Feria de Artesania San Antonio del Monte

  Yesterday was the big day for the Feria de Artesania San Antonio del Monte in Garafia, La Palma - a feria being a country fair and artesania meaning handicrafts.

Whilst there are a few ferias around the island such as at San Isidro, San Antonio is by far the largest feria as they make use of a sizable piece of land with a church plonked in the middle.  When I say 'the largest' I mean that over 2,000 people turn up to join in with the fun - coaches, buses, cars, motorbikes, caravans, walkers and lots and lots of people with tents! In fact, one year when it was a four-day event (normally it's spread out over three days), we made camp in our Land Rover for two nights. At the time we loved it ... but that was ten years ago :)

However, the main thing about both the feria at San Antonio and San Isidro is the cattle and other farm animals, namely goats and sheep. Plus horses, mules and those oh-so-sweet donkeys!

Bus stops

A few years back, when we had family staying with us, a certain member of said family (mention no names) was rather taken with the bus stops on La Palma.  And ever since I have been receiving emails from said family member asking when on earth they can become a subject for a blog post. Patience is eventually rewarded - just like waiting for buses - and so, eventually, some three years later, here it is!
The area of Garafia, where our holiday accommodation is located, and Barlovento is lucky enough to have some lovely bus stops, generally painted in pastel colours and with the logo of the area.

However, all around the island they are of a similar building design, being of a solid construction with three walls, a built-in bench, a lovely layered wooden ceiling and a tile roof.  In fact, a miniature house!
Puntagorda though, in the north west of La Palma, I have to admit easily takes the prize for the best decorated bus stops with the most amazing interior murals.

They are of local scenes such as a market stall packed with fresh fruit and vegetables, ladies preparing the almonds or the church, complete with little balcony.  

Have a look for yourself - and I think you too will wonder why it has taken so long to dedicate a blog post to the bus stops of La Palma.

Oh and by the way, you will find that buses on la Palma generally run on time so better make sure you arrive early enough to enjoy being at the bus stop.

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

The history of Tazacorte

If there is one thing that I love about La Palma - apart from the nature and the people - it's the history of the island. It's varied, it's vibrant and quite frankly, beyond fascinating.  

Pick an area, any area, from Puntagorda to Puntallana, Mazo to Las Manchas, Santa Cruz to San Andrés or any of the other municipalities on La Palma and you'll find a different history. 

One of the municipalities that I find of particular interest is Garafia in the north of La Palma although of course I am biased as that is where I live! (You can find the short version of our own guide to Garafia here.) But even I have to concede that the area which is one of the most historically important on La Palma is Tazacorte.

Now you might find this rather surprising as Tazacorte is better known for its beach, apartments, restaurants and the boat trips to see the dolphins and whales. And the hint is in there somewhere if you think about it. Yes, it has a harbour.

Despite there being many coves and beaches on La Palma, there are also three operational harbours - one at the capital of Santa Cruz in the east, Puerto de Tazacorte in the west and Puerto Espindola near Los Sauces in the north east. The coves in the remote and isolated areas of the island were the province of pirates. Our neighbouring village of El Tablado has a particularly hidden cove which is well worth exploring if you are nimble and adventurous!
But Tazacorte was to be the stuff of greater import as this is where the Spanish Conquistadors landed on 29 September 1492. Let battle commence. In fact, it took until the 3rd May the following year until the last stronghold on the island, the Caldera de Taburiente, was taken. Can you imagine how difficult it must have been to capture an area such as that? 

There were two failed attempts by the men under the command of one Fernandez de Lugo to capture Tanausu, the ruler of the Kindgdom of Acerco, the Caldera de Taburiente. There was only one thing for it - to lure him out with promises of a treaty. Tanausu was captured and although he was taken by ship to mainland Spain, he did not live to tell the tale as he starved himself, determined that he should not arrive alive.
So if you decide to book an apartment at Tazacorte and find yourself sunbathing on the beach or walking in the Caldera de Taburiente, you might just reflect on the incredible history for a moment. Things were not always so calm!

