Cruising for a bruising!

Alex and Annette had an early holiday in June this year. This blip was taken on Madeira, one of the stops on their Canary Islands Cruise. If you’ve ever been to Madeira you’ll know that the terrain is pretty hilly. In the main town Funchal, you can climb (or more likely take a cable car) up to Monte, a fascinating suburb where you’ll find a palace and other old buildings to explore, beautiful tropical gardens and public spaces with exotic plants and flowers. It’s an equally steep walk back down but there is an alternative.

In the late 19th C, local residents devised an easier way to descend from Monte to Funchal using ‘carros de cesto’, or basket cars. These baskets, with seats on wooden skis were an ideal way of sliding down the steep streets, guided from behind by a pair of 'carreiros'. These days they’re popular with tourists as a two kilometre thrill ride, the equal of any helter-skelter. Annette explains: “The toboggan is 'controlled' by the two hopefully strong young men and can be quite scary when they have to turn the corner at speed as the hill is very steep. By the time we reached the bottom the photo was ready to buy, very organised.” The 'carreiros' don't like to hang around. The brake is their rubber boots. And don't bother asking for a seatbelt!

What did you do on holiday this year? Send us a blip to fill a gap in our journal - see here.