Star Finders

M100 (NGC 4321), a barred galaxy in the Virgo cluster

There's a really simple reason why the Royal Greenwich Observatory moved their telescopes here. It's one of the three best places in the world for astronomy.

A modern telescope could see the equivalent of a candle on the moon, so obviously they want to be well away from city lights. Even more obviously, they want to be somewhere that doesn't get many cloudy nights.

Much less obviously, they want to be somewhere the stars don't twinkle. This happens when the air's turbulent. It's pretty, but it really messes up your view.

There are three places in the world which are great on all three counts, and La Palma is one of them. (The other two are the peak of Mauna Kea, Hawaii, and the Atacama Desert in Chile.)

The problem is to keep it that way.

When the observatory moved here, they asked for, and got, an agreement to limit things like street lights. Los Llanos has a street with lamps which remind me of 1950's hairdryers - the sort that go all around your head.

Recently the island government committed to spending over a million euros to update the streetlights to reduce the light pollution even further.

The result of all this is that La Palma is a great place for amateur astronomers, too. Even in a resort, people notice how many more stars you see here, compared to almost any English town or city. Here's another picture, this time of M51, taken by my friends in Franceses with an 80mm amateur telescope on their first night's astronomy since they moved here. Of course there's a lot of skill involved too. But they used to live in Streatham, and no amount of skill would produce that kind of result there.

If you want to recognise the constellations, the best solution is something called a planisphere. This is two special circles of plastic fastened at the centre. Twirl them until the date on one lines up with the time on the other, and you get a picture of the night sky for the right time, date, and position on the planet. (In fact you want to set the time for an hour later than GMT because clocks on La Palma are set just one hour behind Madrid, which leaves us in the same time zone as
London, but a long way west.)

If you bring a UK planisphere with you, everything will be shifted and it won't show the southern stars at all.

Perhaps surprisingly, the best one for the Canaries is titled "Hawaii, Mexico, India, Hong Kong, Taiwan." This is because you have to buy one for the correct latitude (your distance north or south of the equator) but the longitude (east-west distance from London) doesn't matter, because you compensate for that when you set the time. Amazon.co.uk sells normally sells them for £6.99 (at left), although the last time I looked they only had a used one, (and it was more expensive). If you want a UK planisphere, it's slightly cheaper (at right).

Amazon.com also sell them. The one for La Palma is $13.87 (below)
Philips Planisphere from Amazon.com


Happy stargazing!

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Rooftop Viewpoints

Traditional roof with a space to view the port.

These days, Santa Cruz de la Palma is a bit of a backwater. But three hundred years ago, it was the third biggest port in the Spanish Empire. Almost every ship traveling from Spain to the Americas stopped here. In the 19th century, it was still a major port, and many of the inhabitants waited anxiously for a ship bringing their merchandise, letters from family members who'd emigrated to Cuba or Venezuela, or the loved ones themselves, as passengers or crew.

Consequently many of the older houses have viewpoints on the roof, like a little crow's nest. They're all designed to give a view of the port, although in some cases the view is now blocked by a tall, new building, like these houses in the Calle Real. They're a nice reminder of the past, and I have fun trying to spot them, even though I can't believe that they get much use in the internet age

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The Balconies

These are the famous sea-front balconies in Santa Cruz de la Palma. Actually these are the backs of the houses: the fronts look onto the Calle Real.

When I first came to the island in 1990, the woodwork was all green and the plaster all white. For the town's 500th anniversay, in 1993, the whole lot disappeared behind acres of black plastic sheeting for weeks while they were repainted in the best possible guess at the original colours.

Then on 6th November 1993 they held an unveiling ceremony. The new paint job was quite a surprise.

Santa Cruz does a good job of that sort of thing. We had fireworks, music, people on stilts and the giants who normally only come out for Carnival


The owners of the houses were originally promised that the town hall would repaint the balconies in green and white, but most of them elected to keep the new colours for a while. These days they're a mixture between the two styles. Some people say it looks a mess, but I think it's exactly what you'd expect in real town in a free country, rather than a museum.