One of the great resources for reading about the history of La Palma is on the website of the ING (Isaac Newton Group of Telescopes). I hope that you'll find it fascinating too.

Keeping your hat on

La Fajana (pronounced Fahana) is rather a popular name here on La Palma and if you study the map you will doubtless notice several La Fajanas laid about.  In fact, we have two near us – La Fajana de Garafia which is the little port village and beach just below the finca in Franceses and La Fajana de Barlovento which is located by the sea between the towns of Los Sauces and Barlovento. 

So whilst they might share the same name, they are certainly different places with La Fajana de Garafia being our favourite spot for beach-combing, picnics, a walk and a swim or snorkel when the sea is calm and La Fajana de Barlovento our favourite for swimming, snorkeling or even just stopping off for a coffee or light lunch. 

So what can you expect to find there?  Well, the main attraction is the sea pools.  There are various sets of well-made steps that lead down from the car park to the pools and from there you have your choice – a shallow pool complete with handrails which is great for children and those not keen on getting out of their depth, a second pool which is a little deeper and at the side has an intermittent waterfall you can walk under and a third, large pool which is around 3.5m deep in places and also has an intermittent waterfall you can swim under and get a back massage at the same time.  All three pools are beautifully clear and teeming, yes teeming, with multi-coloured fish and whilst we have been SCUBA diving in the pools, you can enjoy seeing the fish by snorkeling too.

The facilities are excellent too and arguably the best on the island.  The toilet and changing block is completely free and every time we have visited, and that is often, they have been impeccably clean.  Outside there are a couple of showers which operate with a 50c coin. 

There is also a very small swimming pool for the disabled or elderly with a seat lift, although I can’t promise that the seat always functions (or there is water in the pool).  And as yet, there is no wheelchair access down to the pools.

But once down the steps to the pools, there are lots of flat spaces where you can lay out in the sun. Picnics are not allowed at all but a little further along from the swimming and sunbathing terraces, there are two bar/restaurants.  

Confident swimmers might also like to take the opportunity to swim in the sea during the summer months when a ladder is provided for access.  Always use careful judgement though as the sea can be rough at times and be aware that there is no life guard.   If you do decide to go in the sea, it’s a different experience altogether and the underwater topography is absolutely outstanding - and beautiful!

Conditions permitting then, there is  no excuse not to strip off and leap in - although of course you can always keep your hat on.  

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.

Chicken course ... ?

This week saw the first of our chicken courses, although I really must stop calling it a chicken course.  'What's a chicken course?' asked a friend.  'Is it something between a starter and a desert.'   No, I mean  'keeping' chickens ... and to be more precise, a course on Keeping Chickens on a Small Scale.  

I have to confess that I did not particularly imagine I would be providing such a thing until someone asked me if I could help them with some information on keeping chickens.  After all, they said, they had no experience and little confidence and maybe I could get them started on the right path.  Oh and how many chickens should they have and what breed?  And what sort of housing should they put them in and what about typical illnesses hens might suffer from?  And what should they feed them?  Was a cockerel necessary - and what's the difference between free range and organic ... and how do you know if an egg is fertilised .. and ... and ...?  And could they see what it would be like to pick up a chicken.
And so that started me thinking about other people who might be considering keeping chickens and if a course would be useful.  After all, I had some idea about chickens since I was brought up on a poultry farm where various methods of rearing were employed including free range, deep litter, barn as well as intensive egg production.  Then of course there was the chicken hatchery producing around a million chicks a year - and that's not chicken feed!  

Me with my 'tweeties' here on the finca

And here on the finca in Garafia, we have kept hens and reared baby chicks with housing methods ranging from a moveable chicken coop to free range with seventy plus poultry (something of a poultry population explosion!) to our current system of a fixed house with large run.

And so, with this in mind,  the course was born and, as it happened, our lovely guests staying in the casita were also considering keeping chickens and asked if they could take the course while they were staying here.  

We started with some theory which encompassed all of the questions and doubts already raised and of course the guests added a few questions relevant to their particular situation.  After this, we had an on-site look at different housing systems and the various merits or otherwise.  And then we got to the bit they were probably waiting for - meeting the hens and collecting the freshly-laid eggs.

