La Fajana de Garafia - Part I

La Fajana, (pronounced Fahana) is a popular place name on La Palma and it is always a good idea to make sure you know which La Fajana is being referred to. But La Fajana de Garafia is one of my favourite places which is pretty handy as it is only a twelve minute drive away from here in Franceses.  It amazes me on so many levels and, in an attempt to explain the place, it is what many writers would probably call improbable.
The adventure starts with the drive down to La Fajana - but first you need to find the little wooden sign to it.  Actually, it is located just opposite the village shop ... but then the village shop doesn't have a sign to say that it is a shop and so if it closed, it looks just like any other house.  Ah La Palma, we love you!
But once on the road to La Fajana it is all plain sailing with plenty of tacking this way and that as you navigate the car down the winding way.  Remember to watch out for cars coming the other way though along with rockfalls and the occasional walker on the GR130 walking route which crosses the road in a couple of places.
After ten minutes of driving down what some people regard as the edge of the world (actually it is not nearly as dramatic as that and only a case of driving down the side of a ravine), you will eventually come to a place where the land meets the sea.  Almost.  This is the tiny hamlet and port village of La Fajana.

Most likely you will have been expecting to find something quite substantial to warrant any type of road to it at all but instead you will find one of the shortests streets of houses on the island.  In fact, only eleven people live there.  Strolling along the length of the street which takes all of two minutes you may not notice some of the best things tucked away almost out of sight - a bakery, an old wine press, a couple of cows and the little plaza.  It's a place in which to take your time so make sure your speed dial is set to saunter.  And you never know - you might even see a person!
At the end of the street, the track disappears away into the bananas and the distance.  However, a sharp right turn will lead you through the plantation where you can look at the bananas fact to face.  

As you wend your way down this recently restored path and turn a corner, you realise that so far you have been surrounded by silence but now there is the sudden sound of the sea, a certain freshness in the air and a sense of  excitment.  And in a few moments you will actually get to see what the fuss is all about as the clear waters of the mighty Atlantic greet you.  

  

These days, stone steps and sturdy wooden handrails lead you down on to the beach.  Sometimes it is a sand beach, sometimes sand and stones and sometime just stone. Whatever the case, it is there for all to enjoy.
Ah yes, I didn't mention La Fajana Part II yet, did I?

Restaurant Campesino, Barlovento

Family meals at home, fiestas in public plazas, bbq's in the woods and restaurant dining are all the food of life to Palmerans.  In fact, there is a saying here which goes along the lines of,  'We shall have a fiesta - but first we must eat and drink!'   So you can imagine the buzz of excitement when a new restaurant starts up and it was hardly suprising to see a gathering of cars around the newly opened 'El Campesino' restaurant in Barlovento.

Actually, El Campesino opened a few years back as a brand new restaurant, appeared to do well, built a conservatory extension - then closed.  I don't know why but it was certainly a shame.  It then sat empty for several years so we were especially pleased to see it open again last week.  Needless to say, we took little pursuasion to eat there and whilst the photo appears to show a deserted restaurant, it was in fact quite busy out of shot.

I hope you get the opportunity to enjoy a meal there - we certainly enjoyed ours!

Between a Rock and Hard Place

Roque Faro in the north of La Palma is a curious place, although that hardly differentiates it from anywhere else on la Palma. Although perhaps Roque Faro is more curious than most.

 Nothing more than a handful of houses and buildings nestling among the pine trees, it lies just off the LP1 main road which goes right around the island and is therefore very easy to find.  But then when you do find it, via any one of its three entrance roads, you suddenly find yourself back on the LP1 again, as if rejected as being unworthy.  So you might go round again and have another go, assuming you have missed the centre.  In fact, one couple did stop us once and ask, 'Where is Roque Faro,' to which we had great pleasure telling them that they were in it and this was the centre.'  
Yes, you could say that Roque Faro is something of a one-horse town.  Or should that be a two-chicken town.

And yet, it does have a plethora of non-residential buildings, especially considering that the couple of roads in Roque Faro itself only manage to muster around six houses.   At one end, there is a pension (hostel) with seven rooms for rent.  Seven rooms is an awful lot for these parts where pine trees out number people by about a million to one.  But if you are looking for seriously budget accommodation in the north of La Palma, this could be the place.   I can imagine that it used to be very popular when transport was rather more gruelling than it is in these days because Roque Faro is the first habitation you will find after Barlovento having come along the old road.  Then it really was a 'light of the rock' as its name means, especially as Roque Faro can be swathed in clouds as it lies at 100m above sea level.  But now unfortunately, 99% of the time the pension door is closed.
Below the pension rooms, there is a large bar restaurant which is also usually closed - but we did once eat there!
And then there is the church.  This is a sweet little building and is actually very new having been constructed only a couple of years ago.

Just across the road incidentally you might notice a clearing among some truly huge pine trees and this is where the annual fiesta is held with live music and mobile bars drafted in to help mop up the extra customers.
At the other end of the short road which only has three houses on it, one of which appears to be a cross between a village hall and storage for tools belonging to council workers, there is the bar/restaurant, Los Reyes which is very much open (except Mondays) and is very popular.  It also acts as a bit of a shop where you can buy bread - which is a common system on La Palma - and you could ask there if you are trying to get a room at the pension.

 And while you are there, maybe try a bit of goat, rabbit or pork cooked over a log fire and the local tea wine (pronounced 'tee-ah' and absolutely nothing do with Tetley's).  The wine has a very distinct flavour and if you are considering having a bottle with your meal, I suggest you try a glass of it first.   But even the bar itself is worth a look with its wooden shuttered windows and lovely old glass-fronted cupboards bursting with bottles of wine and other essential such as toilet rolls.

Yes, curious.  And yes, worth the tiny detour involved.

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.