t Viaduct that now forms part of the luxuriant Monte Palace Tropical Gardens
t Viaduct that now forms part of the luxuriant Monte Palace Tropical Gardens
Experience Madeira
Madeira is a mere dot in the Atlantic Ocean, 600 km (375 miles) from Morocco and nearly 1,000 km (620 miles) from Lisbon. Despite this, Madeira and Porto Santo, its sister island, appear on a Genoese map of 1351. They remained unclaimed, however, until 1418, when João Gonçalves Zarco was blown out into the Atlantic by violent storms while exploring the coast of Africa. Zarco found safe harbour in Porto Santo, returning on a voyage of discovery sponsored by Henry the Navigator. Early in 1420, after a winter on Porto Santo, he set sail for the mist-shrouded land on the horizon. He found a beautiful, thickly wooded island (madeira means wood), with abundant fresh water. Within seven years, the island had attracted a pioneer colony and the early settlers exploited the fertile soil and warm climate to grow sugar cane. The islanders grew rich on this, and slaves were brought in to work the land and create the terraced fields and irrigation channels (levadas) that still cling to the steep hillsides to this day.
Despite the gradients, Madeirans make use of every spare patch of land – growing bananas, flowers and grapes – although tourism is the main industry. The island’s Laurisilva, or laurel forest, is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.