Cumbrecita and El Paso Visitor Centre

The larger towns on La Palma have a Visitor Centre and this is where you can get maps, leaflets and guide books along with help and information from the staff. Just be aware that they generally close between about 13.00hrs and 16.00hrs. However, if you are looking for information on the Caldera de Taburiente, the Cumbrecita, Volcano Route and the topography, flora and fauna of the island, then the El Paso Visitor Centre is a good place to go and it's open all day.

Happily, it's really easy to find as it's located right next to the LP3 main road which runs between the east and west coasts, just at the 20km marker. This is also where the road goes up to La Cumbrecita. A word of caution - please do observe the speed limits in this area on the LP3!

Where are we? This is where you can find out about the National Park

The Cumbrecita is one of my many favourite jaunts on the island and it gives a great overview of the immense Caldera de Taburiente. Mr. Rother's Walking Guide also likes it quite a lot too so I'm in good company - he says that if you only do one walk on the La Palma, this should be it! And I have to say that I probably agree. You can read our blogpost about the Cumbrecita here.

La Cumbrecita walk

If you are thinking of driving up to the Cumbrecita, then you need to get a ticket from the El Paso Visitor Centre for the car as parking is limited ie, not many cars can get parked because there isn't much space. So it's a bit of a queuing system just like in the supermarket. Sometimes you can go up straight away and at peak times, there could be a long wait. My suggestions is that you ask at the reception when you arrive how long the wait is rather than looking at the exhibits in great detail and then discovering that there is a 40 minute wait before you can go up to to the Cumbrecita. If needs though, there is a bar/cafe directly opposite to while away the time.

My favourite exhibit at the Visitor Centre is the relief map/display of La Palma. I look at it and think, good grief - do we really live there! 'There' is at 500m above sea level, half-way across the north coast in what is the most mountainous region of La Palma. But more importantly it gives you a really fantastic overview of La Palma and just exactly why the roads are so twisty!

 Looking at the information panels, you can also discover how La Palma used to be divided up into the various municipalities. You might notice that there has been a bit of political shuffling round and Tazacorte has now become a municipality in its own right.

If you have time, you might like to wander over to the botanical garden or watch the 20 minute video on La Palma which is available in Spanish, English, German and French.  The Spanish video is on every hour on the hour.  The other languages are on every half-hour. In all cases, go to reception to ask for the video to be played, if not already on. Everything is free by the way.

Also free is the sight of the Old Man of the Mountain. This is not quite the best vantage point from which to view the apparent profile of an old man laying down. However ... to the left in the picture, he is clasping his hands together over his stomach. Looking along to the right, the profile dips down to his neck and then a vertical rise to his chin, lips and nose. The saying is that when the old man rises, then La Palma will disappear beneath the waves.

Opening times:
The Cumbrecita car park and walk is open from 08.30hr to 19.55hrs seven days a week, No toilets or other facilities available by the way.
The El Paso Visitors Centre is open from 09.00 to 18.00hrs seven days a week, toilets are available. Parking is right outside and free. If approaching from Santa Cruz in the east, slow down as you approach 20km and turn into the car park. If approaching from Tazacorte/El Paso/Los Llanos in the west, turn into your right where there is parking on your side of the road opposite the centre. Because it is situated next to the main road, please take care at all times.

Swimming around La Palma

There is one thing about an island you can guarantee – there's always plenty of water around! And whilst La Palma is often known as a walking destination, it would be a real shame if it was overlooked as a beach destination as well.

Los Cancajos beach

If you are in the area of Los Cancajos near the capital, the beaches there would certainly get our vote. Here you will find three lovely inter-linking beaches with easy access in and out of the sea, the water is clear and the fish are usually in abundance which also makes it perfect for snorkeling.

Another nearby beach is just 1km south of the capital, the Playa Bajamar. And further up the coast is the Playa Espindola near San Andres - all good, sandy beaches with easy entry.
And of course let's not forget the main beach at Santa Cruz itself, right across the road from the historic mansions. It's not open to the public yet, but hopefully the grand opening is not too far away!

