from Porto Moniz to Fanal

We leave some of our things in a café and take a taxi to Porto Moniz. There would be also a bus but then we would be at the trailhead some time in the afternoon.

Now we take it easy, start with a coffee and acclimatize following the old road parallel to the tunnels towards Ribeira de Janela village. Leaving the seaside means going up.

After the village we plunge into the woods, taking first the trail PR15 and then continuing with PR14. It's shady and nicely green with mosses and ferns. The first trail goes up, the second one follows a levada and is mainly flat, except the end.

The campsite is at the edge of Fanal forest. The trees melt into silhouettes, sky turns orange. Thrushes discuss something noisily until everything quiets down. But for the snoring that comes out of a neighboring tent.