OnBoard Tours Whales

February 25, 2018 These islands remind me in ways of the San Juans! All’s going well, went thru training, got out twice so far sighting cetaceans!! from the ferry- Funchal Madeira to Porto Santo Island similar size and population of San Juan, and Porto Santo gets more sun than Madeira as the mountains catch the clouds! Now we have wind, rain storms coming in, so grounded til it clears. I know, I know many of you are freezing and have snow! It is colder here than I expected, glad I brought layers. I did wander the zig zaggy narrow cobblestone streets looking for another pair of leggings and gloves, as even tho we’re in first class on the ferry- woohoo! we are surveying from the upper outer deck and my fingers froze on the first trip. I found a nice lightweight pair of gloves, warm fingers now, and admired the buildings, stonework, cathedrals, and gardens along my walks, even if I did get lost, I found my way home. The levada- water canals system here is amazing- watch episode 2 of Islands of the Future on netflix, it’s about Madeira Island. I think of the levada flowing thru Funchal to the Atlantic Ocean as a river, and my landmark to find my way back to if I get lost. The road to where I’m staying is uphill, it’s steep all over these islands, sometimes I walk it, other times I take the bus. People are friendly and helpful in this big city of Funchal. Our, my co-worker Tara and I, on our first trip to Porto Santo with Annalisa- a former volunteer to show us the protocol, who knows a local savvy tour and snorkel guide- Matias, who took us on a whole tour of Porto Santo Island. We got the back stories, off the beaten path, lots of laughs, and some high speed travel, spins, and turns in his toyota. He said he was a rally car racer 😉 We are going to do a snorkel tour with him, he knows where the octopus are 🙂 Great fun and entertainingly educational to see and hear the local perspective. We have a layover on Porto Santo that gives us time to also process our data. Click photo to see larger photos. The first 5 photos are of Funchal, the rest are of Porto Santo. Hope all is well!!