We flew to Madeira, a Portuguese island a little over 300 miles off the coast of Africa for Spring Break. For the first four nights of the vacation, we camped at a well-developed site on the north of the island. The weather started off rainy - that is why David was hiding under a playground. After the first day, it swung crazily from pouring to sunny every few hours. It was easy to see how it earned the nickname "Garden of the Atlantic" with such plant-perfect weather!
Hiking along the island's spine - the mountains shoot almost straight out of the ocean to reach heights of around 5,000 feet.
Back to the ocean, and some more sun. The second picture shows our tiny green tent (well camouflaged against the neatly mowed lawn).
The beach next to the campsite had cool caves and rock formations. David had a cool beer.
The eastern part of the island avoided rain most of the time we were visiting - a good reason to explore it!
After the sunny hike, we started to drive back to camp and entered this cloud forest. By the time we got back, it was pouring! After hanging out and reading in the car for a bit, we found out that the cafe next to our campsite sold glasses of wine for 25 cents!
This cute town is called Jardim do Mar - the Garden of the Sea. We walked up a levada - an old water route developed for irrigating farms. You can tell by the healthy banana trees it is still working.
We guess this must be the most scenic location for a grocery store ever. . .
At the end of our trip, we took a boat ride and got to see dolphins! David snorkeled around a small cove and saw tens of thousands of tiny blue fish.
Now. . . eight more weeks of teaching to go. . .
