Springs of Barlovento

As anybody who had ever traveled around Scotland or Ireland will tell you, castles make up a good proportion of the 'things to see.' And I love a good castle as much as the next person!
But what of La Palma? Where are our castles? Surely there must have been battles fought and wars waged? Well there were, such as when the Spanish Conquistadors finally took La Palma in 1493. But do you know, you can't beat a good natter when it comes to getting a problem solved.
What better then than a visit to see the old fuentes (springs) with their adjacent stone washing basins where the women would gather to wash the laundry.
You'll find them all around La Palma - Puntallana has a good example, Santo Domingo has two washing points, one at each end of the village and in the north east at Barlovento, there are a good sprinkling of them.
Just go to the Tourist Office in Barlovento and look out for the wooden pointing finger. Yup, hard to miss!

In less than 3 minutes you will find yourself at the springs.

And then, if you are walking the GR130 Camino Real from Barlovento past La Tosca, you'll see them there too. OK, the water is just a teeny bit green these days!

Perhaps part of the magic and mystery is the fact that these little bits of history don't have jazzy plaques with rhyme and verse telling you about them. After all, the talking has been done and as the saying goes, a problem shared is a problem halved. 

Christmas on La Palma

Christmas in the Canaries really can be as much fun as it sounds - a Christmas holiday in the sun is an exciting prospect for many people (including me!).
So what is Christmas on La Palma like? Well, just like in any country, Christmas is different for different people. Sometimes it's a round of visiting the family, a celebration meal or just taking time out to do something different.
This year our Christmas was that little bit different as we had family staying with us for the first time. So what should we do? Go for a walk .... go to Santa Cruz de La Palma to see if the Christmas Tall Ships are in ... or go to the beach. Beach, beach, beach, they cried!
But first of all, there are cards to open - thanks folks!

And then it's down to the beach ...

A visit to an old friend who lives the simple life and is very much into handicrafts

A quick walk on the GR130 Camino Real ...

And then back to the finca for a glass of something nice ..

Happy Christmas everyone and a wonderful New Year too!

The Story of the Traditional Houses of La Palma

You might have heard about the casas rurales of La Palma - the lovely old rural houses dotted about the countryside of the island.

But these are not just any rural houses, no, these are the traditional Canarian houses steeped in the fascinating history of La Palma. In fact, unlike a new house built in the traditional style, the original rural houses are more than a hundred years old, often something more like 150 to 200 years old. What they all have in common is that they are built of local stone with walls nearly two feet thick and of tea wood (the heart of the La Palma pine tree) for the floorboards, ceiling, doors and window frames. The other identifying feature is the roof of four sides, the 'hip' design or otherwise known as 'cuatro aguas,' four waters.
The roofs of the older houses are tiled in Arabic clay tiles, the first tiles on La Palma. Before this, the roofs were of bare wood, again of the highly durable tea (pronounced 'tee-ah') wood. They say the tiles were fashioned on the thigh, with the two ends different in width as in a thigh. I'm not sure how true that is but it's a story I'm happy to keep going!

In later years, the flat French terracotta tiles were used and these have ridges/grooves along the side edges which allow the tiles to interlock with each other. To further add to their staying power on the roof they have an integral 'eye' on the underside of each tile which allows a piece of wire to pass through and then to be tied on to a beam of the roof. A real belt and braces job! These French tiles, unlike the Arabic tiles, are quite fascinating in themselves as each tile carries the name of where it was made - such as Etiennne, Marseillses - and they sometimes have a special motif such as a bee, turtle, Maltese cross, anchor, horse or lion.

Bee motif on French tile in La Palma

Apparently rarer ones are now collectors items. Actually, I can vouch for this fact as when we were trying to locate some old 'tejas Francesas' (French tiles) to restore one of our roofs and took to the knocking on doors approach wherever we saw a weed-covered pile of them in someone's garden, we were always refused and told they were about to be used/had a buyer/our son wants them/can't part with them. Definitely a collector's items then.

If the exterior of the roofs are not fascinating enough, then the interior ceiling really is a masterpiece. Great planks of tea wood are overlaid onto beams with a super-neat meeting at each of the four corners as they dove-tail perfectly together. I never know whether to be most amazed at the feat of dragging the wood down from the mountains, sawing it into planks or the mathematical genius it took to work out the measurements!
If you rent a rural house on La Palma, can you just imagine laying in bed and being able to gaze up a this lovely ceiling?