It was a good opportunity to get to know what it was like to be close up with the hens, discovering that they would not only pick enthusiastically at the fresh greens held for them but also gather round to dive into a handful of corn.  And happily, when it came to picking them up, the girls behaved im-peck-ably!

Now we could leave the hens on their own to wonder what all the fuss was about - and eat the rest of the greens.

The micro

One of the things that I love most about Los Machines in Franceses is the width of the street because it is definitely of the single track variety.  If you time it right, you will spot the bus squeezing through.  The locals don't call it the 'bus' though, nor the 'guagua' but the 'micro.'  Of course, it was all built long before cars - and heaven forbid, buses - were even considered as a mode of transport in the north.  If a couple of fully-laden donkeys could pass each other, then there was enough room.

But the bus service here is surprisingly good with a two-hourly service throughout the day beginning at 6 am and finishing at 8.30 pm (weekdays).  This is vastly improved from the previous service of only three buses a day.   Nowadays, we use the bus service quite frequently to either take us to a start point for a walk or to take us back to the car or home.  

And whilst there are bus stops across the north, the micro will happily stop for you anywhere providing that you are standing in a place safe for it to stop and that he sees you.  Make sure you raise your hand and, if in doubt, jump up and down too!

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  ...

Walking the GR 130

I've been blethering on about the GR 130 for some weeks now. Poor David. It seems that recently all my sentences either end or begin with 'The GR 130' or at least feature somewhere in the middle. In mitigation, quite a few of our guests for the bed and breakfast accommodation are 'doing the GR 130' and I can't help but feel a little bit of input on my part would make it a more enjoyable experience for people – especially when they don't have the benefit of living here and we do.

For example, I have noticed that many websites suggest that you walk right from Barlovento to Santo Domingo – the hardest part of the entire route and right across the north, all in one go. Perfectly possible of course, but you would probably need to be scooped up and poured into your own rucksack at the end of it.
Ah well, that's all OK if you like pain I suppose. Not to mention an eleven hour walk, almost all of which is up and down ravines.

Hence me doing a new website and my own suggested itinerary for the route.

Anyway, imagine my surprise when I said this morning, out of the blue (well, whilst preparing breakfast for our guests), 'why don't we catch the 10 o'clock bus to Gallegos and walk back?' and the reply was, 'OK then.'
Not that we haven't walked this section of the GR 130 before – just that it's been a couple of years. And it's a relatively short walk given that we needed to be back for more guests arriving. Ah, playing hookey when I should be making beds - lovely!

The adventure begins with catching the bus. There is something completely surreal about it – from the speed it is driven at to the subject matter of its occupants, which generally revolves around goats or potatoes. As usual, the bus was fairly empty, just us and Miguel who thought our plan hilarious and the further away we got from our start point the funnier he thought it was.
'Ha, ha, your house is so far away,' and 'Ha ha, your going to have to walk all the way back again,' and 'Ha ha, ...,' etc. Since this was the entire point, I thought it pretty funny too.

The other bit I like about the bus journey is when you get to Gallegos and the bus driver takes you at great speed down a steep single track road, closely lined with houses. 'You have to watch out for loose dogs,' he calls out to us as we cling on to our seats. Yes, we know from previous experience when there was an oncoming vehicle that at any given second we will make a screeching stop and we all go flying off our seats. It's like having a bit part in a disaster movie. The bit you don't want.

And then of course, arriving in Gallegos, is another adventure. The people there are so different. Our neighbour says it is because many are Cuban or Venezuelan. I can't explain it myself without being rude about certain individuals but you do get the impression you have just blundered onto a hospital ward where everybody is suffering from some sort of physcotic illness. Or just that the party started long before you got there. Enough said.

So of course I haven't even explained yet what the GR 130 is. Well, it is the ancient route which goes right round the island, is approximately 200km long and takes seven or eight days. Preferably more. I call it the Palmathon. David and I however are taking a laid back approach – completing it in something like 8 years. No, no really, this year, we promise to tackle the southern sections that we haven't done yet ....




