Christmas on La Palma

Christmas in the Canaries really can be as much fun as it sounds - a Christmas holiday in the sun is an exciting prospect for many people (including me!).
So what is Christmas on La Palma like? Well, just like in any country, Christmas is different for different people. Sometimes it's a round of visiting the family, a celebration meal or just taking time out to do something different.
This year our Christmas was that little bit different as we had family staying with us for the first time. So what should we do? Go for a walk .... go to Santa Cruz de La Palma to see if the Christmas Tall Ships are in ... or go to the beach. Beach, beach, beach, they cried!
But first of all, there are cards to open - thanks folks!

And then it's down to the beach ...

A visit to an old friend who lives the simple life and is very much into handicrafts

A quick walk on the GR130 Camino Real ...

And then back to the finca for a glass of something nice ..

Happy Christmas everyone and a wonderful New Year too!

The Story of the Traditional Houses of La Palma

You might have heard about the casas rurales of La Palma - the lovely old rural houses dotted about the countryside of the island.

But these are not just any rural houses, no, these are the traditional Canarian houses steeped in the fascinating history of La Palma. In fact, unlike a new house built in the traditional style, the original rural houses are more than a hundred years old, often something more like 150 to 200 years old. What they all have in common is that they are built of local stone with walls nearly two feet thick and of tea wood (the heart of the La Palma pine tree) for the floorboards, ceiling, doors and window frames. The other identifying feature is the roof of four sides, the 'hip' design or otherwise known as 'cuatro aguas,' four waters.
The roofs of the older houses are tiled in Arabic clay tiles, the first tiles on La Palma. Before this, the roofs were of bare wood, again of the highly durable tea (pronounced 'tee-ah') wood. They say the tiles were fashioned on the thigh, with the two ends different in width as in a thigh. I'm not sure how true that is but it's a story I'm happy to keep going!

In later years, the flat French terracotta tiles were used and these have ridges/grooves along the side edges which allow the tiles to interlock with each other. To further add to their staying power on the roof they have an integral 'eye' on the underside of each tile which allows a piece of wire to pass through and then to be tied on to a beam of the roof. A real belt and braces job! These French tiles, unlike the Arabic tiles, are quite fascinating in themselves as each tile carries the name of where it was made - such as Etiennne, Marseillses - and they sometimes have a special motif such as a bee, turtle, Maltese cross, anchor, horse or lion.

Bee motif on French tile in La Palma

Apparently rarer ones are now collectors items. Actually, I can vouch for this fact as when we were trying to locate some old 'tejas Francesas' (French tiles) to restore one of our roofs and took to the knocking on doors approach wherever we saw a weed-covered pile of them in someone's garden, we were always refused and told they were about to be used/had a buyer/our son wants them/can't part with them. Definitely a collector's items then.

If the exterior of the roofs are not fascinating enough, then the interior ceiling really is a masterpiece. Great planks of tea wood are overlaid onto beams with a super-neat meeting at each of the four corners as they dove-tail perfectly together. I never know whether to be most amazed at the feat of dragging the wood down from the mountains, sawing it into planks or the mathematical genius it took to work out the measurements!
If you rent a rural house on La Palma, can you just imagine laying in bed and being able to gaze up a this lovely ceiling?

Some houses are single storey, usually with the rooms all in a line with each room having its own exterior door. This  might seem a curious idea but why waste space and building time with an interior passage when you can just go outside from one room and back into another!
On La Palma, you'll find quite a few houses for sale and in need of restoration or houses already restored and being rented as a holiday home for rural tourism.

Where a house is of two stories, particularly in an area where the land is steep, then the house is built into the land, literally leaning back into it and these traditional houses are called 'casas de arrimo' or 'leaning houses.' From the rear they look like a one storey house and it's only when you go around the side or front that you realise they are actually of two storeys. The downstairs was never part of the accommodation but rather a room for storage or used as a workshop and they don't have an interior staircase but instead use steps following the lie of the land at the side of the house.

