For any first time visitor to the island
Madeira Airport Taxi Transfers are essential. The 5 local bus companies can be confusing to the uninitiated and hiring a
Madeira Taxi is the most sensible option. However, the first time visitor may not be aware of the tragic recent history that has occurred on this lovely mid-Atlantic island paradise.
Funchal is the economic centre of Madeira. Looking at it now, you would never understand the turmoil that reigned only twelve months ago. That was a time when the torrents of water rushing down from the mountainside invaded our usually tranquil city.
That a nominal insignificant date, namely 20th February 2010, is destined to remain in the memory of everybody who loves the island of Madeira cannot now be changed.
You probably learnt of, watched on the news or found out by any other means, the horrors Madeira suffered on that day. It had been an unusually rainy winter, the mountainous soil was saturated to the surface and an additional few hours of yet more torrential rain on that day, was the final straw that sealed the fate on our beautiful island.
The winter, just coming to an end, had been wet. The thin mountainous topsoil that sits above the volcanic rock was already saturated to the brim. The ensuing few hours of downpour that occurred on that Saturday in late February was the catalyst to disaster. Widespread flooding became unavoidable.
Funchal being the capital and most densely occupied, of course, saw extensive damage. However, other areas of the Madeira island were also hit by the torrents of cascading water. Monte, Curral das Freiras, Ribeira Brava, Serra d' ?gua, Tab?a, Ponta do Sol, Calheta, Santa Cruz and Camacha - famous for its wickerwork industry all suffered.
Suddenly, many of the villages important to the tourist industry were submerged under a life threatening sea of mud and rubble.
Mercifully, my residential area was spared of any destruction and to our eternal thanks it was a non-working Saturday morning and my relatives were all safe at home. As it all got worse from mid-morning, they could well have been in mortal danger, had they left the house early in the morning, as they normally do on a working day.
Also, compared to what went on, I must say what we had to deal with was of little importance: no mains power for a short period - we used a small portable radio to follow what was going on. Once the mains electricity was restored we were faced with one more minor inconvenience - the cable connection had been cut, so no TV, and no telephone based communications - including the Internet. As I conduct the everyday running of our business through the Internet, I started getting worried about any emails from our clients that I couldn't read and react to. After 2 ? "long" days everything returned to normal. By then I had about 70 unread emails, each and every one asking me if we were all alright, bless them!
The main centre of Funchal was left flooded with a mixture of water, mud, stones, debris, broken branches from trees... Regretfully, the aftermath of the flood got into every nook and cranny it could find. Shops, restaurants, shopping centers, supermarkets, parking lots, none were spared.
Immediately it was safe and viable to do so, the local authorities sent teams of workers to start the task of tidying and repairing the areas that demanded the greatest attention.
Following the first essential tidying up of the debris, reconstruction work was started immediately. Every person realised the significance of the tourist industry to our island's task of earning a living in the world and the need to present a safe and attractive environment.
Mercifully, the hotel district was suitably positioned to miss the deluge, but the thought that Madeira was greatly damaged, would, most certainly, keep visiting tourists away.
Currently, almost one year since that fateful day, there are still a few things that need to be undertaken. However, today everybody is more ecologically conscious and comprehends that some behaviors are storing trouble for the future and need to be avoided with vigor, like building too close to our water channel.
Thus runs the cycle of life. We experiment. We suffer. We learn from our mistakes.
So, to anybody else out there, contemplating if it's still worth visiting our mid-Atlantic paradise - of course it is, the island is as beautiful as ever and welcomes you with all it's heart.