Some houses are single storey, usually with the rooms all in a line with each room having its own exterior door. This  might seem a curious idea but why waste space and building time with an interior passage when you can just go outside from one room and back into another!
On La Palma, you'll find quite a few houses for sale and in need of restoration or houses already restored and being rented as a holiday home for rural tourism.

Where a house is of two stories, particularly in an area where the land is steep, then the house is built into the land, literally leaning back into it and these traditional houses are called 'casas de arrimo' or 'leaning houses.' From the rear they look like a one storey house and it's only when you go around the side or front that you realise they are actually of two storeys. The downstairs was never part of the accommodation but rather a room for storage or used as a workshop and they don't have an interior staircase but instead use steps following the lie of the land at the side of the house.

So whilst a traditional house is single or two storey, both are simple and not of vast proportions - imagine that to build a house, first of all you would have to dig out enough flat land on which to build it, then go and gather your stones and wood for the construction - no wonder they weren't big! That said, a big room would normally be divided into two or even three rooms with a 'tabique' wall, a partition wall to divide them.
In the old house, the kitchen was never in the house but instead would be an entirely separate building. After all, food was cooked over firewood or pine cones and apart from any fire hazard, why contaminate the house with smoke and cooking smells.

But the thing that I love the most about the houses is the wood, especially the lovely floorboards. Look out for the saw marks where the planks were sawed by hand, one man at each end. 

And of course, the built in window seats which feature in some of the houses.
Luckily, you don't have to content yourself with photos of rural houses as many rural houses on La Palma are for rent. And you too can enjoy a little slice of history.
* You can read more about the history of Garafia in the book 'Garafía, Descúbrela a Través de sus Senderos' - Garafía, Discover it Through its Trails' which you can get in English and Spanish (and probably German too). It's IBSN no. 846063750-6 and I highly recommend it, especially as it has many fantastic photos.

Beaches of La Palma, coves, sea pools ... and a whole lot more

As you may have heard, La Palma is also known as La Isla Bonita, the pretty island. And no wonder with lovely palm trees scattered across the island, pine forests, orchards of almond trees, terraces, ravines, drago trees and .... in short, a beautiful landscape.

Perhaps it is no wonder then that the beaches of La Palma sometimes get left out as a major asset of the island. In fact, people often don't realise what brilliant beaches La Palma does actually have! OK, they are not at all like the almost white sand beaches of Lanzarote and Fuerteventura, both islands which are well known for wind surfing. Nor are they like the honey coloured sands of south Tenerife which attract tourism on a large scale. No, these sands are a warm black - in fact, grey with a sprinkling of reddy-brown and a hint of silver - due to the fact that La Palma is a very young island in geological terms. And of course the other important difference is that it's rare to see a beach on La Palma packed with tourists!  La Palma beaches are what you might call 'select' and whilst not as numerous as the larger islands, there are a surprising number of them, many of the smaller ones unknown.
There's one point for anyone who knows which beach this is (and no, it's not La Fajana ... but I'll tell you at the end of the blog post.)

Most people know of the three main beaches on La Palma though - Los Cancajos, Puerto de Tazacorte and Puerto de Naos as they are the main tourist 'resorts.'
Los Cancajos in the east located between the airport and Santa Cruz de La Palma has a large bay with three beaches divided by natural rocky outcrops. My favourite for swimming is the far one (wouldn't you just know it) but for snorkeling, it's hard to beat the first one, at the end where the visitor centre is. With clear waters once you get past the sand near the water's edge, there are plenty of fish and we love to snorkel out to the breakwater to see if we can spot any empty urchin shells or see what else is going on underwater. And when it's calm we snorkel around the other side of the breakwater where the sea bed drops away to some crazy depth. Or snorkel along the rocky coastline - but watch out fishermen and their lines. Los Cancajos is also a great place for families with small children as it's pretty safe and with lots of little puddles and pools.

Los Cancajos beach

Puerto de Tazacorte in the west also has a great beach and with several excellent fish restaurants by the water's edge, a swim followed by a fish lunch just seems so very right! The safest swimming is definitely near the breakwater end, where the restaurants are as further along the beach, there can be sudden big waves. So please keep children in the safe area. The snorkeling can be interesting here too but it's better known for its swimming. In summer, there are inflatables in the water and whilst I'd love to give them a go, I can't say I've tried them out (yet).

August at Tazacorte beach - a lot of fun!