So whilst a traditional house is single or two storey, both are simple and not of vast proportions - imagine that to build a house, first of all you would have to dig out enough flat land on which to build it, then go and gather your stones and wood for the construction - no wonder they weren't big! That said, a big room would normally be divided into two or even three rooms with a 'tabique' wall, a partition wall to divide them.
In the old house, the kitchen was never in the house but instead would be an entirely separate building. After all, food was cooked over firewood or pine cones and apart from any fire hazard, why contaminate the house with smoke and cooking smells.

But the thing that I love the most about the houses is the wood, especially the lovely floorboards. Look out for the saw marks where the planks were sawed by hand, one man at each end. 

And of course, the built in window seats which feature in some of the houses.
Luckily, you don't have to content yourself with photos of rural houses as many rural houses on La Palma are for rent. And you too can enjoy a little slice of history.
* You can read more about the history of Garafia in the book 'Garafía, Descúbrela a Través de sus Senderos' - Garafía, Discover it Through its Trails' which you can get in English and Spanish (and probably German too). It's IBSN no. 846063750-6 and I highly recommend it, especially as it has many fantastic photos.

Beaches of La Palma, coves, sea pools ... and a whole lot more

As you may have heard, La Palma is also known as La Isla Bonita, the pretty island. And no wonder with lovely palm trees scattered across the island, pine forests, orchards of almond trees, terraces, ravines, drago trees and .... in short, a beautiful landscape.

Perhaps it is no wonder then that the beaches of La Palma sometimes get left out as a major asset of the island. In fact, people often don't realise what brilliant beaches La Palma does actually have! OK, they are not at all like the almost white sand beaches of Lanzarote and Fuerteventura, both islands which are well known for wind surfing. Nor are they like the honey coloured sands of south Tenerife which attract tourism on a large scale. No, these sands are a warm black - in fact, grey with a sprinkling of reddy-brown and a hint of silver - due to the fact that La Palma is a very young island in geological terms. And of course the other important difference is that it's rare to see a beach on La Palma packed with tourists!  La Palma beaches are what you might call 'select' and whilst not as numerous as the larger islands, there are a surprising number of them, many of the smaller ones unknown.
There's one point for anyone who knows which beach this is (and no, it's not La Fajana ... but I'll tell you at the end of the blog post.)

Most people know of the three main beaches on La Palma though - Los Cancajos, Puerto de Tazacorte and Puerto de Naos as they are the main tourist 'resorts.'
Los Cancajos in the east located between the airport and Santa Cruz de La Palma has a large bay with three beaches divided by natural rocky outcrops. My favourite for swimming is the far one (wouldn't you just know it) but for snorkeling, it's hard to beat the first one, at the end where the visitor centre is. With clear waters once you get past the sand near the water's edge, there are plenty of fish and we love to snorkel out to the breakwater to see if we can spot any empty urchin shells or see what else is going on underwater. And when it's calm we snorkel around the other side of the breakwater where the sea bed drops away to some crazy depth. Or snorkel along the rocky coastline - but watch out fishermen and their lines. Los Cancajos is also a great place for families with small children as it's pretty safe and with lots of little puddles and pools.

Los Cancajos beach

Puerto de Tazacorte in the west also has a great beach and with several excellent fish restaurants by the water's edge, a swim followed by a fish lunch just seems so very right! The safest swimming is definitely near the breakwater end, where the restaurants are as further along the beach, there can be sudden big waves. So please keep children in the safe area. The snorkeling can be interesting here too but it's better known for its swimming. In summer, there are inflatables in the water and whilst I'd love to give them a go, I can't say I've tried them out (yet).

August at Tazacorte beach - a lot of fun!

A little further down the coast is the resort of Puerto de Naos with its large swathe of sandy beach which runs from one end of the bay to the Hotel Sol. With its new promenade which has now taken over what was once a one-way road, this is also worth a visit. Quite naturally it is popular with holiday makers with the Hotel nearby and lots of apartments too, but it's also a popular spot for SCUBA divers - you can often see them making their way across the sand and then descend into the lovely waters. We've discovered that the snorkeling around the headland of the Hotel Sol is surprisingly good - sorry, I see there is a bit of a theme going on here and you don't have to guess too hard to know what one of our favourite pursuits is!

