not living an active lifestyle this may be enough, but if you are physically active, you need more water than that. That is especially true if you are hiking in the city of Funchall due to the fact the average temperature in the city is much higher than other areas on the island.

Water is essential for everyone, especially if you are hiking. Water helps almost every part of the human body function properly. Our bodies are almost two-thirds water, and proper hydration is essential to keep your body functioning properly during the hike. Some of the things water does in the body are:
* The brain is 75% water; even moderate dehydration can cause headaches and dizziness;
* Water regulates body temperature, which is especially important here in the area where the temperatures can be so brutal;
* Water carries nutrients and oxygen to all cells in the body
* Blood is 92% water;
* Water protects and cushions vital organs;
·* Water converts food into energy (which is something you will need on a 3 to 4 hour hike…);
* Muscles are 75% water, and you will use many muscles on a trail as you climb above the desert floor.

Men Are from Mars, Women Are from Venus, the catchy title of the 1992 bestseller by John Gray, succinctly expresses an ancient dilemma. What--if anything--do men's and women's brains do differently?

The general statement that men and women respond and behave differently under the same circumstances is true; For example, from the crib, male babies tend to be more aggressive and females more passive. As adults, in spatial operations, men have the edge in such skills as negotiating a maze, reading a map, and quickly discriminating between right and left. Men also perform better than women when asked to visualize an object and imagine rotating it. On the other hand, women tend to perform better than men when asked to look at objects of different shapes, sizes, and colors, and then to group them in some order.

This still doesn't explain why Relinde turns the map all around when I'm asking for the road to travel, while I like the map at one point so I can better visualize our position. Help!

I booked a flight with TAP to Madeira and had to stop of in Lisbon for almost three hours. However, when I reached Madeira, my luggage had been left in Lisbon and I was told that it would be with me the same day.

To cut a long story short, after being assured that it was "on it's way" for 2 days, I spoke to a manager who told me that my luggage was still in the Airport and had never left the airport in the first place, basically the Lost and Found Staff had been lying to me, if they had given me the correct information I would've gone to the airport and picked my suitcase up myself, but as they had told me that it was with a "transport" and they had no way to contact the "transport" all I could do was wait, I lost two days of a seven day trip.

This has put me off flying with TAP, even though the cabin crew was nice, this incident has made me only ever pick TAP as a last option when booking flights in the future.

If you intent to dive in the mountains hire something more powerful than a 1.0 litre car, especially if there are more that two passengers. Some of the gradients are very steep and the smaller cars are just not up to it.

I have been to Madeira four times and have always vowed to return. The people of Madeira are very warm and friendly. I have walked in some of the most out of the way areas and I have never had a problem. Bear in mind that some areas of Madeira are still poor and the people scrape a living. There is some begging, mainly by small children. Treat everyone with respect and I am sure that you will have a great time.