Sometimes you take a photo and you come back home and it just doesn’t do anything for you. If that’s the case, it may be worthwhile to take a second look at it a couple weeks later. This one matured pretty well!
Tag: forest photography
Jansberg
Recharging my batteries today by taking a long walk to my favorite spot. It’s still winter, the trees are bare, but still so beautiful!
Madeira 11: Encumeada
We had planned to hike along an old trading route, the Caminho Real, but unfortunately there were roadworks with heavy machinery happening there and the road was closed. But nowadays it’s easy to find another hike on the many hiking apps, so we soon set out for a 9 km circular walk near Encumeada.
This walk started along another levada, and this time we would have to face the tunnels as well. The tunnels are passable, but you need a torch and some surefootedness! We were rewarded with some stunning waterfalls, so it was well worth it.
As we turned our backs to the levada and headed down into the valley, we found out what happens to the water in those waterfalls: it becomes a wild stream. We managed to cross one, but eventually we came to a river that was impassable. At this point we were about 7 km into our hike, and we saw no other option than to turn back.
The clouds are never far away in the Madeira highlands, so as we climbed back up, it started getting misty. In the video you see the same waterfall as in the pictures, but now it looked very different! We fortunately made it back in time to our car. Lesson learned: do not try to cross rivers in the rainy season!







Madeira 7: 25 Fontes
From the misty highlands we descended into a valley with levadas on several different levels. The famous 25 Fontes waterfall was an absolute highlight, but hiking along the levadas was beautiful too. And strenuous with over 500 meters of descending and then climbing back up!






Season’s Greetings
I wish you all happy holidays and a beautiful 2023!
Winter
It’s cold today, with temperatures below zero the whole day. It’s also beautiful!
Autumn forest
Still a few leaves left in the forest!
Self-care day
I’ve been pushing myself, teaching 3 courses and two tutorials over the past weeks. This week I was feeling under the weather with a cold but was able to still do my classes. So today it’s time for self-care: a nice hike in the morning with plenty of photo opportunities!


Into the woods
With lots of teaching duties this fall, I’m afraid there won’t be much time for photography. A misty Sunday morning is a real gift!