Puerto Naos beach

So just to redress the balance slightly, let me tell you that all three beaches have good restaurants plus bar/cafe's nearby. At Los Cancajos and Puerto de Naos, there are changing and shower facilities all year round but at Tazacorte, there are usually only facilities available in summer.
So what about beaches on the rest of the island? For access, it would be hard to beat the beach at Puerto Espindola which is below Los Sauces in the north east. You can park right next to the beach and whilst there aren't any changing facilities, there is the excellent Restaurant Meson del Mar right next to it. Definitely worth a visit!

Puerto Espindola beach

And by the way, if sea pools are more your 'thing' then Charco Azul just along the coast towards San Andres is brilliant and much more fun than you would expect a sea pool to be. And there's a restaurant there too of course. Although Charco Azul is great it jostles for first place in the sea pools stake with La Fajana de Barlovento and from both places you can swim in the sea when it's calm.

Charco Azul

Hands up if you've ever been to the beach of La Fajana de Garafia - my guess then is that you've stayed with us in Franceses as it's certainly a beach that's not on the general tourist trail. Rather surprisingly for a beach along the rugged north coast, it's got excellent access - after a ten minute drive from Franceses down a winding road, the road finishes at the banana plantations and the old port of La Fajana. The beach lies to the left, through the little village and there are good stone steps down to it. It's beautiful and secluded too although it's not always possible to swim but it's perfect for beachcombing, a private sunbathe or for getting wet while the mighty Atlantic comes to you.

Beach at La Fajana de Garafia

Then of course there is the famous Playa de Nogales near Puntallana in the east. A fabulous stretch of sand that, whilst fairly narrow, is quite dramatic to look at. In years gone by, apparently turtles came here to lay their eggs. Nowadays, it's a favourite with people who like something a little different but still not at all far from the capital. While road access is good, there are 400 steps down to it. And back up again. My suggestion is that you go in the morning as it loses the sun later in the day.

Playa Nogalas

Speaking of the capital, a really easy beach to get to is the Playa Bajamar at the southern edge of the capital. It's an incredible beach to say that it is right by the capital of Santa Cruz - and parking is easy as the beach borders the main road coming into the capital. There are changing facilities plus a bar/cafe. And soon of course, we shall have the splendid new beach right alongside the capital itself - now that will be something special!
In the south west there are many beaches, particularly along the coast from Puerto Naos. There's El Remo which is something of a shanty town but with a couple of great restaurants and the perfect place to watch the sunset over a romantic dinner and glass of La Palma wine. In the same area, there is also Charco Verde, Playa Nueva and La Bombilla. Further to the south (not from the same road as Puerto Naos) is Playa de Zamora and Playa Chica.
On the east coast, just by the airport, there is another little shanty town with a gorgeous little bay where you can swim - the plus factor is that it's also right by the Restaurant Casa Goyo, famed for its fresh fish. I must have written a blog post about this restaurant - no - then you can read about it on Trip Advisor!

Further south on the south east coast is the Salemera beach, just south of Mazo. After the usual twisty road down to it, the road ends at the sandy beach and a smattering of little beach houses. There is also a lighthouse there which goes by the name of Arenas Blancas (white sands) and the whole place is rather reminiscent to me of the little beach places found in Fuerteventura. But 'white sands' is probably pushing it a little.
Then there are a couple of small bays in the area of Puntgorda and between Puntagorda and Santo Domingo. And you can also swim from the bay at Santo Domingo where the old port was when it's calm.
So I seem to have drummed up quite a list of beaches on La Palma but I won't say that it is necessarily comprehensive, just in case one of my La Palma colleagues shouts at me for forgetting such and such beach!
By the way, the beach in the photo at the top is El Tablado in Garafia. Now who'd have thought it ... Just a word a caution, the access is tricky and I don't say that lightly. It's not a pirate beach for nothing.

