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| Not a bad view really. |
Back in the Canary Islands then, it has been a little while, but I'd returned to the UK to spend time with friends and family, and I'm planning on being in England for Christmas, so I fancied heading somewhere warm for a few weeks before then. My first stop was Tenerife, once again, and nothing sufficiently exciting to write about happened there, but now I am heading for a new island, a short ferry ride takes me to La Gomera, a new place for me - I am still managing to get some travelling done, even in the new age of Covid. An interesting place this, clearly much less tourism-focused than Tenerife, it still looks very Spanish, no restaurants offering English food or karaoke here! I find my apartment up some steep stairs to one side of the little capital, San Sebastián, it has an awesome view over the town to the surrounding hills and out to sea, very nice.
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| Well, nice that there is a guard rail at least. |
I am of course planning on doing some walking here, and it is a very good place to do it. I start with a long circular route, firstly heading uphill towards the centre of the island, including a somewhat scary section of path halfway up a cliff - there is at least a substantially built handrail. Interesting place this, it is very windy, very hilly, and as I make my way up the slopes I encounter sheep, patches of thistles and even grouse - it is almost as if a small piece of Scotland has somehow been transported to just off the coast of Africa. Back downhill, and I walk a decent section of the coastal path that goes all the way round the island - must come back and do the whole thing some day. After a day relaxing and taking in the sights of San Sebastián - not a lot of it to be honest though there is a five hundred year old tower - I walk up again, heading for the highest point of the island. This is Alto de Garajonay, at 1,485 metres it is a lot smaller than El Teide on Tenerife (which is a very impressive sight from here), but still a decent mountain. I follow a familiar route up, although I take a road shortcut to avoid that section along the cliff, then rather than turning off keep climbing. Now the terrain becomes less arid, as on Tenerife the higher ground is a lot greener, although here the forest keeps going right to the top, which I gather 'enjoys' fog for much of the year so yes, I am climbing up into a mountain in a cloud, once again it feels rather Scottish. All very pleasant though, lovely to be walking through laurel and pine trees, and if there is no view from the top, there is still the achievement. It's a long way though, past 3 o'clock at the top so I need to hurry back down, but in fact I get a bit delayed - there is an old hermitage along the route which now has an attached picnic and barbecue area, some locals are having a bit of a party and insist on me joining them for beer, rum and some very interesting local cheese. I can't possibly refuse, and while it does mean I walk the last couple of kilometres back to town by the light of my phone's torch, it isn't a huge problem.
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| El Teide looming on the horizon. |
I imagine after reading some parts of this blog you might think that some of my crazy adventures are hard to beat. But not so! It turns out I've come to La Gomera at an opportune moment, as even more crazy people are about to set off on a thoroughly insane voyage, specifically they are going to row from here, across the Atlantic ocean, to Antigua. This will apparently involve spending between one and three months on a tiny rowing boat with no toilet, working to a schedule of two hours rowing then two hours sleep, twenty-four hours a day for the whole trip. I am in awe at the magnificent madness of these people! I have many questions, but while the various teams - most boats have a crew of four, although there are also threes, pairs, and even a couple doing it solo - throng the few restaurants and bars of San Sebastián each night, I don't pluck up the courage to approach any of them. I do at least go and take a look at the boats as they are preparing them, then on the day they set off I find a nice spot by the harbour to watch them all go. Not long after that it is time to get my own boat back to Tenerife - fortunately mine has engines! Well, this was all good fun, I can see myself returning here. That circular route has to be done..
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| Insane rowing people from Switzerland. |