They have a narrow pavement in front of them, then there's a wall and another pavement perhaps two feet higher, and a main road. The explanation is simple. The houses and the lower pavement are about 350 years old. The higher pavement and road are much newer. I've seen old photographs where the beach comes right up to the old pavement.

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The Tsunami Risk

You may remember the fuss in 2001 when two geologists, Steven Ward and Simon Day, announced their theory that the west side of the island of La Palma would collapse one day, creating a mega-tsunami that would cross the entire Atlantic and still be anything up to 25 metres high when it hit New York, and indeed everything from Newfoundland in Canada to Recife in Brazil.

These days, almost all geologists seem to disagree.

Certainly there is a fault line, and some movement has been detected, but the fault appears to be 4 km long, not 25 km. There is no evidence that it's 2 km deep, so any landslide would be superficial and might not happen all at once. There's a volcano, but it's comparatively small. And there's a lot of water inside the island, but if the volcano erupts and turns it to steam, it has lots and lots of escape routes through the porous lava. Therefore it won't push the rock into a landslide.

The tsunami that did such awful damage in December 2004 was caused by an earthquake along 1,000 km of sea bed. If a landslide does happen on La Palma, it couldn't possibly be longer than 25 km, so the tsunami will weaken as it spreads out. You'd hardly get a splash the other side of the Atlantic.

By the way, the research was paid for by an American insurance company. And it wasn't published in a peer-reviewed journal, which means that other scientists didn't get chance to give opinions before it was broadcast.

My opinion? It's a load of hype.

You can read more at: http://www.lapalma-tsunami.com/tsunami.html
and http://www.iberianature.com/material/megatsunami.html

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Dragon trees

One of the most exotic looking plants on La Palma are the dragon trees.

The latin name is Dracaena draco Although they grow anything up to 12 metres tall, botanically, dragon trees aren't trees. They don't have annual rings, for one thing. Actually, they're classified in the same order (Asparagales) as garlic and asparagus, although they look nothing like each other. In fact, dragon trees look mostly like broccoli on steroids.

They grow throughout the Canary Islands, and also in Cape Verde, the Azores, Maderia, and western Morocco.

Because they don't have annual rings, it's hard to tell their age. The trunk branches every time they flower, which isn't every year. So you can tell how often a trees has flowered, and make an educated guess at its age that way. The tree in the photo has flowered just twice. The oldest ones seem to be about 650 years old.

The resin is reddish. In ancient Roman times, people used to dry it and sell it to alchemists as dragon blood. It must have fetched a packet.

The Canary Islands used to have a large, flightless bird, something like a Dodo. This bird ate dragon tree fruits, so the seeds evolved to have a hard protective covering to survive the bird's digestive tract. Now that the bird is extinct, this covering makes it had for the seed to germinate. The north of La Palma is one of the few places where the trees are reproducing naturally. In other places they put the seeds in an acid bath for a few hours (much like the inside of a bird) to remove the hard coating before planting the seed.

One of the best places to see them is at Buracas, below the village of Las Tricias in Garafía. That's where I took this photo. There's another lovely group at La Tosca, in Barlovento, which you can see from a viewpoint on the main road from Barlovento village to Gallegos. And there's the famous twin dragon trees in Breña Alta.

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Los Sauces Bridge

The big bridge at Los Sauces

The new bridge over the barranco at Los Sauces is huge. It's 319 metres long and towers 150 metres above the valley floor. It opened in December 2004. To begin with, it was rather controversial because it crosses the same valley as the Los Tilos National Park. But you can't see the bridge from the park, and it's really rather elegant for something so big. It also knocks a full five minutes off the journey to Santa Cruz, which is important if you're in a hurry to get to the hospital.

If you're visiting the island, I recommend walking across it -- you get a much better view. Unless you suffer from vertigo!

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My Top Ten Things to See and Do on La Palma

I had an email asking me to recommend the top ten things to see and do.

It was actually quite difficult to decide, because tastes differ so much. So this is a purely personal top ten. Your mileage may vary.

10. The Observatory
See The Observatory and Visiting The Observatory. While you're there, be sure to go up to the highest point of the island, the Roque de los Muchachos, and admire the view.