Eco-friendly in the Canaries - La Palma gets even Greener!

We all like to do our bit, don't we? And after all, these days it's easier than ever. I am of course talking about the environment, about not wasting our valuable resources and recycling wherever possible.
Here at the finca in Franceses, we certainly aim to be environmentally friendly (more of that later) but I am also very heartened to see how recycling in the Canary Islands has grown over the years.

 When we first moved to the Canaries in 2002, there was very little re-cycling going on. In fact, the only containers for recycling were for glass with the occasional container for small cans and plastic bottles. And the trouble with depositing the plastic bottles was the size of the aperture which was only big enough to take a small bottle, so anything over a 75cl size wouldn't fit in!
Nowadays, things have come on in leaps and bounds and there are collection points all over La Palma for the recycling of paper and cardboard, another for glass and a third for plastics, tins, cans and cartons/tetrabricks (milk, juice and wine containers).

 I admit though that there is still some education to be done. For example, a friend of ours had to continually tell his aged mother-in-law not to throw the empty sardine cans on the land around their house. 'But it's good for the cactus,' she used to grumble and continued doing it unconvinced by these new fangled ways. And of course in her day, everything was good for the cactus because living deep in rural La Palma, there were no shops and all the food was the out of the ground or farmyard variety.

The other great leap is in the use of, or lack of, plastic carrier bags in the supermarkets. Ohhhh at last!!! Common sense reigns. So now if you go into a supermarket, you won't be given a whole pile of plastic bags, often with just one item of shopping rattling around in its own bag, but will either have to buy a reusable bag for 60 cents or a euro depending on the sturdiness - or be charged per plastic bag.
So, how do we help you to be eco-friendly at our accommodation in the north of La Palma? We use energy saving light bulbs. Well, we collect rainwater and fresh spring water into our 12,000 litre water tank. All the washing including bed linen and towels are line-dried (they have to be - we haven't got a tumble drier!) We compost kitchen waste and grow some of our own vegetables.
And as you'd expect, we have dedicated containers here for paper and cardboard, glass bottles and jars and one for tins, cartons and plastics and we take these to the recycling points for you.

And what if your chosen holiday accommodation doesn't have eco-friendly measures? Of course, we can all be careful with our water and electricity usage and there's absolutely nothing to stop you being the master of your own collection for recycling. You'll find collection points all over the island. So let's all have a thought for our environment and for keeping La Palma green. Oh and of course ... try not to throw sardine cans into the cactus.

El Faro del Punta Cumplida, Barlovento

If you are a subscriber to our newsletters, you may have read that we recently visited the Faro (lighthouse) of the Punta Cumplida near Barlovento.

To be honest, it was just a little excursion while on the way to the sea pools of La Fajana which are nearby and in the hope that somehow, something might have changed. The thing is that whilst this is a potentially interesting place - after all, it's one of only two lighthouses on the whole island of La Palma - there is absolutely no chance of being allowed inside - still. In fact, you're not even allowed in the grounds. None the less, it is still worth the small detour and at least there is an information board which does give you a flavour of what it's all about.

  The lighthouse is historically important and dates back to before 1867. The base was built from local stone whilst the stone for the tower was brought by ship from Gran Canaria. Don't ask me how they did it! Unsurprisingly it cost a lot of money - 758€ which must have been a complete fortune in those days. 

One of the features of the tower is the number of windows, 12 in all, with 6 facing toward the sea and 6 facing inland. If you like facts and figures, you may be interested to know that there are 175 steps and that the tower measures 6.8m in width and 33.16m in height. 

During the 130 years of service, records were meticulously taken and many of these survive today including minutes of meetings, the maintenance diary, information on operational staff, the amount of oil and electricity consumed, communications and movements in and out of the storeroom. Unfortunately of course, there was no chance to see any of those however, it was still very interesting to spend time exploring the near vicinity and we discovered a new picnic area/lookout point that we hadn't seen before.

