One hundred and twenty years after António left Madeira, one of his sons Fernando and the grand sons Pedro and Fernando (Nhamalanda) returned to Madeira.
They visited Santana, where António was born and found little traces of the old village. A large number of Madeirenses now live abroad and slowly covered the entire island with new and modern houses. From the olden days only the rugged terrain suggests how tough life was for the Madeirenses which explains why they can be found in every corner of the "Global village". The following pages try to describe the memorable days the Costa's spent in Madeira.
The first taste of Madeira is a gut wrenching landing at the Santa Catarina airport. The island is normally covered in clouds and during the approach one can see, amongst others the Pico Ruivo (1861 m), Pico do Areeiro (1811m), Pico do Cridrão (1802) and Pico das Torres (1851) pocking out of the cloud blanket.
The cloud cover sits between 700 to 1350 meters above the sea level and while it may be raining on the coast, the sun is normally shinning at the top.
