Madeira, Portugal. What a sweet little gem to begin our adventure abroad – a small island off the coast of North Africa, known as the “Hawaii of Europe.” The topography is incredibly steep, with every road, trail, and town clinging to a terraced hillside. Though it was often more crowded than we had imagined it might be, we were still able to find peaceful moments and beautiful places as we spent the week exploring the trails and camping above the clouds.
Highlights of week one included:
Two nights camping in the Fanal Forest / Laurisilva of Madeira – a UNESCO biodiversity World Heritage Site famous for its old growth laurel forest and often spooky atmosphere of gnarled, mist-shrouded trees.
Hiking along the levadas – the entire island is covered in 3,100km of handmade open water canals (levada) that transport water from the rainy mountain peaks to the southern/sunny part of the island where the water is used for agriculture. Each levada is accompanied by a beautiful hiking path through the forest. During our levada hike we each constructed tiny boats from leaves and twigs for the inaugural running of the Silleck Family regatta!
The Pico Ruivo to Pico do Arieiro hike – probably the most famous trail on Madeira. After a short backpack in, we camped for 2 nights near the summit of Pico Ruivo, and enjoyed watching beautiful sunsets and sunrises over the cloud blanket below. The trail was a strenuous introduction to our year of hiking, but an amazing experience to weave up and down the cliffs and through tunnels across the mountain range.
The kiddos said their favorite spot was the natural saltwater/ocean fed pools near the town of Porto Moniz, where we spent an evening cliff jumping and snorkeling in the chilly but crystal clear ocean. Other kiddo favorites included a puppy to make friends with at the homestay we visited, and a 16th century market festival we stumbled upon in Machico.
Amusing travel logistics note: although we rented the largest car available from the rental company, fitting all the camping gear quickly became a tricky game of Tetris. At one point we were trying to repack our car at a trailhead following a hike and we attracted a crowd of onlookers (who were also waiting for our parking spot) taking bets on if we were going to be able to fit everything back inside!
After our week in Madeira, we’re headed off to Morocco! In related news, guess what still doesn’t fit into our packs:
Eight Boots Abroad 
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