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. 

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! 

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Charco Azul - Blue Lagoon

When it comes to a drop of the wet stuff our favourite haunt is located at La Fajana de Barlovento.  Yes, it's a great place for swimming and snorkelling!  However, by way of a change, we decided to go for a swim at Charco Azul, the Blue Lagoon as I call it, which is near the picturesque village of San Andres, below Los Sauces on the east coast of La Palma.
The Charco Azul has in fact only just recently re-opened after a rock fall and I am pleased to say that it has been restored back to its former beautiful self.

 

It's a great place for people of all ages as it has a large children's pool complete with a couple of seawater pools, sea water fountain, changing rooms and plenty of flat space for sunbathing.  So, if you are heading that way, don't forget to take your cossie and you can look forward to a dip in the blue.

And don't worry about how you are going to replace those used-up calories after all that swimming as there are also a couple of restaurants handy.  One overlooks the pools and the other, called Romecabezas (either meaning 'brain teaser' or 'headbreaker' I'll let you take your pick) is just around the corner.   Mmm, wonder if the 'headbreaker' reference is anything to do with the rockfall which did in fact submerge the other restaurant!  Either way, the cliff wall has now been impressively and securely netted.  Yet another feat of engineering for La Palma!
However, no matter how attractive Charco Azul is, I think our favourite will continue to be La Fajana de Barlovento.  It's not just the choice of pools, abundance of fish, fantastic underwater topography in the sea, but it's nearer to our finca.  And that means it's also nearer for guests staying at their rural accommodation to rent in Garafia!