Country Tourism (Calheta, Madeira)

"Villa Koala" is a small family run rural hotel located on the sunny south side of Madeira island. Wonderfully placed at the edge of a pine forest, nature lovers and walkers find the perfect alternative to the hustle and bustle of Funchal city.

There are many ways of getting to Madeira, but a good start is to locate it on a map. This is sometimes easier said than done, since the great cartographers of the world deem the mid-Atlantic to be of little interest to the mass of humanity. It doesn't help the cause of lost Atlantic island solidarity that the other land masses dotted around the ocean are, like Madeira, mere pin pricks in the swath of blue that fills up two pages of the Times Atlas of the World.
Try tracing a route from Lisbon south-by-south west for approximately 1000 kilometres and you will come across the Madeira Archipelago, consisting of two inhabited islands (Madeira and Porto Santo) and two groups of uninhabited rock formations (‘Ilhas Desertas’ and ‘Ilhas Selvagens’).

For greater detail you must locate Portugal, as it is the Atlantic side of the Iberian Peninsula. A healthy majority of map makers, when not re-colouring the Commonwealth of Independent States, recognise that Madeira is an integral part of Portugal, and so include it and its sister islands of the Azores in rather inconvenient insert boxes.
Your plane will land at Madeira’s Airport on the eastern end of the island. This is about thirty minutes drive from Funchal. Anyone arriving by sea will dock directly in the beautiful natural harbour of Funchal. Anyone planning to arrive by train will be disappointed. The nearest railway station is Agadir.

Leisure

After a brief experience of the local lifestyle, you might wonder why on earth anyone needs leisure activities on this island. Fast is not a word that comes immediately to mind when considering the pace of island life and stress is a consideration on your halyard not for your doctor. However, the climate on Madeira is perfect for all sorts of outside activities both land based and sea based.
Perhaps the most astonishing activities on the island are the walksalong the ‘levadas’. These water channels that run along the contours of the island transporting water from the north side to the south side and from rivers to the ridges are the ideal way to see the island. The walking is easy, if on occasions a little vertiginous, and the countryside spectacular. For more advanced walkers and climbers there are challenging routes over the interior mountains.
Sports addicts can get their feel of golf on two courses that would test the calf muscles of a mountain goat. There is also tennis and squash offered by many of the hotels and available as public facilities in the Quinta Magnolia. The armchair sportsman can go to the Barreiros football stadium to see Marítimo, the local football club in the Portuguese first division, usually on a Saturday evening or Sunday afternoon. Look out also for the local car rallying that takes place every other Saturday during the whole year.
If you are a water baby then head for the coast and try the Lido swimming pools in Funchal with their excellent salt-water pools and access to the sea or try the natural rock pools at Porto Moniz. The best of the deep-sea fishingis from June through to September, where the best in the world come to try and land the Blue Marlin and Blue Fin Tuna that roam the island. Check in with your hotel on the boat excursions that are available and that will take you down the coast past Cabo Girão, the highest cliff in Europe.
Botanists and members of the Horticultural Society must head for the Jardim Orquídea and the Botanical Garden, and other beautiful gardens open to the public at the Quintas of Monte, Palheiro Ferreiro, Palmeira and Boa Vista. Hire a car and travel into the countryside to see the wild garden of Madeira, with hydrangeas and agapanthus growing wild along the roadside.

To enjoy the local people’s favourite weekend activity you must find a suitable ‘festa’, which occurs every weekend throughout the summer. ‘Festas’ are the place to hang out with a cool Coral beer and maybe eat some chicken or ‘espetada’. Nothing really much happens at a ‘festa’ but there is plenty of noise and walking about. There are local ‘festas’, traditional music, live rock bands and municipal bands. Listen out at midday on Saturday and you will hear, and maybe see, the fireworks that announce where the ‘festa’ will be held.
Madeira Weather

When you arrive in Madeira, take a good look around. The pleasant soothing colours invade the senses with the different shades of green set against an azure sea – the hallmark of the subtropics. But they also tell of rain. This is not to say that it rains all the time or most of the time. But it does rain sometimes.

Now that the shock has been administered lets start again. Most people who live here find that Madeira has just about the most perfect climate in the world. It is never too hot (temperatures can get up to around 33 °C when the ‘Leste’ - east wind coming from the Sahara desert - blows for a few days every year) averaging a maximum of 24 °C during the summer months (July through to October) and a minimum of 17 °C. During the winter average temperatures drop by approximately 4 °C.
The island is full of small microclimates. The bay of Funchal, protected by the highest peaks, enjoys the best of sunshine. Further down the west coast at Ponta do Sol and Calheta, backed by the lower hills of the Paúl da Serra, the sun shines brighter during these months, but they are less protected from the sea winds.

The prevailing wind is the North Easterly Trade that gathers off the Portuguese coast and runs down to the Cape Verde Islands. It brings moisture and large sea swells to the north coast, and often, particularly in the morning, adversely affects the weather on the eastern end of the island between Caniço and Caniçal. However in a westerly wind these areas can be surprisingly dry and sunny whereas the south and west coasts are duly soaked.