Taking the high road

'Aren't the roads good!' is a comment made by many guests. Well, yes they certainly are ... but they weren't always like that.
This section of the LP1, which is the main road running right round La Palma, is near Llano Negro, Garafia, and is particularly wide and straight.  Most of it the roads on La Palma are substantially narrower and twistier than this - however the lack of traffic is completely normal!
The 'original' LP1 in the north is the road that runs straight on in Barlovento and, after squeezing through three narrow tunnels and some pretty impressive scenery, arrives at La Cruce some 35 minutes later. Goatherds are a common sight.

 It is one of the most beautiful drives on La Palma and a 'must do.'  If nothing else, you should drive through the tunnels which were dug with hand tools, just wide enough for the little old bus to get through.  Because it really is the 'high road' it can sometimes be in cloud, so make sure you have a clear day for your trip because, whilst it has its own appeal driving in ethereal clouds, you will miss the spectacular views.

 However, while it was a huge improvement, the road did not go anywhere near Franceses.  Our neighbour told us that  people used to have to make the one-hour walk up to this road to catch the bus - now it runs through the village.

You can still find some stretches of the road previous to that.  There is one we often take visitors on, just behind La Mata.

 Or there is one just by a house next to the petrol station of San Antonio.  It is good to walk on foot or drive in a 4 x 4, but not suitable for cars (hire cars are not insured for off-road tracks).  No wonder that it used to take 4 hours or more to drive to the capital.

La Mata

La Mata is home to one of our great little local restaurants, a twenty-minute drive from the finca here in Franceses.  It lies just off the main road between Roque Faro and La Zarza.

When we first came here, it was a mouldy old building with an interesting green/blue mottling effect of damp creeping up the walls.  Nobody seemed to mind - or notice.  Then it closed for a while, re-opened under new management and eventually was transformed into what it is today - a jolly nice place!
One of its special attractions is the fact that meat is cooked over wood, just like it was in the old days.  If you have tried to bbq food using wood rather than charcoal, then you will realise that it is quite an art, especially in a restaurant where they don't know if and when orders will come in. But in fact, you will find that quite a few restaurants on La Palma cook in this traditional way, especially in the north, and this is still the way our farming neighbours cook their meals as routine.
The other thing about the restaurant at La Mata is that it also has a stunning view, although I have to admit that an amazing view surrounds you almost everywhere along this stretch of road.

From the outside, La Mata may not inspire you to delve inside in search of a good meal but appearances can be deceptive.  Walking through the narrow bar, past the usual selection of wine drinking, cigar smoking farmers, you will arrive at the small inner restaurant.  A door will take you through into the outer restaurant where, given some luck, you can dine in dappled sunlight.

For those that wish, there is also the garden outside where you can enjoy a drink or a meal.  And there are some nice touches here and there.

For those who would like to explore and take a small stroll past the restaurant of La Mata, you may spot something you didn't quite expect.  Surprises, I have come to learn, are the norm in La Palma so would it be a pig farm, or chickens maybe in this most simple and rural of areas.  No - ostriches! Well, why not, nobody said there weren't ostriches on La Palma!

Carrying on just a little from here, apart from a long low house which looks abandoned but isn't and a building project you will come to another slight surprise in the form of a road sign.  Now why on earth would there be an official looking sign on a dirt track?  Well, that's because this used to be the main road, the 'Carretera General.'

Sometimes we bring guests in the Land Rover along this section of  'road' just to demonstrate what it used to be like.  (Don't try this in a hire car, they are not insured for off-road driving).  Pre-1960's, there were no asphalt roads up here, just tracks and donkey paths so this makes us feel very grateful for the excellent, and improving, roads we now have.
But of course tracks like the old Carretera General are our favourites - providing there is not rush  ...