9. San Antonio and Tenguia Volcanoes
Teneguia last erupted in 1971, and it still looks a lot like the surface of Mars. See Which Planet Are You On? San Antonio is a much older volcano, with a visitor centre, and a nice strioll with spectacular views. You can even ride a camel.
See Taking the Hump

8. El Tablado
Well, I say El Tablado, but really the whole of the north of the island is stunning. You know those fantasy paintings, where the landscape is too steep and green to be real? That's what it looks like, sprinkled with picturesque villages clinging to the . El Tablado is just the most picturesque of these villages.

7. The Night Sky
There's a really simple reason why the observatory's here. I grew up in Leeds, and I was lucky to see ten stars in the sky. Light pollution's got a lot worse since then. After the big earthquake in Los Angeles, apparently some people phoned the police to ask what on earth that white streak was running right across the sky, man? You see, they'd never seen the milky way in their lives. I find that sad. So while you're on La Palma, pick a cloudless night, get a couple of hundred yards away from street lights, and wait at least ten minutes for your eyes to adjust. If you've always lived in cities, it may be some time before you remember to shut your mouth.
See http://lapalmaisland.sheilacrosby.com/2008/05/starlit-skies.html

6. Los Tilos Cloud Forest
At the top of the ravine just south of Los Sauces inside the clouds is an ancient forest of laurels and heather trees.Since La Palma is an island, many of the plants here have evolved in isolation, making them unique.I saw an overweight, arthritic botanist bouncing like a child on Christmas morning, almost incoherent with delight.“Oh my! Woodwardia. I hoped I’d see that but I didn’t dare hope too - Canaria canariensis! Oh look at this and -” He said that when he dies, he doesn’t want to go to heaven, he wants to come to La Palma.

5. Cueva Bonita
Cueva Bonita means Beautiful Cave, and it certainly is beautiful, especially at sunset. The catch is that the cave is only accessible by sea. You take a boat trip from Puerto Tazacorte. If you're lucky, you might see dolphins or even whales too.

4. Las Nieves Church
La Palma has lots of old, pretty churches. Quite often, they hold beautiful statues, a reminder of the days when the island got stinking rich from the trans-Atlantic trade. The loveliest is the little church at Las Nieves, which holds a little, 14th century terracotta statue of the Virgin Mary on a silver throne.

3. A local fiesta
Each little village has an annual fiesta, usually when the patron saint of the local church has his or her saint's day. This means that it's a rare week that doesn't have a fiesta somewhere on the island. Ask the local tourist office for details. A typical fiesta takes place the night before the local holiday (so you can sleep it off). It includes a religious procession carrying the statue of the saint around the village (some of the statues are very old and beautiful), a live band playing salsa music, and mobile bars selling drinks and food. Many have something special of their own, like dancing horses made of papier-mâché, decorated archways, or the recreation of a battle. I recommend rum and coke (called cuba libre) and a fried pork sandwich. Do NOT drink and drive. The police know when the local fiestas take place, and tend to be hiding with their breathalysers just down the road. Even more to the point, the roads are twisty with lots of spectacular drops if you take a bend too fast.
The tourist office will have details of what's happening.

2. El Time Viewpoint
See http://lapalmaisland.sheilacrosby.com/2008/06/el-time-viewpoint.html

1. The Caldera
The Caldera is a humongous crater, 5 miles (8 km) across, with rim walls almost 6,000 ft (1,800 m) above the floor. If you're really fit, I recommend the 27 km (17 mile) hike from Los Bresitos round to the camp-site and down the Angustias Ravine. It's exhausting, and I'm no longer fit enough myself, but the scenery is fantastic. Alternatively, you can stay a night or two at the camp-site in the centre. If you want to look down at the Caldera instead of up at the walls, a long-distance footpath runs around the rim, and if you're less fit, it's possible to walk short (or very short) sections to suit your abilities. Failing that, you can drive to a viewpoint on the rim and look down. The best ones are La Cumbrecita, La Cancelita, Los Andennes, and the Roque. See: The Caldera , Los Andennes Viewpoint and The Caldera Campsite

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Fiestas in Early September

There are two nice fiestas coming up at the beginning of September.