Santa Cruz beach

Over on the west side, a popular beach is at Tazacorte at what you might call Tazacorte village where there is also a great range of apartments and restaurants. It almost never gets crowed although in August it's pretty busy. Tazacorte is often cited as having the most sunshine hours year round in the whole of Europe!

Tazacorte beach, 31 December

Tazacorte beach - August

Not too far down the coast is Puerto Naos, also a popular place for its beach and apartments. Plus it's got a great new promenade now, very swish!

Beach at Puerto Naos

However, another favourite place to swim is La Fajana de Barlovento which is in the North West. It is not too far off the main road, parking is easy and the water is nearby. There is no actual beach but plenty of terraced areas to get laid out in the sun and the facilities are among the best on the island with free, scrupulously clean toilets and showers too.

La Fajana de Barlovento

 In summer, the sea is fantastic for swimming and great for snorkeling. But the sea pools are also surprisingly good. The three pools have something for everyone from small children to keen snorkelers as the main pool is quite large and just over 2 meters deep. The water is again crystal clear and they are all absolutely teeming with fish. And - it is quite an experience to swim in the calm water of the pool.

Sandy cove below Puntagorda

But there are many hidden coves around the island too and if you're a bit of an explorer, then get your map out and - discover! Take a look around Los Canarios in the far south, Puntagorda in the north west, Puntallana in the east, they all have little coves where you can lay on the beach and enjoy a swim in the clear waters of La Palma. Enjoy!

Fiesta of the Sacred Heart, El Paso

Last week, the 5th June, in El Paso was the beautiful fiesta of the Sacred Heart of Jesus. It's one of those fiestas which is not all about party time but more about reflection and celebration. Firmly with a religious base, it's very much worth a visit whether religious or not.

The amazing thing about this annual celebration is the way the decorations are made, an incredibly painstaking labour of love using natural materials and which literally takes months. 

The procession starts from the church of the Conception of Bonanza in the upper part of El Paso and then down into the town. Along the way the streets are decorated with handmade lanterns to light the way, arches and tapestries of flowers and seeds that depict various images. They are all created with natural materials made by different neighbourhoods, groups, associations and individuals and take months to make - and just for this day.

All the various areas of El Paso contribute including El Paso de Abajo, Tajuya, La Rosa, Camino Viejo, Fatima, El Calvario, Tenerra, artists Rodrigo Gonzalez de Paiz and Carlos Afonso, the Red Cross, the Center for Disability Care in Triana and different schools in El Paso.

Walking the GR130 Camino Real - Barlovento to Franceses

We are having a great time re-walking our local walks along the GR130! Our latest one is the Barlovento to Franceses route which is a grand tour through nature with some breath-taking views. When it comes to features in a walk such as wooded trails, cliff tops views and emblematic villages, it really does come out tops.

And since this walk is included in our self-guided luggage transported walking itinerary, we kept the walk pure by starting at the Hotel Romantica at the top end of Barlovento town. That way, we can record it faithfully on Endomondo. And with my daughter along for the walk, that's definitely an added bonus! (Just in case you get mixed up, she's the leggy blonde and I'm the er, well not so leggy. Or blonde :)
So having started out from the hotel, it's a pleasure to go through the little wooded walk which brings us out at the top end of town. From there we stride out along the road with calls of 'why are we walking so fast?' It's a long way to go! Since it's a flat road, we don't like to dawdle but the road doesn't last long before we are on what you might call the trail proper.

The first part of this particular walk is, I would say, easy but it's only 30 minutes from the start before we get our first wonderful sea view. This is as we walk by the hamlet of La Tosca and the famous Dragon Trees of La Palma. It's also where the old, stone laundry basins are. The are fed water from one the many natural springs and it's good to imagine a whole gaggle, can I say, of women with their washing. In fact, we've got one of these old laundry basins at our own house in Franceses. I dimly recall thinking that I might 'go native' and use that instead of any automated means. I think that idea lasted about two weeks before I was off to look at Hotpoints and the like!
The laundry basins on the trail are now filled with greenery so obviously the local ladies have caught onto to mod-cons as well.

