Desertas, all inclusive

And what if you could spend a different day with friends or family, enter a grotto with a kayak or dive with monk seals? Take the could out of it, as you only have to venture on board a yacht to the nature reservation and be pampered on the way by a school of pilot whales who – really – didn’t leave us for the whole trip.

Gavião Madeira, Madeira Radical and Summerboard Diving Centre have all joined efforts to afford their clients – locals or visitors – a unique experience. The day spent on board, with open bar and meals included, is a good bet for one of the coming weekends. And we recommend it, because on the day we went the whales came to show us that all that is said about how easy it is to find whales in our seas is true. It was quite a good bet by all three entities, because the quality of the service on board and the comfort of the trip offered, speak for themselves.

The puffs on the bow invite us to seat and enjoy the Funchal bay, while we travel towards the reserve. The bar is full, the dinghy is tied, the diving suits are all hanging and the kayak is all set up to explore the grottos of Deserta Grande.

Less than half an hour away we get company. Two, three, four pilot whales on a meditation class – or at least concentrated merely on breathing, which slowly brings them to the surface. The Gavião turns off the engines, so as not to disturb them, and the two German couples jump off their seats as if they had springs, leaning over the edge of the yacht, looking for the whales and the best perspective for the camera. Their eyes shine, and they look towards the skipper and the dive instructor as if they had placed the whales there as a marketing ploy. They shoot picture after picture. The yacht is roomy – this area is designed for twenty plus the crew – but I guess all is small when in the vicinity of sleeping whales.

We don’t disturb them. We follow the route. A cool drink, under a sun that keeps pushing us under the shade of a awning placed in the stern.

Later we’ll see them again, already awake, perhaps not the same, as we’ll see later, but from the same family.

The island, clearer and clearer in front of us, awaits us for a guided visit to the natural reserve. And the kayak and the dive, it’s up to the guest. Or both. There’s time for all. We see the whales again. They seem to be pointing the way to one who knows it with his eyes shut. Rodrigo Cardoso turns off the engines, and again we enjoy their presence.

They pose for the pictures, they go to and from, and seem to follow a choreography, diving at the same time, but they quickly change their course and go off towards the Bugio, and we are again alone.

The divers get ready, there’s a diver’s debut, and that’s the one Luis Trabulo goes down with first. The others follow him. They explore, they amaze themselves, they look for fish, and find rays. They don’t lose their jaws because the masks won’t let them fall, but they are definitely excited by all they find in the sea of the natural reserve.

Meanwhile we explore the naturally lit grotto in the Madeira Radical kayak, and we open the appetite for lunch, which is already ready when we return on board.

The salad and the pastry are a perfect match, a great mix of salty and sweet tastes. If we don’t rush the German will grab a whole tray for himself, but he finally settles for the fourth cream tart, somewhere between being eager and ashamed. Rodrigo tells me there are people who request the address of the bakery just to go back there before they go home.

We visited the reservation. The skipper guides us, we meet other travellers, the explanations on the panels shine in the sun, the tracks are clearly marked, and the walk is enjoyable, after lunch. The Germans go back to the bottom of the sea, they rest, and then time starts getting short and we have to return to Funchal.

But our friends are waiting for us, apparently all together. About ten of them, give or take a few, we get lost counting them, they make up a sort of escort for the Gavião for some time, while the Germans keep watching them, making frequent visits to the bar and sleeping on the bow, comfortably setup, heading for the end of the day. The sun vanishes in the horizon, and in the Funchal marina, where everything starts and finishes, the chore of tidying up starts, until the next trip and the next sighting of whales… from a vantage point!

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