In El Paso, the statue of the Virgin of the Pine was carried in procession from the hermitage up in the mountain down to the village. On September 6th, there will be another procession to carry it back.


The Devil's dance, Tijarafe, 2007.

In Tijarafe in the early hours of September 8th, the devil will join the dance. This is a man in a suit covered with lit fireworks, and no, I don't think it's entirely safe. On the other hand, I've never heard of any bad accidents, and it's certainly memorable and great fun. The party starts the night before, of course, with the usual music, dancing, and mobile bars.

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Piscinas La Fajana

Fancy swimming in sea-water without the waves?

These are some rather nice salt-water swimming pools at Fajana, five km outside the village of Barlovento, on the main road to Santa Cruz. At one time they were only the natural pools, but they've been improved rather nicely. There's a pool near the top for senior citizens and the disabled, but the best places are reached down two flights of steps. They come in different depths, so that some are ideal for nervous beginners and some have more space. There's lots of flat space for sunbathing, and some caves beside the pools provide space for those who want to read a book without getting burned.



There's a cafe/bar/restaurant. It costs a bit more than similar places on the islands, but then they've obviously made a considerable investment by providing the pools. You aren't allowed to take your own food down to the pools.

You can stay in the self-catering apartments (visible at the top of the first picture) Tel 922 186162.

There are also fresh water showers (50 cents) and toilets.

And would you believe it, the toilets/changing rooms have a lovely mural on the ceiling and the tops of the walls. ! It's signed by the local artist, Luis Morera.

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The Santa Maria

Replica of Columbus's Santa Maria in Santa Cruz de la Palma

Back when I worked for the observatory, we ocassionally gave visiting astronomers a lift up to the mountaintop. I always enjoyed detouring past the replica of Christopher Columbus's ship, the Santa Maria, partly to see the visitor's reaction.

Astronomer: "What on earth is that!?"
Me: It's a concrete ship in the middle of the road. What's it look like?"
Astronomer: "Concrete!?"

One astronomer even begged us to stop, so that he could go up and touch it, because the "wood" paint was so convincing that he couldn't believe it was concrete. It's beautifully done. It even has old fashioned "nails" with "shadows".


"Nails" in the replica of Columbus's Santa Maria

The ship houses a small naval museum. Now I'm no expert on ships because I get sea-sick standing in a puddle, but I enjoyed it. Downstairs they have some rather nice model ships, sextants, and two old figureheads.


Model ship in the naval museum


Figurehead in the naval museum

(They also have several empty display cases, because they haven't quite finished the refurbishment yet). Upstairs there's a display of old charts.

When appoaching the Straits of Gibraltar, be aware that fishermen have tunny nets extending up to seven miles from the coast.

If you want to take photos of them, you'll need a polarizing filter to remove the reflections.

And then you can go out onto the deck and up to the aftcastle and forecastle. At that point, if I were eight years old, I'd instantly be desperate to play pirates. They even have two small canons. That is, they look small until you imagine canonballs that size whizzing straight at you.


Canons on the main deck

The stairs are steep, and might be a problem for elderly knees. And they have genunine C15th safety barriers, which is to say no barriers at all, so you'll need to hang onto any impetuous little people. It's no problem for sensible adults in the replica, although it must have been downright dangerous in a storm on the original.

The bit that surprises me is that this full-scale model is so small. Columbus's crew of thirty-nine men spent thirty-four days in a boat this size, from La Gomera to the Bahamas. I suppose an estate agent would have called it cosy.

To be honest, it's not the world's greatest museum, and I was only in there for twenty minues, but then it costs one measely euro.

The Santa Maria is on the Plaza Alemeda at the nborth end of Santa Cruz de la Palma. It opens from 10 am to 2 pm, Monday - Friday. Price €1.00. There are public toilets opposite.


The deck of the Santa Maria, in Santa Cruz de la Palma

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Twin Dragon Trees

Twin dragon trees (Dracaena draco), Breña Alta

These trees stand in Breña Alta, just off the minor road which winds over the central ridge to El Paso. They grow so close together that it's hard to tell where on trunk ends and the other begins.



Of course there's a legend associated with the trees. Two brothers lived nearby, and were very close, but they fell in love with the same gorgeous girl.

