Today we joined an all day tour to the UNESCO site of Garajonay National Park. Since the Canary Islands are volcanic, and small, the effect of elevation and trade winds have a distinct effect on the flora in very short distances. The island of La Gomera is no exception – we saw desert at sea level, and elsewhere, lichen covered laurel forests and agriculture including banana, avocado, plum, grapes, citrus etc. Add a peak at 1487 meters, with a cloud forest and there’s a lot of change in a tiny island.
The ridges that look like walls in the picture below are actually the result of volcanic action.
We saw countless terraces for agriculture on all of the islands. Most times, they were for bananas.
Bananas being loaded into a warehouse – they’ll be thoroughly sprayed for bugs.
Hiking is a big activity here and you can rent a vacation home, hike all afternoon, then head to the beach.
Behind us, one island over is a view of Teide – the volcano we’ll be visiting tomorrow.
A bit more driving, and we’re in a national forest, with trails everywhere.
Before coming on this trip, we watched documentary which included a segment about silbo, a unique whistling language that is still in use today. Shepherds developed it to communicate over ravines and we got to hear it from a couple of women who came on board to demonstrate it. In families in which they want to continue the skill, kids are taught how to understand it from about age 3 and then, once they’re older, they learn how to do it. As part of their presentation, one whistler left the room, and a passenger in the audience was picked to be “it”. The remaining whistler communicated where he was sitting and the woman who left came back in and identified who he was. They raised the bar a bit and communicated the birthdate as well in a subsequent round.
This island is also known because Columbus stopped here before his expeditions since it was a source of food but more importantly, fresh water.
Tomorrow, the island of Santa Cruz de Tenerife.
Loved the whistle demo!
My Mom went to the Canary Islands
In the early 80’s She’ll love hearing your experience