A few days ago in Funchal, Madeira, we were wandering through the gardens with no real plan, just following the paths to see where they led. It was warm, the sort of easy warmth you only seem to notice when you’re away from home, and the place was full of the sound of running water.
We came across a small pool with a waterfall dropping straight down into it, the water falling in a constant white sheet from the rocks above. It was louder than you might expect, but not in an unpleasant way. In fact, it made the whole place feel calm, as if the noise drowned out everything else.
Out on the water was a single swan, moving slowly across the pool as if it had all the time in the world. It didn’t seem bothered in the slightest by the waterfall crashing down behind it. If anything, it made the scene feel even more peaceful.
I took this photograph without thinking too much about it at the time. It just felt like one of those moments worth keeping.
When I look at it now, what I remember isn’t just the swan or the waterfall, but the feeling of standing there with nowhere to be and nothing that needed doing. Those are the moments you don’t plan, and you can’t really create them — you just happen to be there when they occur.
Madeira has some spectacular views, the kind you expect to photograph, but this was the one that stayed with me.
Sometimes the best part of travelling isn’t the big sights at all,
it’s the few quiet minutes in between them.
Moments like this remind me why I always carry a camera — and why I always carry a notebook.
— David Baxter
More about the beauty of nature: The Quiet Magic of a Cottage Garden
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