Over 12 million years ago a series of oceanic rifts allowed molten rock to vent onto the floor of the Atlantic Ocean. As they piled higher and higher a series of islands formed off the north African coast. Today they form Spain‘s Canary Island’s.
One of the last islands to emerge from the ocean was La Gomera rising 5,000 feet above sea level. During the Ice Age while much of Europe froze, heavy rains lashed the island and powerful rivers carved out deep ravines, forming a dramatic landscape. With the passing of the years the island became drier, creating semi-desert conditions around the lower slopes while high up in the mountains laurel cloud forests thrived, and still do today, with many microclimates lying between the two extremes.
The Garajonay National Park
The Garajonay National Park, a UNESCO World Heritage Site lies in the centre of the island around its highest peak. This densely wooded region is almost always shrouded in mists and clouds as it was on the day I was there. Wondering alone along the trails through the forest of laurel and heather trees felt quite surreal, as moss-covered branches stretched out into the mists each dripping with the water that condensed on them from the clouds. Lush green ferns covered the forest floor, vivid green in the streams of sunlight that occasionally broke through the mists. It’s mysterious, beautiful and rather creepy at times but I can see why this National Park is a great draw for hikers and the views if you are lucky enough to be here on a clear day, are spectacular I’m told.
Millions of years ago laurel forests once covered much of southern Europe but now they exist only on a handful of islands in the Atlantic.
Bananas and Palm Honey
Bananas are a major source of income for the islands which is covered in plantations. It rarely rains so the plantations are irrigated by collecting the condensed water from the higher slopes and channelling it down the mountainsides.
Palm honey is another traditional product of the island made from the sap of the Canary Island palm trees which is boiled down to a thick, sweet syrup, similar to honey. It was traditionally used medicinally, particularly for sore throats, but is also now being marketed as a gourmet culinary product. None of the other islands of the archipelago has ever made palm honey and the government have now declared that it can only be made on La Gomera. There are very strict laws about looking after the palm trees and if you accidentally kill the palm by taking too much sap there is a heavy fine, that is assuming you have a licence to collect the sap. If you kill a palm and you haven’t got the right licence you will be given a custodial sentence.
The whistling people of la Gomera
The original inhabitants of the island, the Guanches, used an ancient whistling language, Silbo Gomero, that can be heard up to 7 kilometres away, to communicate across the ravines. When the Spanish conquered the island in the 16th century they adopted the whistling language and it was still used long after the Guanches people were assimilated.
On the verge of dying out the government passed a law stating that every child between 8 and 13 should spend 2 hours a week learning Silbo Gomero. I was lucky enough to catch a demonstration in a charming restaurant clinging to the mountainside. To show that they were really communicating, while one of the locals left the room, me and a few other people were asked to give an item to someone else in the large dining area. As you can see from this short video clip when the man returned it didn’t take long for them to communicate, firstly where each item was and then to whom it belonged to. I was soon reunited with my camera bag.
San Sebastián
San Sebastián is the island’s capital and is a charming town to explore. While it may have been chilly up in the mountains, here by the coast it was lovely and warm with clear blue skies and barely a cloud in sight. I had little time here, just enough to stroll down the main street and make a flying visit to the house where Christopher Columbus is said to have stayed during one of a number of visits to La Gomera, where his ships took on provisions before setting sail for the Americas.
San Sebastián
Sadly my visit to La Gomera, one of the seven main islands that make up the Canaries, was all to brief. I would love to spend more time there one day. I might even get a glimpse of La Gomera’s giant lizards that grow up to half a metre in length. These were thought to have been extinct until a few individuals were discovered in 1999, when steps were taken to save the species including a captive breeding plan. A census in 2009 found around 160 individuals in the wild. Progress has been slow but it is heading in the right direction at least.
San Sebastián
My one day on La Gomera, a magical and mysterious island steeped in history, was over all too quickly as I caught the boat back to the nearby island where I was staying. That too, however, had many surprises for me, not least the dramatic landscapes, as I explored in search of a different side to Tenerife – a side that many visitors never see. I’m looking forward to sharing it with you.
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Disclosure: I was invited to visit the Canary Islands by the local tourist board, however, this was not a formal press trip and I was entirely free to do, and indeed write, whatever I wish. As always I will give you my honest opinion throughout this series of articles.
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Hi Kat,
Have a good day to you.