Imagine my surprise then when I found out that we were to be able to have a very good look at the most important part of the lighthouse - the light itself and from a place rather more accessible.
We had noticed that in Barlovento opposite the little tourist office that there was a metal frame being constructed but had no idea what it was about. The following week I discovered with amazement that the frame was to house the light from the lighthouse! This was definitely worth stopping off to see.
So anytime you are driving through Barlovento, I suggest you stop and have a look. It's a fabulous piece of equipment and a real treasure for us all to admire.

Of course you are probably wondering if there is any form of light in the lighthouse at all. I now read on Wikipedia that in August 2011, El Faro del Punta Cumplida became the first lighthouse in Europe to have a high power LED light and that the new system consists of a hexagonal matrix of six panels with four LED lamps in each giving a light intensity of 505,000 candles. Thank you Wiki. 

So there you have the story of El Faro del Punta Cumplida! 

Subscribe to Holiday La Palma newsletters

Fiesta of San Antonio, Garafia

This weekend, it was the largest fiesta on La Palma - the fiesta of San Antonio del Monte. And luckily for us it's only a 20-minute drive away so we definitely weren't going to miss that opportunity! In fact, the fiesta is held over several days as the Saint's Day of June 12th is always celebrated and then

Which is the best month in the Canaries?

When people ask which is our favourite month on La Palma, it's always difficult to answer. Each month and season has something special to recommend it!
Spring is of course fabulous for the wild flowers - great bundles of sweet peas that line the donkey paths and always in the vibrant colours of hot pink and stunning magenta, terraces blanketed in purple and yellow and bright red poppies springing up wherever they get the notion.  But then winter is pretty great - after all, the winter sun is what a lot of people come to the Canaries for. Summer is lovely with long days in the garden, swimming or beach combing down at our local beach of La Fajana de Garafia just a 12 minute drive away and the nightly chorus of crickets and frogs.  And autumn is also beautiful with the colours as the chestnut tree leaves turn to amber and we are picking baskets full of figs from the trees on the finca.
We have a special reason the look forward to May though because this month heralds the start of when we get both a sunrise and a sunset from the finca. Crazy I know!  
Here's a photo of our lovely sunrise as we look east towards Barlovento.

A sunrise is definitely worth getting out of bed for and is so inspirational. And of course for those who are planning a long walk, then an early start during summer is usually advisable - great to have bed and breakfast accommodation right by the GR130 walking route in that case!

And then in the evening, we can enjoy the sunset. And that's the great thing about sunsets, you never know if it's going to be fiery and fill the sky with the intense glow of a volcano erupting.

Or gracefully slip down in the sea.

Whichever theme it chooses, it's always a magic sight.

And to think that when we came to live here in Garafia in the north of La Palma, we didn't knkow if we would see either the sunrise or sunset at all. You can read the story about it on our 'Relocating to the Canaries' here.

Road works between Los Sauces and Barlovento

Still on the subject of roads on La Palma, the road improvements in the north east have entered their second phase.
After a long pause from when the first phase finished, we are really pleased to see them going ahead again (in the hope that this will finally be it!). However, this does inevitably mean potential delays and even closures while they have a 'good old bash' without cars going by.

Here are the details:
Between Los Sauces and Barlovento, the road will be closed Monday to Friday as follows -
09.00 - 11.00hrs
11.30 - 01.30hrs
16.00 - 19.00 hrs
To put it another way and be abundantly clear, it is only open 11.00 to 11.30hrs, 01.30 to 16.00hrs and after 19.00hrs.
This is in place until 24th May.

It's important therefore that you take heed of these times because there is NO other way around to get from Los Sauces to Barlovento and beyond. Except if you drive in the opposite direction via the west coast which would take around two hours depending on where you are trying to go.
But with some planning around these times, it hopefully won't affect you too much and of course at weekends, the road is open all day.
If you wonder what these road improvements are all about, the main aim is to widen the roads, reduce or take out a few of the bends and/or strengthen the road. Where a supporting wall is required, natural stone is used instead of poured concrete. Once the roadworks have been completed, we plan to return to being La Isla Bonita. Yay!