A little further down the coast is the resort of Puerto de Naos with its large swathe of sandy beach which runs from one end of the bay to the Hotel Sol. With its new promenade which has now taken over what was once a one-way road, this is also worth a visit. Quite naturally it is popular with holiday makers with the Hotel nearby and lots of apartments too, but it's also a popular spot for SCUBA divers - you can often see them making their way across the sand and then descend into the lovely waters. We've discovered that the snorkeling around the headland of the Hotel Sol is surprisingly good - sorry, I see there is a bit of a theme going on here and you don't have to guess too hard to know what one of our favourite pursuits is!

Puerto Naos beach

So just to redress the balance slightly, let me tell you that all three beaches have good restaurants plus bar/cafe's nearby. At Los Cancajos and Puerto de Naos, there are changing and shower facilities all year round but at Tazacorte, there are usually only facilities available in summer.
So what about beaches on the rest of the island? For access, it would be hard to beat the beach at Puerto Espindola which is below Los Sauces in the north east. You can park right next to the beach and whilst there aren't any changing facilities, there is the excellent Restaurant Meson del Mar right next to it. Definitely worth a visit!

Puerto Espindola beach

And by the way, if sea pools are more your 'thing' then Charco Azul just along the coast towards San Andres is brilliant and much more fun than you would expect a sea pool to be. And there's a restaurant there too of course. Although Charco Azul is great it jostles for first place in the sea pools stake with La Fajana de Barlovento and from both places you can swim in the sea when it's calm.

Charco Azul

Hands up if you've ever been to the beach of La Fajana de Garafia - my guess then is that you've stayed with us in Franceses as it's certainly a beach that's not on the general tourist trail. Rather surprisingly for a beach along the rugged north coast, it's got excellent access - after a ten minute drive from Franceses down a winding road, the road finishes at the banana plantations and the old port of La Fajana. The beach lies to the left, through the little village and there are good stone steps down to it. It's beautiful and secluded too although it's not always possible to swim but it's perfect for beachcombing, a private sunbathe or for getting wet while the mighty Atlantic comes to you.

Beach at La Fajana de Garafia

Then of course there is the famous Playa de Nogales near Puntallana in the east. A fabulous stretch of sand that, whilst fairly narrow, is quite dramatic to look at. In years gone by, apparently turtles came here to lay their eggs. Nowadays, it's a favourite with people who like something a little different but still not at all far from the capital. While road access is good, there are 400 steps down to it. And back up again. My suggestion is that you go in the morning as it loses the sun later in the day.

Playa Nogalas

Speaking of the capital, a really easy beach to get to is the Playa Bajamar at the southern edge of the capital. It's an incredible beach to say that it is right by the capital of Santa Cruz - and parking is easy as the beach borders the main road coming into the capital. There are changing facilities plus a bar/cafe. And soon of course, we shall have the splendid new beach right alongside the capital itself - now that will be something special!
In the south west there are many beaches, particularly along the coast from Puerto Naos. There's El Remo which is something of a shanty town but with a couple of great restaurants and the perfect place to watch the sunset over a romantic dinner and glass of La Palma wine. In the same area, there is also Charco Verde, Playa Nueva and La Bombilla. Further to the south (not from the same road as Puerto Naos) is Playa de Zamora and Playa Chica.
On the east coast, just by the airport, there is another little shanty town with a gorgeous little bay where you can swim - the plus factor is that it's also right by the Restaurant Casa Goyo, famed for its fresh fish. I must have written a blog post about this restaurant - no - then you can read about it on Trip Advisor!

Further south on the south east coast is the Salemera beach, just south of Mazo. After the usual twisty road down to it, the road ends at the sandy beach and a smattering of little beach houses. There is also a lighthouse there which goes by the name of Arenas Blancas (white sands) and the whole place is rather reminiscent to me of the little beach places found in Fuerteventura. But 'white sands' is probably pushing it a little.
Then there are a couple of small bays in the area of Puntgorda and between Puntagorda and Santo Domingo. And you can also swim from the bay at Santo Domingo where the old port was when it's calm.
So I seem to have drummed up quite a list of beaches on La Palma but I won't say that it is necessarily comprehensive, just in case one of my La Palma colleagues shouts at me for forgetting such and such beach!
By the way, the beach in the photo at the top is El Tablado in Garafia. Now who'd have thought it ... Just a word a caution, the access is tricky and I don't say that lightly. It's not a pirate beach for nothing.