Floral Forest

Today we walked for 6 hours between Teixeira at 1592m and Encumeada at 1083m via Pico de Rivo at 1688m and lots of other small summits along the undulating ridge. The path was narrow and mostly with a precipitous drop to the side, sometimes both sides. The mist wafted around making it very atmospheric but sadly it hid the views.

The flora was fantastic, lush and abundant; the ‘trees’ mostly being giant heather and flowers blooming everywhere including several varieties of orchid and vast arrays of broom. Lots of flowers I recognised but whereas in the Alps we find smaller varieties, here there are bigger ones. For example the most plentiful flower seen was the giant buttercup growing in large clumps about 60-70cm high. The huge purple spires are Pride of Madeira, (Echium candicans).

Again lots of extras.