Europe and Cruising 2016: La Palma

12 and 13/11/16

After spending the morning at sea attending a lecture on “Islam in Morocco” we docked at Santa Cruz de la Palma just after lunch. We walked into town and along the main street where all but the tourist shops were shut for siesta. At the far end was our objective, the Naval Museum below and inside of a replica of Columbus’ ship, the Santa Maria. It was small but had interesting displays and information about the history of shipping in the area. We walked back to the ship along Avenida Maritima (the esplanade) to admire a fort and the beautiful balconies that are a feature of many of the houses here. A rain squall drove us into a café – with reasonable wifi where Dale was finally able to update the blog.

In the evening we chose to forgo the excursion of a bus drive around the island and dinner in a restaurant and walked into town again to explore further. Shops were open but it was very quiet and rained intermittently. At one stage we took shelter in the covered area outside the Ayuntamiento (Town Hall) which had an elaborately carved ceiling of Tao wood (from the local Canary pines). We were joined by a group of classical musicians, obviously on their way to a performance, who were predictably more concerned about keeping their instruments dry than themselves!

On the second day we had our much anticipated trip to Caldera de Taburiente National Park, which was indeed a highlight. The drive there was all uphill before we went through a 2 km long tunnel that took us from the east to the west side of the island. On the western side it was a clear sunny day with wisps of cloud blowing over the peaks and lush forests. At Mirador de la Cumbrecita, a viewpoint at the edge of the caldera, we could see the sides of the huge depression that were steep and bare, showing the results of volcanic activity. There are ravines cut into it by the water that runs from the springs all over the island. Above on the mountains and at the bottom on the floor were lush, green Canary Island pine tree forests. A truly beautiful place!

The more agile among us then had time to do the walk to Lomo de las Chozas, another viewpoint. Unfortunately we didn’t have time for a longer walk (or even better, several days for many walks), even though I was very tempted to try the longer, circular route back through Mirador de los Roques. Didn’t want to miss the bus back - one of the downsides of group tours.

We had other stops at various viewpoints and at a small church dedicated to the local patron saint, situated on a very picturesque square. The island has a feel of “explore it now before mass tourism really arrives.” Must have been a big day because we crashed early once back on the ship and missed dinner. Either that or we were rocked to sleep by the swell as we left port.