Oh dear. You can already tell that this doesn't have a happy ending, can't you?

The girl was fond of them both, but she had the sense not to keep them dangling. She chose one, and they were married, but as they walked to their new home in the dark, the spurned brother attacked. He killed the new bridegroom, and tried to rape his sister-in-law. She got to the kitchen knife first, so that was the end of him.

The new widow honoured them both by planting these two dragon trees. As the cuttings grew, she watered them and they grew tall from the fertile soil and her warm memories. They say that the brothers' blood still flows within their trunks and gives them life.


Dragon trees are odd plants (see Dragon trees). Like most mature dragon trees, these are so full of nooks and crannies that they're more a micro-climate than a plant.

To see the trees, take the LP 123 between San Pedro and Monte de la Breña, and then the LP 301 up the hill. The trees are on the left, about 400 m from the junction. There's a tiny car park.

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The Living Statues are Back

Every year Santa Cruz has a demonstration of living statues, and this year is the fourth.



The statues are on the Calle Real today, Saturday and Sunday.

Everybody calls the main street in Santa Cruz de la Palma, "the Calle Real", but nowhere along it's length is there a street sign with that name! I used to suspect that the whole thing was invented to confuse visitors, but now I know better. It's called the Calle Real (Royal Road) because it's the one the Kings come along to visit baby Jesus each January 5th.

If you haven't seen them before, living statues stand perfectly still (or try to!) until you put money in the hat (or whatever), and then they perform.
Last year there were different living statues each day, and you could vote for the best.
I was at work today, so I didn't get to see them myself. All these photos are by Helen Bennett

Considering how rotten the light was today, I think she did a great job.

You can see pictures of last year's statues here and videos here

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Los Indianos

One minutes our of a whole night's partying.

As usual, the little kids are the cutest.


Sometimes the talc can get a bit much. I wonder why I never thought of this solution?

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Helen Bennett

Sunrise over La Palma by Helen Bennett

La Palma has a talented new digital artist called Helen Bennett. She left her high-stress job in London and moved to Franceses, in Garafía, with her partner. They bought a fixer-upper and set about fixing it up. Of course this wasn't always smooth going - you can read their adventures at http://casa-estrellas.blogspot.com

Helen also did the layout for several issues of Ruido.

For these two pictures, she used a digital model of the island, and added the lighting.

You can see more of Helen's work at http://helen.helresa.com/


Sunset behind La Palma by Helen Bennett

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The Salt of the Earth

Well actually, it's the salt of the sea. Almost all salt on La Palma is sea salt, made at the southernmost tip of the island. You can visit the saltpans by taking a number 31 bus from the centre of Los Canarios to the lighthouse (Faro in Spanish). There's a bus every two hours for most of the day.


It's a simple process. The salt water is pumped into shallow ponds and left to dry in the sun. As the water evaporates, the salt starts to crystallise out on the bottom, and the workers scrape it into piles to drain and dry in the sun.

When it's mostly dry, it's brought into the shed for a final dry with warm air. From close to, you can here the machinery groaning away as though it's got indigestion.


Finally, it's put into packets. You can buy coarse salt (sal gorda or gruesa) for cooking or fine salt (sal fina) for the table. Being sea-salt it has more potassium, magnesium, calcium and iodine, and less sodium.




While you're there, it's worth looking at the Interpretation Centre for the marine reserve, which is in the older lighthouse. They have an audio-visual presentation available in several languages, including English. And it's the only such place I've seen with a memorable floor.

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Busstops

Yes busstops.

Here in the municipality of Breña Baja, we have the nicest busstops on the island. The council built them, and the local painters' association turned them into works of art.



That was two years ago, and they still haven't been vandalised, which is another thing I like about the place. It's not that the whole island is grafitti-free, but there isn't much, and it's usually on blank walls.

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These days, Santa Cruz de la Palma is a bit of a backwater. But three hundred years ago, it was the third biggest port in the Spanish Empire. In the 19th century, it was still a major port, and many of the inhabitants waited anxiously for a ship bringing their merchandise, letters from family members who'd emigrated to Cuba or Venezuela, or the loved ones themselves, as passengers or crew.

