The north coast of Madeira.

I have spend lot’s of time on Madeira over the past 6 years. And here are some photos I have taken recently from this wonderful island.

Madeira is a flower island. When the Portuguese explorers came back to Europe from the new world, they brought lot’s of flowers and plants. They  soon found out, that many of these flowers were only able to grow in tropical climate. And Madeira is, unlike mainland Portugal tropical. So the island became home of all the tropical flowers that the Portuguese explorers brought back from the new world.

Strelizia Flowers on Madeira..

Madeira is an isolated island and has some birds that are only seen on this island. The Madeira chaffinch is one of them.

Madeira chaffinch

Cabo Sao Lourenco is the easternmost part of Madeira. You will fly over it just before you land at the airport. But make sure to also visit the place on foot, as it has some really good hiking trails.

Sao Lourenco national park.

The agave attenuata is one of the more peculiar plants on the island. It’s originally from Mexico, but grows really well on Madeira Island too. These days it’s one of the most common plants on the island.

agave attenuata.

Madeira is a wet island. That is why it’s so green. This is mainly because Madeira is so high that the mountains catches the clouds, so that they don’t just drift past the island. that delivers a lot of water to the whole island. The water from the clouds flows down the mountains and create hundreds of small waterfalls around the island.

Madeira waterfall.

Very few islands in the world have as many spectacular hiking trails than Madeira. Some of them are on steep cliff sides, while others are covered in dense vegetation like the one on this photo.

Madeira hiking trail.

Poncha is when the inhabitants of Madeira drink when they party. It’s made from sugarcane alcohol that is mixed with fresh fruit juice and honey. The drink is not really known outside the island, but you have not really been to Madeira before you have tried a Poncha.

Have a glass of Poncha.

Camera de Lobos is the fishing town of Madeira. It’s also a low income community, where people are quite conservative. But the place has a lot of edge and it’s very picturesque.

Camara de Lobos.

It’s not just Rio de Janeiro that has a statue of Christ overlooking the ocean. Madeira has one too.

Statue of Christ at Garajau.

Fado singing is unique to Portugal and mainly performed in Lisbon and Coimbra on the mainland. But Funchal has a few Fado bars too and Arsenio’s is one of the best places to hear Fado. Fado is very passionate music and a must for anyone with a music interest when visiting Portugal.

Fado night at Arsenio’s.

This was a few images from Madeira and a little text too. Maybe you can see why I am always happy to return to this island.

Claus.

Flower island.