Then we're off into the wild green wonder with a myriad of exotic plants such as Agave, Stone Crop and the effervescent Sow Thistle. But caves are always fascinating too and although the big one on this section is more of an overhang, there are still remnants of where goats have been kept. You can also very clearly see the different strata in the rock face. But it's all very pretty wherever you look :)

So that's playtime over as we commence with a little barranco. In fact it hardly earns the name of barranco (ravine) because the main ones are much deeper at around 400m deep. Now it's onward and upward, or rather downward and upward into the deep Barranco de Gallegos before we get to the hamlet of La Crucita. In fact, there are only about ten houses here and because we cross the 'village' road almost before the houses have begun, we don't get to see many of them before trekking off down into the next barranco. But this one is very small and  the great thing is that there are some amazing caves to see laid out over three levels. Definitely worth pausing and having a peek inside.

At the top of the slope, we come to our half-way point and the lively village of Gallegos. I say lively because many Venezuelans live there and because it is the largest village across the north. But then again, it can very, very quiet ..... There is a bar/cafe though and it would seem almost rude to pass through without even a nod or better still a cold drink. There is even a little village shop over which the barman presides and he's more than happy to let you have a quick browse if you need any village shop items.

So suitably prepared for the next half, it's down the slope as we go towards the sea. And I think this time, we are walking rather more slowly than the first half - mainly due to the astounding view. We are quite a bit closer to the sea now, although still quite high, so the views really are show-stoppers. It's quite hard to tear ourselves away from the mirador! (lookout point)

Just 20 minutes later, we've reached the bottom of the second barranco and into what we like to call 'Mexican Valley' but what is actually the Barranco de Franceses. We love it because of the huge, smooth stones underfoot that form the ravine bed, the concentrated heat, the stillness and the cactus. Hey – Méhico! Actually, the cactus are Cardon or Candelabra cactus.

And it's not one ravine but two as it's a double dip - rising slightly before dipping down again. Although the rise between the two only takes 15 minutes and I think it's quite a special part of the walk to be enjoyed and not rushed. It's two for the price of one if you like to look at it that way and the rise in the middle is kind of fun. The incongruity of the zig zag path with us only moments apart but on an entirely different level is quite funny. (You might need to study the photo below to understand what I mean.)

Arriving at the base of the ravine on the other side of the rise, this time there is no cactus but a relatively large, flat area of multi-coloured, multi-shaped small stones rather reminiscent of a beach. There's also a craggy overhang which is a great place to enjoy some shade. If we want to get home in time for an afternoon cuppa though, it's time to press on. From here, it's a case of up, up and more up - with many rewards along the way. First a vertical spyhole quickly followed by a mirador complete with stone bench and a horizontal spyhole. Actually that spyhole is an arch of hard stone resting on a dip of softer stone.

It's also a good place to look back and see where you've come from and how far you've walked. There's quite a sense of disbelief as we look towards Barlovento in the distance!
Continuing up the path, there are a few teases by way of some houses dotted about. My suggestion is that you don't let this lead you into thinking you are almost 'there' because you've still got some more uphill work to do. And then when you reach the asphalt road, it's still another 30 minutes back to base, if going all the way to Las Tierras. But first of all you get to walk along the exquisitely narrow village road of Los Machines before entering the last, beautiful dell of Las Tierras, all still part of the stretched out area known as the French Quarter or Franceses.
Was this a good walk? You betcha!

* Our self-guided Luggage Transported walks include:

• Highly-detailed walking notes (for the Barlovento to Franceses walk, 3 x A4 sheets)
• Km guide with all walking signs integrated to keep you on track
• Points of interest to make sure you don't miss salient features
• Our own walk profile complete with distances and timings
• History of each town en route
  
  For more information on Holiday La Palma self-guided walks, take a look at our webpage here:
  http://www.holiday-lapalma.com/luggagetransportedwalking.html
  or Contact us here: ann@holiday-lapalma.com

Five a Day the Palmeran Way - Markets on La Palma

We often get asked if there are any fruit and veg markets on La Palma. Understandably, people want to know where they can get good, fresh La Palma produce while on holiday and not miss out on their 'Five a Day.' If organic fruit and veg is important to you, markets are one of the best places to head for and of course ... markets are fun!

