Tengenenge sculpture in Monte Palace tropical garden

Henry Munyaradzi’s serpentine warriors on guard at Monte Palace Tropical Gardens

TOURISM is booming in Portugal. At the 2017 World Travel Awards in St Petersburg, Russia, Portugal was declared best European destination, while the Portuguese island of Madeira won the award for best island destination. Little wonder then that EasyJet flights to Madeira from London, Gatwick are loaded to the gunnels with tourists of all shapes and sizes, with ages ranging from toddlers to octogenarians.
Whether touching down at the windswept Cristiano Ronaldo International Airport, or descending from a cruise ship in Funchal Harbour, most tourists are keen to visit Madeira’s top scenic attractions, to taste as many varieties of Madeira wine as possible, and to enjoy the best of Madeiran cuisine.
For adrenaline junkies, a cable car ride to the hill top village of Monte, with a precipitous two kilometre return ride on a wicker sledge, propelled by drivers using rubber-soled boots as brakes, tops the must do list.
Before taking the sledge ride,which costs Euros 30, visit Monte Palace Tropical Garden. The entrance is a few metres from the cable car terminus, and for Euros 12 you can explore 70 thousand square metres of exotic flowers, ferns, trees and ancient cycads. The pathways are steep and cobbled, so wear your best trail running shoes and save your patent leather Guccis for Madeira Classical Orchestra’s next performance at the Municipal Theatre.
Of special interest to Zimbos is the Monte Palace Museum, with it’s exhibition of Zimbabwean stone sculpture entitled African Passion.
On display are works by first generation sculptors from Tengenenge, such as Henry Munyaradzi and Sylvester Mubayi, together with many lesser known artists.
After several hours spent admiring the sculptures and exploring the gardens, it was a relief to come across a small cafe with a terrace and a fine view over the Bay of Funchal. Here we were offered a fortifying glass of Madeira wine, included in the entry price to the gardens.
The wine gets its name from the island of Madeira, a small volcanic island in the middle of the Atlantic ocean. Grapes for the wine are grown in small vineyards on steep terraces all over the island. Fortified Madeira wine became popular about 200 years ago, and gets its unique taste from repeatedly heating the wine. Because of the way the wine is treated, it can keep for many years. Once a bottle is opened, it will still taste good several weeks later.
Energised, we made our descent to the town, and stopped off at Ottavia Gelateria, a shop selling Italian-style ice cream. For Euros 2.80 you can have two delicious scoops of ice cream, chosen from a variety of flavours such as chocolate, ginger, mango, granadilla, kiwi, coconut, pistachio, vanilla and walnut. Italian cappuccino is Euros 1.10, and a large black coffee with milk, known locally as Chinesa, is Euros 0.90. A Euros 3.00 pancake with nutella was not the finest I’ve tasted, but the ice cream was delectable.
It was time to leave Madeira, and the next day we would be flying to Gatwick to catch an Emirates flight via Dubai and Lusaka back to Harare. Home sweet home! I can’t wait.

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