I am surfing the net trying to find some extra ordinary regarding Canary Islands, and gotcha I found your blog. Truly Canary Islands is a perfect place that everyone needs to visit especially La Gomera. I like how you emphasize every details about La Gomera and the beauty that surely capture everyone’s heart.
Thank you so much and may God bless you.
https://www.canaryislandsinfo.co.uk/la-gomera/places
https://www.canaryislandsinfo.co.uk/la-gomera/things-to-do
I think that may help add depth to those who would like to know a tad bit more great places in La Gomera.
Thanks, Eldin. I wish I had had more time there to discover more about the island. I hope to go back one day.
Breathtaking views! Beautiful villages! That first photo reminds me of the cloud forests I saw in Nicaragua 🙂
It’s a fascinating island. I wish we had had more time there.
Hi! So glad to have found your wonderful website! I would like to give you praise on your spectacular photos and nicely written article.
Thanks JP, that’s very kind of you . I’m looking forward to exploring your blog.
This looks just like the sort of location we love to explore. The jungle like rural landscape followed by wandering around the small villages and towns in the nearby vicinity. The pictures that you included are awesome and really fascinating to the reader.
I think it’s always cool whenever you get a location that is by the coast but then you can wander inland to the more rural setting, a perfect spot for many tourists I am sure especially for those that love the outdoors and don’t want to be stuck wandering around shops all day!
It’s like a mini jungle, seems so wild and undiscovered. Fantastic!
It certainly has that feel about it Agness and I hope it stays that way.
I went to La Gomera for the day once, a long time ago now, but I still have fond recollections of our boat trip there. I don’t think we had much time to explore so to be able to see more through your pictures and words is a treat. Thanks, Kat. 🙂
Glad you enjoyed it and I hope you get to go back one day to see more of this lovely island for yourself.
Those mossy trees look like something from the lord of the rings, apart from the bananas of course
It’s a very atmospheric place and would make a great setting for a film. Don’t know if any have been made on La Gomera but they certainly have on the other islands from One Million Years BC (1966) to Clash of the Titans (2010).
Beautiful spot Kat-It reminds me a bit of the hiking in Saba in the Caribbean. Although you don’t get the views when it’s misty, there is something so mysterious and otherworldly about hiking in foggy weather that I love. Great job on the video. Hard to believe that they are communicating a language-so it was fun to see the proof. Although the last whistle sure sounded like a cat call to me! : )
;-D Yes, I think that was just to make every one laugh but I remember feeling my face go bright red!
What a beautiful island, love all the colors, architecture and beautiful nature – there is a lot to discover there, great pictures to!
Isn’t it lovely! I just wish I had had some more time there and hope I can go back again one day.
Wow wow wow – this is a million miles away from what I always imagined (and see in travel pages) of the Canaries. What am amazing natural beauty of a place! Can’t say I would want to meet a lizard though – a 5cm one is too big and scary for me!
Oh that did make me chuckle! While I might be scared of heights and can not jump off the back of a boat, most animals I’m OK. I’ve been known to stroke a crocodile and even a fully grown male lion (don’t do this at home!) so I think a lizard or two I could manage. Probably!
Seriously though, isn’t La Gomera an amazing gem! I bet Tenerife will have some surprises for you too so I hope you’ll pop back for a look at the coming posts I’ll be writing soon.
Thanks for sharing these beautiful photos. I didn’t get the chance to visit La Gomera, but have been to Tenerife (loved the beaches and sangria) and Gran Canaria. I totally miss these places and have such great memories. Would love to see the black sands of Lanzarote one day.
Thanks Shana. I do hope you get to go back one day and visit some old haunts as well as La Gomera and Lanzarote.
La Gomera is a beautiful island popular with hikers. The forest looks very eerie shrouded in mists. Did you get a good view of Teide on Tenerife from the island?
I’m afraid not. It was a very brief visit and very cloudy too with just the occasional glimpse of the sun shining through a gap in the clouds.
That is very cool, literally. Sorry, couldn’t resist. I have never heard of this island but have heard of the the Canaries and Tenerife. It is amazing how places like this exist in the world and is so important that we somehow retain the language and culture.
😀 Quite! While it was lovely and hot by the coast, up in the mountains it was very chilly indeed! It’s a very fascinating place and I really wish I could have stayed longer.