A small rock in the Atlantic

Friday, 6 November 2009

The Rum Factory

Rum Distilling Equipment, Puerto Espindola, La Palma

Rum Distilling Equipment

La Palma has a small rum factory, at Puerto Espí,ndola, in the borough of San Andres y Sauces. Unlike most rum factories, they start with sugar cane rather than molasses. After all, La Palma had commercial sugar cane plantations in the 15th century, before the West Indies had them. At harvesting season, the factory's south building smells of sugar cane being crushed and fermented.

Distillation happens in the north building, which is the one you can visit. The still is wood-fired, and surprisingly small. Then the rum goes into oak barrels, to mature.

Rum Barrels, Puerto Espindola, La Palma

Once the busy season is over, there's just a couple of people in there, folding boxes, filling them with bottles, and keeping an eye on the place.

You can visit without an appointment. In fact it's wonderfully informal - just stick your head around the door and say, "Hola." The downside of the informality is that they don't do guided tours (well, maybe for a coach party by appointment). I went with a friend and we were waved towards a board showing the stages of rum-making. and then we were given samples in the shop. Such a shame I was driving! If you like sweet drinks, I recommend the "ron miel" which is rum and honey (very comforting if you've got a stinking cold, but you don't need to wait until then).

Me, I'm trying to work out how to wangle an invitaton to their Christmas party. Cheers!

The shop, Puerto Espindola, La Palma

Labels: Los Sauces, Puerto Espindola, rum

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San Andres

The Square, San Andres, La Palma

San Andres is a very pretty little village in the northeast of La Palma. From Santa Cruz, you take the main road north until you're almost at Los Sauces, and then take the little road down towards the coast (yes, it's signposted).

The church was built in the early 17th century, when La Palma was rich from transatlantic trade. It's supposed to be beautiful inside, with two particularly good Flemish statues. Unfortunately every time I've been there, it's been shut. But there are lots of lovely old houses (it was the first part of the region to be settled after the conquest) and the square is particularly delightful.

Even better, there are two restaurants and a bar, all nearby. So you can admire the view while you eat. The restaurant on the lower level serves very nice fresh fish. I haven't tried the one higher up (with the red parasols) but a friend tells me they do very good tapas.

Old lime kiln, San Andres, La Palma

There's a footpath running north along the coast from the village to Charco Azul and Puerto Espíndola. One of the first thing you see is this limn kiln, which is being restored. At one time, everybody painted the insides of their water tanks with lime to kill off the bugs, and most people painted the outside of their houses with lime, too.

The path is paved, and smooth enough for a wheelchair or pushchair, but the climb back up into San Andres is steep, and I think it would be rather hard work.

Last time I went along the path, we found this baby gecko (Tarentola delalandii). Since the adults are about 6" (15 cm) long, it must have hatched very recently. Good luck to it - they're on the red list of threatened species.

Baby gecko, Charco Azul, La Palma

Labels: Charco Azul, food, gecko, Puerto Espindola, San Andres, San Andres y Sauces, Tarentola delalandii

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Tuesday, 21 July 2009

Footpath from Charco-Azul to Puerto Espindola

Map showing location of Charco Azul,La Palma, Canary Islands

La Palma has a nice, new seaside footpath, which runs from Charco-Azul to Puerto Espindola, in the municipality of San Andres and Sauces. It's been under construction for some time. My friends in Franceses went along to see how it was progressing, and found themselves in the middle of the official opening.

Seaside footpath at Charco Azul, La Palma, Canary Islands

Seaside footpath at Charco Azul, La Palma, Canary Islands

Footpath from Charco Azul to Puerto Espindola. Photo: Helen Bennett

Charco Azul has salt-water swimming pools, rather like Piscinas la Fajana, although they're still not open after a rock slide during the winter. At one time, Puerto Espindola was a working port, mostly exporting the agricultural produce of the borough. Now it's mostly a fishing port.

The walk also goes past an old lime kiln. Lime was important, because everybody used it to whitewash their houses and water tanks.

Lime Kiln at Charco Azul, La Palma, Canary Islands