Not-So-Simple Farming

One of the things that really strikes you about Madeira is that the whole place is, basically, a great big, steep mountain rising out of the Atlantic Ocean. How anyone thought to colonise it in the first place is a mystery - especially given that there is simply no flat land anywhere. And no flat land means no farms.

So what they have is terraced farms all up and down the hillsides, built like steps. This allows as much land as possible to be used for growing things - especially the grapes which are necessary for the production of delicious Madeira wine!

This photo shows some of the farms in the town west of Funchal, step after step going up the hillside.