El Mercado Municipal, Santa Cruz de la Palma

These days, there are plenty of supermarkets on La Palma to choose from and all have fresh fruit and vegetables. But there is nothing better than a market for fresh-picked avocados, lemons, oranges and papaya straight from the tree, sweet potato, chayota and of course - Palmeran bananas! Much of which is ecologically grown.

Fresh broccoli and leeks

But it's not just about the fruit and vegetables as all the markets have products from La Palma such as traditional pastries made locally, honey from the La Palma beehives plus the famous Mojo sauce made with local peppers, garlic and saffron. There are also wines from La Palma, rum produced on the island at San Andres (including honey rum, banana rum, coffee rum), cigars from local tobacco plantations and sea salt from the Fuencaliente salt pans. It's quite amazing to see what is produced on this little island!

La Palma wines, Fuencaliente sea salt, local herbs and spices

Cheese is of course another important product of La Palma - after all, it's an island where goats abound and I'm pretty sure that in Garafia at least, there are more goats than people. So goats cheese is always on sale at the markets, but you can buy La Palma goat cheese in the supermarkets too.

Famous La Palma goat cheese - smoked, semi-smoked and fresh

Puntagorda market is the biggest weekend market and not only does it have all the afore-mentioned, but also has many stalls with handicrafts such as jewelry from Dragon Tree seeds, ornaments from driftwood, clothing made from home-spun wool, leathercraft and so on. Local meat is also on sale which is ideal for your BBQ's. The cake stall is always very popular too!

Daily Markets on La Palma
The two markets on La Palma which are open every day, are in Santa Cruz and Los Llanos. They, along with all other food markets, are indoor which helps keep the produce fresh
In Santa Cruz, the market is in Avenida Puente which goes uphill at 90% from the middle of the Avenida Maritima (promenade). It's right by the traffic lights with the flower market outside.
In Los Llanos, it's at the bottom end of the town near the bus station.
Santa Cruz market is open from 07.00hrs to 14.00hrs Monday to Friday and 07.00hrs to 15.00hrs on a Saturday.
Los Llanos market is open from 06.00hrs to 14.00hrs, Monday to Saturday inclusive.

Puntagorda Market with freshly squeezed drinks from sugar cane

Weekend Markets
There are various weekend markets on La Palma - these are the main ones:
Puntagorda Market - Saturday, 15.00 to 19.00hrs. Sunday, 11.00 to 15.00hrs
Mazo Market - Saturday,15.00 to 19.00hrs. Sunday, mornings only.
El Paso Market - Friday, 10.00 to 19.00 hrs. Saturday, 09.00 to 14.00hrs
Puntallana Market - 1st and 3rd Saturday in the month, 09.00 to 14.00hrs
Barlovento Market - 2nd Sunday in the month, 10.00 to 14.00hrs

Puntallana Market

Easter on La Palma

It is said that during the summer months, there is a fiesta happening somewhere on La Palma every single weekend. I can definitely believe that! The Palmerans love to fiesta :)

The big fiestas include Los Indianos when everybody wears white and has literally thousands of people flocking to the island. The Bajada of course, when the Virgin Mary is brought down from the Las Nieves Sanctuary, is another huge one. Then there is the fiesta with the Dancing Dwarfs held every 5 years. Massive. Then the rather gentler but also popular farming fiestas such as at San Antonio and San Isidro. And the bizarre Funeral of the Sardine (hey, that can be a sad thing) and a whole lot more of inventive ideas to get together and celebrate.

Easter of course is another story and this year, the Wednesday before Easter during the Semana Santa, we were lucky enough to see the procession of El Santo Encuentro through the streets of Santa Cruz. 

It was a big procession with around 100 participants representing various scenes, plus I think 3 different musical bands - we dodged about quite a bit, heading off into the side streets in order to get ahead of the procession and see any parts we might have missed so we rather lost track of the numbers. 

Probably one of the more surprising aspects of the procession is the use of the 'capirote' which is the hood with conical top, often more associated with the Ku Klux Clan. However, the capirote along with the 'nazareno' (penitential robe) is used to hide the face of the wearer for a much more innocent reason in Spain. These types of robes have been used since the medieval period for penitents who could demonstrate their penance while still masking their identity. You can make your own mind up on that one!

