subject: The Toboggan To Ride Without Snow [print this page] The Toboggan To Ride Without Snow The Toboggan To Ride Without Snow
The holiday island of Madeira is a regular stopping port for the many luxury cruise liners that plough the Atlantic Ocean between Europe and the Americas. It is also a popular haven for young newly weds. However, for most people, it is a section of the holiday brochures that often goes unnoticed.
Regretfully, Madeira is often considered to be an insignificant island with nothing much happening to captivate the holidaying visitor.
Nothing could be more untrue.
The wicker basket sleighs of Monte are just one example of the unmatched attractions that this delightful, mid-Atlantic island can boast of.
Traditionally, the means of travel in Funchal, the capital city of Madeira, did not include wheeled carriages. The uneven cobblestone roads, steep hills and sharp bends, meant that horse drawn carriages and, later, automobiles were regarded as unbefitting. Rather, the locals elected for various other, more exotic, means of transport.
Basic carriages of wood, mounted on wooden runners, lubricated with grease and pulled at a sedate pace by oxen were a favourite. These "carros de bois" were, legend has it, said to have been introduced to the island by a British Army Officer who required a means of conveying his invalid wife about town.
Whilst riding in the carros de bois was adequate on the flat, it proved to be a painfully slow way to climb the steep inclines that predominate the landscape as soon as you desert the narrow coastal plain.
Another, peculiarly Madeiran, means of transport was the transporting hammock. Here, a quantity of cloth was slung between a couple of long wooden poles. Two men, one at the front and one to the rear, would lift the assemblage in a manner rather akin to that of a sedan chair. The passenger reclining in the hammock, usually a woman, was thus carried in what must have been a rather awkward fashion.
The transporting hammock was distinctly popular with British society women who were resident on the island in the eighteenth century. Often, to the enjoyment of their fare, the hammock bearers would sing in the local Portuguese tongue as they made their progress. A tip for this extra service was regularly given. What the passenger did not realise was that now and again the songs were acutely disparaging of their customer. It is said that on one occasion the bearers of a rather hefty customer were singing to the effect: "The fare we are allowed to charge is fixed, but just look at the hugeness of this load!"
Monte, being situated high up on the mountainside above Funchal, was no exception when it came to the predominant forms of transport. Clumsy oxen drawn carts and hammocks were the normal way to convey both people and goods.
Progress, in every sense of the word, was lethargic. The four kilometre expedition down from Monte into Funchal would take anything up to three hours.
However, the road from Monte into Funchal was one long, steep, downward slope. Accordingly, it was perhaps inevitable that one day, in the late 1840s, one of the locals decided to explore a more radical form of conveyance. By mounting a flimsy wicker basket on two ski-like wooden runners it was observed that you could glide headlong down the hill and reach the city centre in a matter of just 10 minutes.
The logistics were simple. All that was needed was one enormous push to get going and someone to stand on the rear to steer. In no distance at all, you would soon reach speeds of up to 30 miles per hour.
Suddenly, there was a swift, and cheap, means of conveyance from the outlying mountain village into the fiscal centre of the island - the snow less, Monte toboggan sled was hence perceived.
As a profitable aside, the local inhabitants soon discovered that opulent Europeans and Americans would take the journey just for amusement - hence, the original Madeira tourist attraction was produced. Indeed, Ernest Hemingway famously described his Monte toboggan wicker basket sleigh ride as the "most exhilarating experience" of his life.
Today, the traditional sound of wooden ski runners gliding over cobblestones persists, but they are for tourists only. Two carreiros guides, dressed in traditional white with straw hats, will propel you down a contracted route from Monte.
There are no seat belts and the only brake you can rely on is the rubber sole of your driver's shoe. The views can be dazzling, if short-lived and the usual souvenir photo awaits you at your journey's end.
The journey is priced rather expensively by Madeiran values. But, if you want to treat yourself to an experience that you are unlikely to find anywhere else, then give the Monte toboggans a go.
