Monte Palace Tropical Garden

Our plan had been to take the cable cars up to the botanical garden, but the second cable car is out of commission as it's being serviced. So instead we took the first cable car just as far as Monte. We'd never visited the palace tropical gardens there before, and they were superb and quite extensive. Here's but a tiny taster - I liked the ferns' shadows on the path, the whimsical statues, the greenery and the fish that toned with a floating maple leaf.

One section of the garden was devoted to orchids, so I've added an extra of  a selection of those, too.

When we were ready to leave - before 3pm - the cable car had already closed, so we shall save or return tickets for another day. Instead we travelled back down to Funchal centre by bus. Our first bus ride on the island!

Tonight's plan is to have dinner with blippers Trev, Ros and Orchid, which will be a lovely way to round off a very happy day.

PS Thank you for putting my yesterblip's Monarch butterfly on the popular page: a rare occurrence for me! :-)