A conversation on Madeira between an English and America couple gave me the perfect excuse to use a feature on this website theme I haven’t used before. The conversation was about the difference between Madeira and the Canary Islands.
The English couple knew both … or thought they did. The American couple knew neither, it was their first visit to Macaronesia. The English couple were timeshare owners and, despite staying in a rural hotel on Madeira (where the conversation took place), had an apartment on the island. This is a snippet of what they said when the conversation turned to comparisons between the two archipelagos.
“They are completely different. The Canary Islands are arid, nothing like Madeira at all.”
I confess to being an eavesdropper. I tune in to conversations all the time. It’s not deliberate, it just happens. This one had me wanting to cross the hotel’s dining room to announce ‘excuse me for interrupting, but you have no idea what you are talking about.’ Clearly I didn’t do this as I would have come across as some sort of weirdo. Instead, I’m doing what I usually do whenever something winds me up, using writing as a pressure valve. Plus, it gives me an excuse to use the feature I mentioned previously.
Instead of writing about it, I’ll cover that more on our travel website Buzztrips, I’m using five images to see if anyone can spot the difference between Madeira and the Canary Islands.
Rock pools – one of these is Tenerife, the other is Madeira.
Gastronomy – this dish is called lapas in both destinations.
Scenery – One of these scenes is on Madeira, the other on La Gomera.
Walking – Walking beside a levada on Madeira … or La Palma?
Traditional costume – the traditional costume of Madeira or the trad costume commonly seen in La Orotava on Tenerife?
Scenery 2 – The rugged coastline of Madeira or Tenerife?
I wonder how well that English couple would get on trying to tell which is which from the above images, despite having visited both?