Consequently many of the houses have viewpoints on the roof, like a little crow's nest. They're all designed to give a view of the port, although in some cases the view is now blocked by a tall, new building, like these houses in the Calle Real. They're a nice reminder of the past, and I have fun trying to spot them, even though I can't believe that they get much use in the internet age

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The Kings are Coming!

Although Father Christmas does visit Spanish children, he's a new arrival. Traditionally the presents arrive on the morning of January 6th, when the three kings visit baby Jesus. This is why the sales haven't really started yet - Christmas isn't over here. And on the evening of the 5th, they ride in procession through most of the major towns and villages in Spain. In previous years we've usually gone to see the procession in Santa Cruz. They start at the south end of town and meet up at the Plaza España, where they find they're all following the same star and agree to travel together. When they get to the Alemeda, they find King Herod's court. Of course, he wants to know what they're doing in his country, and then makes them promise to tell him where the child is. They travel up the baranco from the concrete ship, and find Mary, Joseph and Jesus in a cave, and leave their presents. Then finally, an angel tells them not to even think about telling Herod where to find Jesus.

At that point they light the bonfires in the (hopefully dry) river bed and set off the fireworks.

There are also processions in Los Sauces and Santo Domingo de Garafía. The latter is supposed to be particularly good, but it doesn't start until 10pm, so I'm going to give it a miss.

The shops will stay open at least until midnight for people who've left buying presents until the last minute. Tuesday is a public holiday, and the sales start on Wednesday - if you've got any money left by then.

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Where's the village gone?

Tourists sometimes go nuts trying to find the village of Breña Baja, or Fuencaliente.

There's a really simple reason why they can't find them. They don't exist. Breña Baja and Fuencaliente are municipalities, and their town halls are in the villages of San Jose and Los Canarios, respectively. It like driving all over the south east of England, looking for the town of Sussex.

The map shows the 14 municipalities (in blue) , with their administrative seats (in pink). Where
there's no name in pink, the municipalities are named after their chief villages, which makes things simpler. Just to keep things interesting, one, San Andrés y Sauces, is named after the two biggest villages. The town hall is in Los Sauces, which is much bigger and on the main road.

That's easy to find.

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Camp Sites

If you want to get really close to nature and have really cheap accommodation, you can't do better than one of the camping sites on the island.

They're open all year round, but be aware that it can be cold in winter, and it's quite likely to rain. You have to pay before you put the tent up, but you don't have to book in advance except for the Caldera. You may also have a problem with transport. Some of them are a long way from public transport.

They've all got toilets, water, and picnic tables and benches. All except the Caldera camp site also have car parks, showers, and barbecues.

Barlovento
This is probably the best site if you haven't got a car. It's about 3 km from the bus stop in the village (still a long way carrying a tent, but just about manageable) and the offices are right beside the site. There's also a bar and restaurant, if you don't fancy cooking, plus a sports area and children's play area. The catch is that Barlovento is the wettest part of the island, and from about October to April the chance of rain is very high.

Tel 922 696023 Mon-Fri 10 am - 2 pm and 4pm - 6 pm. Saturdays 10 am to 3 pm. They say they speak "limited" English. Of course if you turn up at a camp site with a tent, it doesn't take a genius to get the general idea.

The last I heard it was €4.50 per tent per night Mon- Fri, and €9.00 at weekends and bank holidays. They also have small huts, €20 per hut Mon- Fri, and €30 at weekends and bank holidays.

El Pilar
Don't even think about getting here by public transport! It's up on the central ridge, and the nearest bus stop is in Tenerife. All right, I'm exaggerating. Just not very much. The office where you pay is in Santa Cruz (Avenida Los Indianos, 20) which is at least fairly close to the airport. The site must be well over 1,000 m and you need a decent sleeping bag even in summer, as I found out the hard way. (See Sleeping with my Best Friend's Wife ) Maximum 7 nights. In summer, it does tend to get very dusty.

So what's the good bit? You're in the pine forest, at the start of the volcanoes footpath (ruta de los volcanos), the kid's play area is really good, and the barbecues are large and plentiful.

