Exciting First Day Complete!
June 8, 2023
Olá from Madeira! We are so excited to be here! Our journey began in Miami airport where most of our group arrived and flew together to Lisbon. George kick-started the group bonding with the football he packed for everyone to throw around in the airport. After meeting up with Nicholas and Calder after our arrival in Lisbon, our group finally felt complete! It was so special to finally have everyone together! It was a quick and stunning flight into Funchal and our adventure was officially underway! Our first stop of the trip was at the Porto Moniz natural swimming pools. On our drive over, Calder commented on the surrounding and said, “it’s so lush” and Willy B (William) said, “this is sick!” They couldn’t have described the island any better. Green mountains were met by the clouds in the sky and the blue ocean below. We were all in awe of how beautiful this island is. The Porto Moniz natural swimming pools were incredible and more fun than any of us could have imagined! George and Aspen were the first to jump off the diving board into the ocean. The rest of the group followed suit and even when everyone had dried off, Walker, Calder, and Hunter rallied for a few more turns off the diving board! The water was crystal clear and so refreshing after a long travel day! After our first showers since being in the States, Hunter and Margaret lifted the vibes with their guitar playing while we waited for dinner. On our way home from dinner, we were caught in a sudden but brief tropical rain shower. Allie led the pack while we ran up the hill back to our hostel. We all got soaked, but by the time we made it to the top of the hill, the rain had cleared to reveal a magical double rainbow. It was the perfect ending to a joyous first full day in Madeira. Tomorrow we begin our trekking section of the trip where will spend the next six days hiking across the island and exploring all that the mountainous area of Madeira has to offer. Our inaugural leaders of the day (LODs) are Julia and Hugh. They have already begun to lead this group with their positivity and big hearts. This is an awesome group of kids and can’t wait to watch this group grow closer throughout the next section of our trip.
Talk soon!
-Hailey and John
Made it to Madeira!
June 7, 2023
Hello Madeira Families!
We heard from our leaders this morning and the group has landed safely in Madeira! The trip is off to a great start, and we cannot wait to hear more stories from their adventure.
Please remember our leaders and students will be unplugged during their trips but we will be posting up to three trip updates throughout the next couple of weeks! This will allow you to follow along with the trip and the students will also give a special shout out mid-way through! You can also follow us on Instagram, @moondanceadventures, to see more of what we are up to this summer!
-Moondance HQ