The walk was wonderful you will be pleased to hear. For most of the time (not the steep, slippery bits with a vertical drop off), I had a daft grin on my face and exclaiming, 'It's just amazing ... what a view ... just look at it ...' and so on. Luckily, we took 71 photos and now that we are back, I can look at the them all again, still with a daft grin on my face.



Photos:
Spying on La Fajana
Going Mexican in Barranco de Franceses
Back at Franceses, consulting the map for the next adventure

La Fajana

This is our local beach of La Fajana de Garafia. Generally, it is not a sandy beach (although sometimes there are patches of sand) but rather a rocky beach. To me, it is a wonderful place for a whole number of reasons.
When it is rough, I am amazed at the way the Atlantic rushes in to our shores with such enthusiasm and then breaks its neck on the rocks. Only to rush off and do it all again.
I am amazed at the way anybody every made a road down there. In the degree of difficulty it ranks as about 49.75 billion trillion.
I take my hat off to the eleven people that live down there, working in the banana plantation.
I pay tribuite to the people of El Tablado who would carry great stems of bananas down to the old port in days gone by (several times a day) and to the people who practically risked their lives getting provisions on and off the ships in the old days.
Oh, I could go on. The place is an amazing example of the determination of man in the face of apparent impossibility and of nature at its dramatic best.

Acting the Goat

What is it about goats?

I remember the first time I saw a goat herd on the road in La Palma. We had to sit and wait in the car until they had all passed by. I was so excited, I pleaded for (and got) us to turn the car around and see them all over again.

I suppose it is just something you do not regularly see in the UK. But here in the area of Garafia in the north of La Palma, there are more goats than people and it is a regular treat to see them as they return home for their milking session.

Most people who live around here, deep in the countryside, are at least partly self-sufficient. Potatoes are the norm. In fact, potatoes are so synonymous with a meal, that it is common to say, ‘Your papas (potatoes) are ready,’ when in fact people really mean that the meal is ready which might not even contain potatoes. But potatoes really are the staple diet and they are eaten most days by the Palmerans. The two main methods of cooking are plain boiled or as papas arrugadas, which are part-boiled and part-steamed using plenty of sea salt. In fact you could be forgiven for thinking that the many little terraces with potatoes growing on them are for commercial purposes, but they are generally for personal and family consumption. No self-respecting Palmeran in the country would think to buy potatoes –and they are not usually available in the village shops anyway. And so even relatives who live in a flat in the city get to share in the harvest of the country.

For fruit and other vegetables, it very much depends on the altitude. Of course, orange trees abound and more exotic fruits such as papaya grown nearer to sea level. Avocados, plums, apples and figs are often found growing on deserted trees and are there for the picking. Truly a Garden of Eden! Palmerans are not great vegetable eaters but some of the favourites to grow are broad beans, pumpkin, sweet potato, onions and cabbage. Of course, orange trees abound

Like us, many people also keep chickens. They are easy and quite cheap to look after and provide wholesome fresh eggs. We do not eat the chickens themselves but the cockerels are quite sought after for the dinner table as they have less fat than the females.

Some people will keep a pig for food though this takes greater skill and commitment. The unwanted vegetables, scraps and leftovers are all boiled up every three days or so and fed to the pig. The pig kindly turns it all into pork which is highly regarded and after 3 to 4 months, he meets his fete. Kind recompense indeed for all his work. The farmer kills the pig, and along with a couple of neighbours, prepares it for eating. Then 20 to 50 friends, neighbours and family are invited to help eat at least half of it and the rest is kept for freezing. Because everyone shares in the country, the farmer can guarantee an invitation to share in someone else’s pig while he is waiting for his next piglet to put on weight.

Rabbit is another popular meat and they are either bred specifically for eating or wild ones are hunted. Many people in the north keep a couple of hunting dogs – rather like whippets – and on specified days which are allowed for hunting, set out to bag a couple to augment the meat supply.

It is not surprising then that goats top the list for the provision of food. With meat, milk and cheese, what look to me like cuteness on four legs are in fact more like meals on wheels.

Photo: Goats in Don Pedro, Garafia.