PR-LP 9.1 Roque Faro > Franceses > El Tablado > Roque Faro

This past couple of months, things have been pretty hectic here on the finca which has meant that our little walking expeditions are not a happening thing right now.  At least though we have been able to enjoy tales about walking on la Palma as guests walk the GR 130 and other routes around us.
However, the good news is that should we find time for a short excursion then we won't have to travel far - if we take one step off the finca, we will now find ourselves on the PR 9.1 Roque Faro to Franceses/El Tablado route.  Of course the donkey track has always run alongside the house and finca - after all, this was the way people got from one place to another before the advent of roads, cars and buses - but now it has a route number, a cheery white over yellow blaze and an official sign.  Yes, we really are on the walking map as you can see from the photo below. 

Our house - where the green meets the blue

If you start your walk in Roque Faro you will actually find a sprinkling of new signs and re-routings such a newly opened section just after Roque Faro.  Instead of following the road the path ducks down to the left and pops you up again at 'El Cruce' which is the junction where the old Barlovento road joins the main road at a notably enormous pine tree.

 After a two-hour descent from 1000m to 500m you will now arrive not in the centre of Franceses but simply brush by it walking down 'our' ridge of Las Tierras, the most westerly part of Franceses.  From here you have a great view over El Tablado.  (The photo below is of the same sign as the first one but facing west instead of north.) 

The donkey path is looking very green at the moment with quite a few of the 'flor de mayo' - a tall plant with clusters of tiny purple petals - already out and I see this morning that the sweet peas are well on their way with a few colours on show.  In a month's time, there will be great billowing clouds of them, energetic yet intricate bundles of muted green with flowers shaped like butterfly wings of stunning magenta, pink and crimson.  March and April make walking on La Palma a very colourful experience as the routes wend their way through the spring flowers.

 Just below where the first picture is taken from, the PR 9.1 joins the GR130 which has recently been re-routed as per my previous post. And now there is further good news as you descend towards La Fajana, as a better route has been developed which means that you avoid a longish stretch of walking on the road heading pretty much east and then a motor vehicle track bringing you back to the west.  This saves a total of almost 2km of road walking along this section of the GR130 between El Tablado and Franceses.  Now, you just drop off the edge straight down into the ravine.  Sounds scary, huh?

Well, that's excactly what we thought when we walked it.  But that was up, not down which is always easier.  In fairness though, the workmen have cut steps into the ravine-side so it is not as bad as it might seem.  We'll find out when we walk it in the other direction in a month or two's time.
Once in El Tablado you leave the GR130 as it goes on its sweet way to Santo Domingo and you head uphill to Roque Faro. This completes the circuit.
Like most circular routes, there is no beginning and no end but I suggest walking around it once in a day is probably enough. 

Homeground

Sunday morning ... what do you do? Go for a little stroll of course.

I know I am completely biased but one of my favourite short walks is right on our doorstep. There is nothing finer than to set off to the village for a walk and as it happens, this is also part of the GR130.
We head off down the donkey track at the side of the finca and in just seven minutes, we arrive at this point in the photo where the path joins the ashfalt La Fajana road.


Heading up the road and just a couple of minutes later, the GR130 takes us off the road again, to go down a narrow concreted track. This is the walking sign at this point -

We follow this path along and after another five or so minutes it brings us to what we call the 'dingly dell' - and I am in paradise. It's a place that time forgot - a little hollow, or dell, with palm trees, dragon trees and tiny dwellings with wooden roofs. It looks like it has long been deserted and I often think I would like to go for a wander around in it but you can't help but notice the tidy rows of corn and potatoes growing in the miniature fields. If the houses have been left to their own devices, the land is certainly being tended to.
Heading back up the other side of the dell, we pass a natural spring in the rocks where water is collected in a stone pool. The dwellings might have been basic but they had running water, albeit of the outside variety.


Now we pop back up on the road and the area of Los Machines, this being the nearest thing we have to a village. (There isn't an actual village of Franceses - it is an area incorporating Las Tierras, Los Machines, Los Castros and the port village of La Fajana.) The little village school is here along with what you might laughingly call the pub (old men playing dominoes), the old peoples' home, the bus stop (although the bus will obligingly stop wherever you like) and the old school which is now used for various village type pursuits (loom weaving, internet and laying out of the recently deceased prior to internment in the cemetery of Franceses). But all oddities aside, it is the crazy width of the village street I love most. I mean - it's OK for two donkeys passing, but two cars - oh no, no, no.



Now here's the catch - if you are walking the GR130 in an anti-clockwise direction around La Palma, you are almost sure to miss out on the dingly dell. If you are walking in a clockwise direction, fine, you will see the nice big GR130 walking sign as in the second photo above. But there is nothing to tell you from the other direction and you will end up walking on the road. Whilst this will take you past the village shop which also doubles as a bar (open indeterminate times but usually on request) you will now have completely lost the GR130.
So, just to make sure, here's what you do - when heading east-west, ie from Barlovento direction, come through the narrow village street and after the last building and opposite the current school (which has a lovely mural painted by the children),immediately dive off the road. You will now find yourself in the dingliest dell you ever saw. Look out for the spring on your left not far down - and no picking of vegetables!

Walking the GR 130

Map board in Franceses, Garafia

Welcome to all those interested in reading about walking the GR 130, the route which goes right around the island of La Palma, Canary Islands.

The aim of this blog is to

1) provide information about the GR130 route for those who plan to walk it
2) stop me boring readers of our www.fincafranceses.blogspot.com by going on about the GR130
3) provide a more chatty report about the route than is appropriate on our website www.holiday-lapalma.com

Please feel free to join in and comment with your own tips and advice as David and I take up our wanderings around the island.

So, to start with, an advice section:
I have noticed that many people are doing very nicely without my help or advice. However, if I were allowed to make three suggestions, they would be this:

In places, finding the signs to follow the trail can be like a treasure hunt. And then in places, where there is no possible deviation along the path, you will find a very clear sign. Don't let this annoy you - it's all part of the richness of life along the GR130.
Organise you accommodation so that you can walk without your great big rucksack. This is imperitive. The way you can do this is to book two nights and then catch the bus back to your start point. If you cannot do this or do not plan to do it, you must, MUST, travel light. It is not just the distance that will challenge you, it is the heat which can be debilitating, but the incredible and constant change of altitude.
And lastly, carry a bus timetable with and list of taxi phone numbers. That way, you have an exit plan.
And finally, book your accommodation in advance. We have had guests still looking for accommodation when it is nearly dark.
OK, so that was four suggestions, but the GR130 is like that!