GR130 Las Tricias to Santo Domingo - 11.3km 3.5hrs

Timeline - Tuesday, 28th December, 2010.
Yup, back on the trail again.  Not that we haven't got anything else to do except walk and then write about it.  We have!  But we wanted to make sure that we had walked every section of the GR130 this year and after this walk, we will have - and some sections in both directions.
At first we planned to walk from Puntagorda and, having left the car in Santo Domingo and now sitting on the bus heading in that direction, we suddenly decided that we would get off earlier at Las Tricias and walk from there.  Reason?  It was so darned hot!!  Yes, one of those crazy weather days added to the fact that we were having a really late start due to other commitments.  See - I told you we did other things!
It was 13.30 by the time we were getting off the bus but as it was where the trail meets the road, we were walking straight away.  Almost immediately, it feels like we are deep in the countryside, miles from a main road and we are treated to some fabulous views - can this really be the Canaries?

But there are a few walkers about and as we pass close to an 'era' - a stone threshing circle - we see it is being used by a family as a handy picnic spot.  And why not!  The children are keen to head off and explore though and they won't be disappointed when they come across this spectacular dragon tree, hundreds of years old.

So far the walking has been pretty easy - a few lose stones and downhill tracks but nothing even remotely challenging - just wall to wall beautiful scenery and visual treats.

We are beginning to wish we had walked from Puntagorda now as the temperature seems to have moderated to 'warm' and is very pleasant, especially without the tough ravines to conquer.  But no walk on La Palma would be complete without some fairly serious down and up bits and after a few more kilometres, we are not disappointed.  It looks SO far to get down to the bottom but we know that the winding path will get us there, step by step.

We've walked 3.6km and a signpost tells us that there is a diversion to the Buracas caves, but we don't take it this time.   A little later a 'few' signs tell us that we can get a drink or ice-cream at a house nearby but we are keen to crack on.  I remember last time we passed here, somebody Did want an ice-cream and I had no money, mm that doesn't make you popular.  Now I always carry money, not for an ice-cream necessarily but you never know!  A little later the GR130 runs along the road for 0.9km - not the most exciting part of the walk but at least we can walk quickly and it is especially nice when we get back on a path again.

Oh, oh, another barranco.  This time the path looks a little uncertain - as in, 'is this it?' and 'is it safe?'  Nothing to do but go for it and see what happens. Of course, it is absolutely fine and as we get to the bottom and start the ascent up the other side, we see that the Cabildo have been busy clearing the path for us.
A third barranco welcomes us to the top with a simple but nonetheless dramatic wooden cross.

Now it is a completely easy-peasy path - lush green and a delight. A few special sights along the way such as a shrine with Mary Magdalene and several other figures including a man in a white coat and trilby hat. Uh?

Now we join the little road to Cueva de Agua where there is obviously some sensitive issue going on about who has a right to use the road.  We can only assume that those on foot are exempt from any restrictions.  Quite quickly this minor road joins the main road and I'm afraid it's road walking all the way to Santo Domingo - 2.9km.  Well, it's a chance to stride out and we quickly come into town. I have to say what a curious place Santo Domingo is, it can often resemble a film lot where everybody  has just left the scene for the day. As we walked through everything was closed, even its four bars.  But there are some very interesting side roads for those that want to explore the old part.

 

Well, that's it for 2010.  It has been a great year for walking on La Palma and we feel truly lucky to have been able to do it.   I hope many people will also be able to enjoy it in 2011.

GR 130 - El Roque to Tijarafe 10.6 km

Spoilt for choice, we decided to walk from a little place called El Roque which is near Puntagorda in the west and sits rather conveniently at an intersection of the GR 130 where it crosses the main road. Not only was it convenient to park but it also has a beautiful bus stop!

El Roque sits behind the main road, so I feel we could be forgiven for not having noticed it in the past, but we were immediately impressed with its facilities – nothing less than a telecentro with internet connection. But that is not of course what we were there for. It seemed that music classes were also in progress as the lilting notes of a clarinet floated out onto the streets. And nice people nodded and smiled -what a good start!

We followed the little lane along – in fact we guessed that this had probably been the main road at one time – and congratulated ourselves on our good luck. The sun was shining, the lane quickly turned into a miniature cobbled street lined by interesting looking houses and we had all day to do the walk.

Within five minutes we were lost. And five minutes later were were lost again. This was not such a good start after all and we made many mutterings about the lack of a sign just where we needed it. Well, we would just have to guess that the route took us over a pile of sand which formed the building site of somebody's restoration project and sure enough – just where there was no fork in the path and nowhere else to go, there was the trusty red and white blaze confirming that we were in fact still en route.

Now the route seemed more obvious and we could follow wooden railings. Oh no, this wasn't it – this was up the famous dragon tree, we should have followed the unmarked track without railings.

In spite of a less than auspicious first half hour, it was a day for enjoying ourselves and the route provided an ever changing set of landscapes for us to walk in.

At one point, we were up in the pine forest walking high above the road, then we were down in the bottom of a barranco, clambering over rocks and next walking along a sunny flower-lined path. It was all glorious.

Then there were places with an accumulation or even just a scattering of houses. David and I are of course fascinated by all things building and since the GR 130 is lined in parts by houses, there was plenty for us to admire. And otherwise. There are the old stone dwellings, some of them sadly giving way to collapse, flat roofed houses with many extensions of various sorts, grand Canarian houses in the middle of nowhere and all styles in between.

It wasn't until we had been on the route for around three hours and enjoyed a leisurely picnic lunch that we realised we had in fact been dawdling and if we didn't get a move on, we would miss our bus in Tijarafe, the idea being that we would catch the bus back to our start point of El Roque. And being a Saturday, buses are fairly few and far between.

Luckily, the route was now much easier and what could be called almost flat – well, for La Palma anyway! Now we contented ourselves to comment and admire on the move - a sweet kitten, an intricately carved door, potatoes growing in super-neat lines, a tree in an orchard dripping with a hundred lemons, an industrial tank with Koi carp in it, huge (and I mean huge) dandelion clocks growing at the side of the path, terraces filled with lush-looking avocado trees and how the GR 130 signs were now rapidly revealing that we only had 6.3 km, 4.8 km, 2.4 km, 1.1 km to walk to Tijarafe.

At this rate we would even have time for a cold beer before the bus came!

Well, in actual fact, there was just time to get lost again. Our suspicions that we were now 'off route' were confirmed when we passed two more junctions in the track with no indication of where to go. But by now we could see Tijarafe very close by and we just followed our noses, practically leaping up a rough old path, half covered in long grass, incentive firing our boots into action.

Ah, time for a beer after all and be ready for the bus whose expected arrival we noted was 'approximate.' Happily, we were there waiting when it arrived almost ten minutes early.

(This post is imported from our Finca Franceses blogspot so that the Gr's are all together!  It was walked 14th April, 2010. )