In May 2013 we spent another 9 days on the island of La Palma. Because there are only a few direct flies to La Palma we decided to fly to Gran Canaria first and then take the local airline Binter Canarias to continue to La Palma. With that we were a lot more flexible in choosing the travel dates.
This time we stayed at Casa Rosabel which is a very nice finca close to the town Tijarafe. With the finca we also booked two telescopes which are located in the garden nearby. From the terrace we could enjoy beautiful sunsets every evening. And we also had our own gecko inside the bedroom to fetch insects 😀 In the beginning it was a bit frightening to see it move around the walls and it makes funny noises but in the end you get used to it. They live all on the island and are an endemic species which only exisits on La Palma and Tenerife.
This time we did the following:
- Hiking from Arecida to Hoya Grande: We started walking in the clouds near Tijarafe and actually I could not imagine that above these clouds the sky should be blue. But when we reached about 1200m height suddenly we were able to see blue sky above us! We passed the Torre del Time and continued upwards. The clouds only stayed below 1200m. The clouds also filled the Caldera de Taburiente and we enjoyed sitting above the clouds and watch them move 🙂
- Walking around the volcanos San Antonio and Teneguia: There is a car park in front of the volcano San Antonio. We drove there by car and then walked along the crater of the volcano. It gives you a great view around and inside the volcano! San Antonio was last active in 1677. From there we continue to the volcano Tenguia. The walk is quite spectacular, like being in a different world. Teneguia was last active in 1971, so not so long ago!
- Cycling from Miardaor El Time via the "Traviesa" to the Pista del Cabildo: This is a really nice path for cycling. We started close to the Mirador El Time and cycled up to the small village of El Pinar. In the beginning it is very steep but once you have reached about 1300m it continues on a nice path through a forrest with a beautiful view to the sea.
- Cycling to the top of the island: After having cycled up to the top of Gran Canaria the year before we also wanted to give it a try on La Palma. But this island seems to be even steeper than Gran Canaria. We started at about 10 in the morning and cycled through Tijarafe in the direction of Puntagordia and then continued on the LP-111 to Briestas. From there it went down for a couple of kilometres and then very steep upwards! Cycling Road LP-4 is really exhausting! This was the day where we had to return the bikes and therefore we had to stop at one point to be able to return the bikes in time. We cycled up to the telescopes, they are at about 2150m. So still 300m left - we definitely have to come again to La Palma to finish this! Nevertheless the descent was endless and worth all the way up and we enjoyed the view to the ocean!
- Watch the stars: With the cottage we rented came two telescopes we used during the night - a 10" Newton and a 16" Dobson telescope. That was quite nice, so each of us could use an own telescope 😀 The sky was amazing! There are so many stars. You cannot image this view when you only know the sky in Germany!
So all in all it was another great holiday on the Canary Islands and we will definitely come again!
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