Enjoying the Old Ways

The north of La Palma is the oldest part of the island and its history is quite fascinating.  It therefore takes little encouragement for us to spring out and take a romp around the ancient paths of the area.  We love the walk because, not only is it a chance for us to enjoy the scenery and maybe chat with the locals but there is always a good chance that we will spot something we haven't noticed before.  La Palma holds many surprises for walkers, almost no matter where on the island!  Nowadays, we also get to share the experience with other people as, once a week, we provide a guided tour along with a little bit of historical input and local flavour.

Whilst a part of the walk follows the newly re-routed GR130, other trails spring off it leading to caves, such as this one.  Some caves you can peer inside or walk inside and people are usually quite surprised at how large they are.

It's not hard to spot the many little dwellings though, which came after the caves, even though some of them are shyly nestling in amongst the greenery.  Their emblematic wooden roofs made of tea wood, the heart of the pine trees, really have stood the test of time.

This one is a little more accessable and when you go inside, you will realise that it is actually a rather nifty two-storey dwelling - downstairs for those that moo or bleat and upstairs for those that snore!

The dripping springs of pure mountain water are in many places, some less obvious than others.  Many of them collect water in stone pools and then there is this one, hidden behind a mass of foliage, that collects the precious drops in a carefully carved out wooden trough.

The old ways were undoubtedly hard but we are very appreciative that we can enjoy looking back at them.