Fanal is the place on Madeira that in nowadays is a rare sight to see. There is a Laurel forest that once, centuries ago covered much of southern Europe but is becoming increasingly rare and Madeira is one of the few places you can still see it along with the Canary Islands and the Azores. I heard something that some type of Laurel trees there can only be found in Madeira.
Of course, not all of Madeira island is covered with Laurel trees but these can mostly be found in a certain area. On a plateau on the west side of the island, at an altitude of 1100 meters above sea level. You can see the exact location when you find the 
This place looks amazingly mysterious when you go there with the right weather as I did. Since this place is 1100m above sea level, it is often inside the clouds/fog and creates this fairytale-like landscape. It was a sight I had not seen anywhere before.
There were also some cows. They are keeping the place nice so the grass does not overgrow. You gotta look where you step tho because it's easy to walk into cow shit 馃榾.
You have several trails to choose from and the area is quite large. We did a full circle around the area and I think we explored there a bit more than an hour.
Some parts of the trail can get pretty steep as you can see in the photo below. On the left side is a slope that descends 1000m into the sea. When the day is clear, you can see down below but on a mysterious and foggy time, you can only imagine the abyss.
You are looking at a pretty historic forest because most of the laurel trees are ca 500 years old. Those trees prefer a humid climate and this is exactly what they get. Also, the temperatures are quite constant throughout the year, averaging in 12-15C in this particular area.
The clouds/fog cleared a bit for a short amount of time, changing the overall appearance of the forest quite drastically.
I had to let my girlfriend take a photo of me in this particular place. Trees were so dense in this spot and it looked otherworldly.
Near the Fanal is a place called Fanal Pond which is a small round-shaped pond in the middle of the Laurel trees. We decided to visit this as well but when we arrived and saw the place, there was no pond. All the water had dried up due to a lack of rainfall in recent weeks. Here are a couple of pictures of the place where the pond should have been.
To summarize, Fanal is definitely a place that is a must-visit on your travel to Madeira. It's a rare landscape to see and Madeira is one of the few places you can find it. You will need a rental car to visit so keep that in mind. There is no public transportation that will take you there but you might find some tours that bring you to this place. I definitely got some of the most mystic photos out of this place that I have ever taken and I loved the experience to walk there.
Don't forget to participate in my monthly weather guessing game here and you might win 10 HIVE. The game is open until the 17th of March.