Tel 922 411 583

San Antonio del Monte
This camp site is in Garafía, in the laurel forest. San Antonio used to be a big village, 400 years ago. Then the people moved away but the church and the fiesta stayed. Unless you coincide with the fiesta, it's very peaceful.
Max 1 night. Book in Santa Cruz, on (Avenida Los Indianos, 20).
Tel 922 411 583

As well as the campsite, there's a hostel intended for small groups of hikers doing the long distance path around the island. They only accept groups of ten or more, but lone travellers can phone up and ask if there's a group they can share with. You have to bring your own sleeping bag or sheets and blankets. They have heating, showers and a dining room.
http://www.alberguesanantoniodelmonte.com/index.htm (only works with IE, not Firefox.)

The Caldera Campsite
See The Caldera Campsite
Probably the most beautiful camp site of all. 2 nights maximum, pay in El Paso, and they'll want to see your ID card or passport. If it rains really hard, you may be stranded for a day or so.
Tel 922 497277

La Rosa (Puntagorda)
I've never been here, but it sounds so nice I think I will. They have hot showers (solar heated water) barbecue, a small gas cooker, dining room and 220V electricity available. You can hire a tent (sleeps three) for €4. Also mountain bikes, binoculars, Internet access, washing machine.
€5 per adult, €3 per child 3-6 years old.
They have also three cabins, each of which sleeps six, prices from €20 for two people to €90 for ten. They'll even cook for groups at reasonable prices.
You can hire a tent (sleeps three) for €4. Also mountain bikes, binoculars, telescope and star map, Internet access, and a washing machine.

The bus stops at the entrance to the site.

http://www.airelibrelapalma.org/ Click on "Centro de Naturaleza la Rosa"
Tel/fax:(+34) 922-493306 E-mail: airelibre@airelibrelapalma.org

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El Hierro

View from La Peña, El Hierro, the smallest of the Canary Islands

No, this blog's still about La Palma.

But there's practically nothing on the web in English about El Hierro, compared to not much on La Palma. And I thought that anyone trying to decide which one to visits would appreciate at least a little information.

El Hierro is shaped roughly like an equilateral triangle sucking its cheeks in. Each side of the triagle is about 18 km (12 miles) making it much smaller than La Palma. And the population is just 10,500, compared to 86,000 on La Palma. If you want to escape crowds, it's great.

Like La Palma, the mountainsides are very steep, which makes for great scenery and wonderful viewpoints. But the highest peaks are there are far fewer trees, which is probably why the island is much dryer. Most of it looks rather like the south-west of La Palma, although there is a pine forest and the only juniper forest in the Canaries (Juniperus phoenicea).


Charco Manso, El Hierro

Forget beaches - there are hardly any. But there are several inlets which have been adapted. And I've heard that the diving is terrific, particularly off Restinga in the south.

Apart from the scenery, there aren't many tourist sights.

The smallest hotel in the world, El Hierro

There's what claims to be the smallest hotel in the world, although other places claim that distinction too.


Gallotia simonyi, the giant lizard of El Hierro

The island has a unique species of giant lizard, Gallotia simonyi. A different species was recently discovered on La Palma, but you can go and see the ones on El Hierro. They're about 60 cm long, although most of that is tail. And for the same modest entrance fee, you can visit the ethnographic museum and see traditional houses from various times in the island's history. My God, people were poor!


A house in the museum, El Hierro

The old zero meridian runs though the western end of the island.

The old zero meridian, and the end of the world.

This used to be the edge of the known world, and it still feels like the end of the world. There's no trees or grass, just scrubby little bushes. The minor road turns into an unclassified road and then a dirt track. Then we had to park and walk a mile. The only building in sight was the lighthouse, at least a mile away. The mobile phone had no signal. As we arrived, a couple of people were just leaving in a 4x4, and that was the only other car we saw the whole time.

The monument itself is modest – just a block of concrete with half an iron globe poking out of it. But it was amazing to think that we were the most westerly of the 497,000,000 people in the EU.

The local tourist office will give you a pretty certificate to say you've been, and they take your word for it.

Which brings me onto my final point. The locals are nice. I mean really, really nice.

For all that, I think most people would prefer a holiday on La Palma, unless they've already seen La Palma several times.

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