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
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