Final Night in Madeira...

We enjoyed yet another grilled vegan dinner on our final night in Madeira complete with our usual bolo do caco and Madeira wines.

We also enjoyed the heated pool on that beautiful night...

...and the show put on by the lunar eclipse at moonrise.

Hills, Art, Lizards and Bananas...

While the family was off diving, I went in search for some art. It was quite a steep walk up the streets from the beach to get to MUDAS Contemporary Museum of Art, which is the gray building at the top.

Of course, the views were great.

It was a small museum, but there were some cool pieces.

On the walk down I spotted these colorful lizards.

I found a different route that went along a small levada.

This refrigerator has clearly been repurposed.

There were banana trees among the houses. As I still had time to kill when I got back to the beach, I sat at a café and started writing an article about our trip for the AWC.

Diving in Madeira...

Since the water temps were cold enough to require thick wetsuits, I once again watched my family head off to go scuba diving without me.

It’s just as well that I didn’t go, because both girls loved the dives but they were very cold. They went down to 95 feet (29 meters) on the first dive and 65 feet (20 meters) on the second. There was no coral, but lots of eels, crabs and fireworms on the rocks. They especially enjoyed seeing a sea turtle and a ray. 

I enjoyed seeing their boat in the distance from two vantage points. If you look very carefully you’ll see them in the middle of this one...

...and then moving between dive sites.

Natural Lava Pools...

After lunch we went to our final destination: the natural swimming pools formed by volcanic rock along the rugged coastline. We lucked into free entry tickets at the restaurant. 

I took these two photos before we dropped our stuff off in a locker, so couldn’t take a photo of Ashlynn jumping or Jimmy diving off the high dive. I was quite relieved that he didn’t hurt himself as it dawned on me that there was absolutely no way that I could have driven back to our house.

After we got out of the water, which was a bit chilly, the girls joined a Zumba class for a few dances.

Once back at the house, the girls treated me and Jimmy to a three-course anniversary dinner. Definitely a nice way to end a great day.

Heading North...

After our hike, Jimmy continued along the road that went across the summit of the island towards the northwest. Along the way, we saw some cows in the road...

...and some insane crazy fog.

We stopped at a viewpoint and saw the Risco Waterfall in the distance.

I kept my eyes closed for much of the journey, but when I dared to peek I saw the breathtaking views coming down into Porto Moniz.

There was a festival going on, so finding parking was very difficult. We had a very nice lunch at a waterfront restaurant.

A Waterfall...

On our return hike, we were glad that another hiker stopped us to recommend that we take the cutoff for the trail to Risco Waterfall as it was well worth the extra distance.

While the trail didn’t go all the way to the foot of the falls, it did get us close enough for great views of the 325-foot (100 meters) falls.

It was also the perfect location to have a family photo taken. Our timing was perfect when we arrived at the trailhead as we were able to take a bus back up the long road to the parking lot.

Crazy Things We Do for Photos...

Veronica planned ahead to take a self-portrait, so brought along a nice lace dress.

Rather than use the self-timer, Jimmy took photos on her camera, while I took some from another angle.

You can’t even tell from her face that the water was very cold.

Here’s Veronica’s favorite of the shots Jimmy took. 

A Beautiful Lagoon....

Our efforts were rewarded when we arrived at this beautiful lagoon.

Ashlynn and Jimmy couldn’t resist jumping in despite the very cold water, but neither stayed in for long.

Cool Trees...

We loved how the trees grew over the path. As you can see, I took lots of tree shots along the six-mile (ten-kilometer) round trip.