Madeira is a small island chain located in the Atlantic Ocean, about 600km off the coast of Morocco.
The island is volcanic and rose from the sea around 7 million years ago. Its last volcanic eruption was
around 6,500 years ago.
Madeira is an island rich in deep valleys and incredibly green forests such as the Laurissilva (Laurel Forest).
This ancient forest used to cover Southern Europe and Northern Africa, however after the last
Ice Age it vanished from those regions. The only areas where it can still be found are within four
island chains in the Atlantic Ocean, Madeira, Canary Islands, Cape Verde and the Azores.
Within these four island chains, Madeira has the best preserved Laurissilva forest.
This spectacular and lush scenery has attracted visitors to the island for centuries.
In the 19 th Century, tourism began to grow on the island. The island became a popular destination for
those with particular illnesses. Many people went to Madeira to try to help their recovery due to its
mild climate and fresh air.
Even Empress Elisabeth of Austria, known as Sissi, spent some time on this beautiful island.
Many visitors would often go home and tell their families and friends how lovely the island was.
Soon Madeira gained a great reputation. Tourism grew from this.
However living on this beautiful and mountainous island can be quite difficult.
Madeirans can have a love hate relationship with the island. Until the late 1980s it was quite tricky to
travel around the island.
My family even had this issue.
My dad's parents come from the top of the island. They live in a beautiful little village called
Boaventura. Now I can drive from Funchal, the capital, to my grandparent's village in around 50
minutes.
Back then though my grandparents would have to travel by foot. They would have to go up high
mountains and walk along tough and treacherous paths. This would most likely take them a whole day
to reach their destination, and then a whole day to get back.
When my dad was younger and they finally had enough money to travel by bus it still took around 5
hours to reach Boaventura from the centre of Funchal.
Despite this though, we Madeirans always find the island very fascinating and are very proud to show
our home to visitors.
I always thought I lived in the most beautiful place in the world growing up.
Even now having travelled and visited some amazing countries, I still believe Madeira to be one of
the most beautiful places in the world.
The mountains that stretch out to the ocean, the beautiful forests with rivers flowing through them,
created by our ancestors hard work, sweat and blood.
The fertile soil meaning flowers from all over
the world can flourish and create vibrant towns and cities.
This is what I grew up around.
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