The German television company WDR has broadcast at the beginning of this month in their weekly travel program Wunderschön! (Beautiful!), a 90 minutes report of Madeira “Blumeninsel im Atlantik” (Island of Flowers), presented by Tamina Kallert.

WebTV Madeira “Blumeninsel im Atlantik” (90 min. German)

Although it is in German and 1 hour and a half long … it is worth to watch this webTV program.

One thing I noticed when watching this German travel report ….. from it you can learn what visitors want to see and visit. Remember, this is a 1 hour and a half long TV program, so it should cover the most important attractions and things-to-do that a German traveler will be looking for in Madeira. I got a good impression of what that is … but I leave it up to you to find it out yourself. I am curious if you come to the same conclusion as I did.

After watching the TV report one will learn that all the attractions that were covered by the German Wunderschön! group had one thing in common …. they all missed one characteristic …. namely “modern”. Talking in Internet-terms … if you could tag all the attractions mentioned in the TV program … the word “modern”, “new-flanged” or “futuristic” would not be one of them. In the German travel coverage I missed things like modern entities such as Story Center, Casa das Mudas, Madeira Magic, Santana Theme park, trip with one of the catamarans, double deck buses, shopping malls/centers, and also none of the modern hotels were mentioned.

My conclusion is that visitors prefer to experience the old-fashioned. Searching for old traditions and typical things that they do not get to see in their home country or have been lost during the modernization. Just ask a Madeira visitor to name the characteristics of Madeira …. and you will hear most of them mentioning the same subjects that were covered in the German TV program. This is a lesson that one can learn from.

My advice to (future) entrepreneurs on Madeira: learn first the Madeiran (old) culture …. search for images of (lost) traditions …. and if you can restore (part of it) back …. then you will be a winner in the area of tourism.

Here is an idea that can help Madeira Islands banana producers boost up their business and make up for the lack of exports and banana subsidies.

Underwear made from banana fibers
(Thanks mom, for sending me the link ..)

Do you know the best garden to visit? Where the best Madeirense food can be found? Or do you fancy trying something new?

Well … we just created a Facebook page for all curious and underground things that can be found in Funchal (capital of Madeira). It is called Secret Funchal (on Facebook)

Secret Funchal invites everyone to share the hidden, and also “not-so-hidden”, gems of the city. The objective is that all Funchalenses that are active in Facebook joins and share their knowledge of the city. However … FB-ers from outside the city are also most welcome.

Lots of people that are visiting Madeira are looking for new things to do in Funchal. Experience is that they are always searching online for different things … that normally one would not find out about.

Join Secret Funchal …. but don’t forget to keep it a secret ….

Warning: the following photos contain horrifying** images of Madeira …. (more…)

An excellent video by Luis Jardim and Rui Martins … in order to show the world that the Island of Madeira is back in business. (more…)

Two photo galleries (a maybe more will come) to honor all the rescuers, police personnel, firemen, civil workers, emergency personnel, soldiers, victims and others for their great effort in rescue, support and restoring back the island as it was.

There is a real sense of unity and dedication as the community here on Madeira works together to overcome the recent events. The rate at which this being achieved is quite phenomenal.

All these people are the real heroes of Madeira

Click on the image to go to the photo gallery.

A incredible and great effort is done by everyone to restore Funchal and the rest of the island back to what it was. However I think we should also focus our attention to all the victims and those who lost their lives.

Since the authorities objective is to make sure that the Flower Festival will take place this year …. I would suggest to dedicate the 2010 festival to all victims of 20-2.

Also to honor all the rescue teams, police, firemen, army, navy, emergency personnel, civilian workers and all others who helped to restore the areas affected by flooding. The real Heroes of Madeira. Honoring all of them in this year Flower Festival.

What do you think?

As I am only an individual … I am not the one that makes the decisions … but I hope that someone can take this suggestion to make it happen.

All roads on Madeira are accessible, with the exception of those that are listed as closed on the site of “Serviço Regional de Protecção Civil” (Regional Civil Protection Service).

However these days drivers should be extra careful. A few points to pay attention when driving on Madeira:

- Drive carefully. Not too fast, but also not too slow.

- At the moment part of roads and highway are covered with a thin layer of mud, that was spread by vehicles and trucks from the affected areas. When it rains these layers will make the roads very slippery. In that case you need to be extra careful. If possible, avoid driving.

- Island visitors that have rented a car and are driving through the areas such as Funchal, Ribeira Brava, and other by flood affected areas, … please keep your eyes on the road! The driver should not try to deviate his/her sight from the road in order to get a glimpse of what happened. We do not need another victim!

Enjoy your stay!

By Alberto Vieira:

The circumstances here in Madeira were disastrous Saturday but the dramatic flash floods that have feature in the news headlines were limited to specific areas, so fortunately the majority of Madeira is functioning normally and the airport is fully operational. In the north part of the island nothing remarkable happened.

Some of the Levadas are closed, due to landslides. But before Saturday some of them were already closed. Clients can ask at hotel reception which ones are closed.

Except in the center of Funchal, all around the island, restaurants, shops, places to visit, hotels everything is working normal.

The main problem was Funchal and the downtown, also Ribeira Brava. In the center of Funchal and Ribeira Brava, the rivers just didn’t hold the all water from the rains and the situation if few hours become horrible. The water cross to the roads and took everything with it. The result was floods in the basements of many buildings, specially the shoppings and the underground parking places.

Also in some small country places in Funchal, and Ribeira Brava some landslides occur, destroying some houses and roads, but that’s not a touristic area or even a place to visit.

In only 8 hours it rained more than in the whole month in Funchal.

Records of such a scenario, only in the year 1803. This was a very uncharacteristic rainy day.

Clean up crews are in the streets 24h/day. Some zones will need a few more days to clean up, but by the end of the week in Funchal almost everything will be working under normal conditions.

In the rest of the island, some landslides occur, closing some roads, but nothing very severe. The freeway and the highway are 100% drivable and normal, except in the village of Ribeira Brava the roads are with some mud and dirty, but it’s possible to pass. I think tomorrow it will not be totally clean, but Wednesday it will be operational.

Authorities already informed that are starting to work on Flower Festival for April. No cancellations of touristic programs were made. Every efforts are being made to recover the city to is normal life. Tourist who will visit us in the second week of March will not recognize any difference in the city.

If you came to this blog searching for images of the disaster … then sorry to disappoint you. We are trying to focus more in helping the victims and restoring the normal life back here on Madeira.

Dioceses Cáritas of Funchal is collecting clothing and other goods to help those most affected by floods in Madeira. They will also inform the local population where the donations can be delivered. However, monetary donations can now be made.

Cáritas Funchal

Address: Cal̤ada do Pico,59 9000-206 РFunchal
Phone:(+351) 291743331
Fax: (+351) 291745714 *
E-mail: caritasfunchal@netmadeira.com
URL: www.caritas.pt/funchal/seccao2.asp?caritaid=14&seccaoid=221

Needs: Clothes, Diapers and baby food needed, Appliances, School Material, Furniture

Donations:
Financial Institution: Banif
Account Number: 1626371377 or NIB nº 003800011626371377113
BIC: BNIFPTPL
IBAN: PT50003800011626371377113

* By sending a fax to the number above a receipt will be sent out to you.