As small as Madeira is, one can reach its interior in under an hour by car. We took full advantage of this, and spent a day in the selva, or the rainforest, on a canyoning trip. Because we had arrived on the island in early March, it would suffice to say that canyoning in a freezing river was not at the top of many others’ bucket lists. The morning of our journey, I was hit by a wave of sickness, or perhaps dehydration, and almost called it off. Fortunately, I did not, and we ended up being the only people on the tour — meaning the guide to tourist ratio was 1:1.

After strapping on restrictive (if warm) wetsuits, we traversed into a towering cavern with craggy ledges above our heads and a flowing river underneath our feet. We spent the next several hours jumping off rock formations and climbing down steep inclines, learning about the island history along the way from our guides. Perhaps it was the temperature of the brisk water, or maybe the thrill of diving into it, but by the end of our adventure I felt refreshed and relaxed.