Photo by Orsolya Haarberg fjellheimengalleri | Growing at an altitude ranging from about 1,000 to 5,000 feet, the laurels of Madeira are found in the ribbon of mist that frequently wraps the upper ranges of the islands, creating the cloud forests of the temperate zone. Hiking off-trail through the foggy laurel forests of the Portuguese archipelago, I was enveloped by trees that may have been up to 800 years old and whose trunks provided me with shelter when clouds released a sudden downpour. It felt like entering a holy space. This image was part of story about Europe’s old-growth forests published in National Geographic’s May issue. To see more of my work, please follow fjellheimengalleri. #unescoworldheritage #unescoworldheritagesite #laurelforest #madeira #oldgrowthforest