It's certainly a good reminder that Easter has its origins in something other than chocolate eggs and days off work!
* It might be worth noting that in Spain and the Canary Islands, Jueves Santo (Maundy Thursday) and Viernes Santo (Good Friday) are observed as Fiestas Laborales (Public Holidays), whilst Easter Monday is not.

Walking Los Tilos to Barlovento

How are you doing with your New Year resolutions? I hope they will include a holiday to La Palma at some point!
One of our aims for 2016 is to make sure we re-walk the 6 routes included in our Luggage Transported Walking Holidays. And after we've done that, then we'll walk the rest of the GR130 Camino Real as we continue to build on our range of walking holidays for the winter season of 2016/7.
First up then is the Laurisilva Forest of Los Tilos walk through to Barlovento. At under 4 hours, it's a gentle introduction on what is the first day of the walking holiday - although admittedly an immediate ascent for the first 40 minutes of the walk up the forested track :)
It is however one of these walks where it pays to know what you are looking at and happily the walk starts at the Visitor and Information Centre of Los Tilos. This is where you can read about the Laurisilva which is a species from the Tertiary period when dinosaurs roamed the land.
(For those of you on our luggage transported walking holiday, we provide extensive information about the walk and the route for you to read beforehand so you can do some advance reading.)

Los Tilos Visitor Centre

From the centre then, it's onward and upward to the Mirador de los Barandas on the PR LP7.1 walking route. And let's just remind ourselves, it's not a sprint but rather more a chance to use our new found knowledge about the flora and fauna of Los Tilos :)

At the top of the woodland steps, we come to the Mirador (look-out point). The last time we walked this, there were picnic tables and benches but these have been dismantled for the moment. The view is pretty good over the town of Los Sauces, of the bridge (the longest single-arch bridge in the Canaries) and to the sea.

From the mirador it's an easy stroll along the forest track - no need for heroics! Definitely a good photo opportunity when you come to the giant ferns and the mountain view. Then a question of logistics as to how to negotiate a fallen tree - over, under or through? And the intriguing caves cut into the soft rock which the workman have used in the past. Always good to take a sneaky peak inside ...

But then we come to my favourite part which is the water mine - if you're not expecting it, it's quite a surprise to come across rail tracks in the wood along with the little cart which was used to carry the rock out of the tunnel. Although the over-riding feeling is astonishment at man's endeavour to reach the source of fresh water.
I'm not going to tell you it all of course because I don't want to spoil a good story. So still with the La Laguna reservoir to talk about, I'll just leave you with one last photo -

Christmas in the Canaries

Around the world, everybody's Christmas is different whether it be traditional, religious, just like every other day or even a working day. And this is something people often ask us - what is Christmas like on La Palma?
Our day was something of a mix starting with a Christmas breakfast for our guests. Followed by just the two of us opening a few present along with the Christmas cards we had been saving up for the big day. And of course ringing the family to wish everybody a happy Christmas.
Normally on Christmas Day, we would go down to the sea at La Fajana below us. But as David had something of a leg injury we decided to let the Land Rover take the strain and do some lovely touristy things - here are a few of our photos!

On La Palma, they love Nativity scenes. 
Ours is rather incongruous :)

Christmas lunch at La Fajana de Barlovento

Driving through one of the hand-dug tunnels on the Mimbreras road, Barlovento

Some interesting facts on the mirador information board

The Landy gets to join in with the Christmas spirit

Still in awe of the scenery

Christmas mascot

And still in the festive spirit on 5 January, a trip to the beach

However, it is perhaps the evening of the 5th January that is the star of the show. This is when the Three Wise Men arrive on La Palma (three for each major town/city) and bring gifts for the children. In some places, they arrive on real camels - it's quite a sight!
The next day, 6th January, is Epiphany and a religious holiday. So if you are on holiday on La Palma over the 5th/6th January, do try and catch a glimpse of the Kings (Los Reyes) and remember that on the 6th January, shops and banks will all be closed.