I have had many people enquiring about the situation in Madeira which was indeed a tragedy but also one of those 'one off'(force majeur)events. The photos in many ways give a distorted picture of what is happening on the island where for the majority of islanders life continues as normal (maybe some travel is a bit longer due to road damage). The floods and mudslides occured in part of Funchal and Ribeira Brava to the west, the north and west of the island may be damp but suffered no real damage.

The agents we use in Madeira have urged us not to cancel holidays as the majority of walks can go ahead, where there is a doubt there are other options as obviously clients safety is our prime concern. Madeira is dependant on tourists and the best way you can support the islanders is to visit them and I can guarantee you will receive a warm welcome.

There was great excitiement this week when a young couple from Philadelphia told me they had seen a lynx on their walk but sadly it was dead. Because of the rather wet conditions they didnt take a photo but they were adamant that is was and it seemed to fit all the criteria. I was so intrigued that I was going to make a special visit to the scene to record and log the details but upon reviewing again the description the following day there was a big loophole in their story - one said the 'cat' had a short bobby tail, the other said it was very long. When showing them a photo of possible animals it became clear that what they had actually seen was a genet - a wild cat with a long ringed tail however with the animal being dead the tail had become partially hidden but it definitely was not bobbed.

My brother while out jogging early in the morning in the west Algarve did see a lynx and this prompted a visit from 3 members of the Nature Conservancy group from Lisbon. My brother had returned home but I took them to the spot where they collected droppings which later confirmed that these were indeed from the Iberian Lynx. They also showed me how to look for, possible identify and collect droppings while out walking so these days where ever I go I have in my rucksack small plastic bags. Sadly I have yet to see one of these wonderful creatures.

A freak accident has left me with one sprained knee and the other badly bruised which is extremely frustrating. I led the walk last Saturday limping and having to use a walking stick much to the amusement of everybody (well at least the pace was slow)but it was such a glorious afternoon with the sun shining and a blue sky - quite a rare event in the Algarve this winter.
A week later and progress on the injured knee is frustratingly slow, walking yesterday left me in considerable pain and showed my that for the time being unless absolutely necessary I have to rest - not one of my strong points I'm afraid......