Madeira! the Vertical garden island

I am not sure what the mortality rate is for farmers, but I am certain if you are a banana farmer or a vintner - especially  if  you imbibing  in you wine or banana rum while working  in your fields its got to b e pretty high.  Why?....   because while the Island of Madeira has nutrient-rich soil,  it  is arranged  vertically, in terraces, rather than horizontally.  A simple slip and fall can  result in serious injury or worse......  you could break your bottle of Madeira wine!

Madeira has an impressive elevation of  6100 feet!  Not bad for an island that is
 14 x 35 mile in its  widest and longest section

The bananas are bagged on the plants  to protect
them from damage and to act as a  mini "green house"
for the cooler months of the year

Several small harbors dot the shore line

The sea cliff in the background doesn't look that steep from
this perspective...

But looking over  the edge,  it appears to be at least straight vertical!  Our guide said it is the 2nd highest  Sea cliff
in the world !
 

The most impressive sight of the day was the wall of clouds off the island the indicated the edge of a low and high pressure front.  Fortunately we were on the high side of the front, and had beautiful weather!