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La Gomera Church; Cam-man; Forrest; Temp-check

Pictures by "dots" @ escape

LA GOMERA

The most elaborate of tours, once again all inclusive of excursion prices was the trip to La Gomera. This Island just adjacent to the South of Tenerife, was a FULL day itinerary and needed quite an early start. After some confusion with the Luxury Jeeps and some guests not at their pick-up point, it transpired that I would be the only English-speaking tourist in this six-caravan Jeep tour. I was given the option by the driver to cancel my trip, but as I was in my adventure holiday, I would not let language get in my way… I had done very well so far… Keep on going is the message. Anyway, it was all in my advantage as it meant that I would be the only passenger in the Jeep and getting a special one-on-one personalised guided tour. Then, to add to the bizarre conditions, we were joined by the company cameraman (Rubin)who took residence on the back seat so he had plenty of room to take the tour videos… A very entertaining and mischievous man who kept precariously hanging out of the windows, gripping his feet with the door handles, then laying in the road to catch strangely orientated pictures of the following trail of Jeeps, narrowly being missed by other traffic! Likewise, Miguel, who was the main guide was most entertaining and knowledgeable.

The tour actually commencing, we boarded the licensed Ferry to arrive at La Gomera and continue into the hills. Winding through scenic valleys and mountains, we arrived at La Laguna; a café that was complemented by a display of the local language into local history, taught in their schools as a way of life. It is proudly recorded in many years gone by; that the only way of communication across the hilltops was to whistle. They learned a complete language all of its own just by tones being whistled. This whistling was brought to the current day, by a local man displaying hide-and-seek messages to send a waitress to find objects hidden on us… It was most impressive.

Next to see was a trip into the rocky side roads that ended up onto lunar landscape red sands… Red dust, red rocks and red sky… It is indescribable to give it justice; I cannot write the words to describe this… You really need to go and see it!

Following the same road out, we turned along to head for the Restaurant far into the winding valleys. Pulling up at this almost abandoned looking building, it was completely different inside. All sat around three tables; this gave me the opportunity to start communicating with people around me and was pleased that we could find a mutually semi-Spanish/European language that eased the digestion with these Dutch explorers. Once again the clean environment complemented the food, which was absolutely to the Canarian cuisine and I enjoyed as with all these meal-included excursions, with the fullest enthusiasm.

This trip could not be completed without pulling into the National Park that was dense with wiry tangled looking twigs; that were sadly at the hands of a vicious forest fire many years ago. Taking Camcorder into hand and looking through the viewfinder, all in black & white, curiously made the forest come to life as it appeared that the trees were all covered in snow… it was such a beautiful sight, but a shame that the reality was the result of careless humans! Stopping at a couple of sightseeing ravines we continued on.

We had to wait a while back in the port town to catch the Ferry back, so I enjoyed a slow walk around the shops and a sit down in the open seating area to take in the glorious November weather! … On that note… I took a walk up one side street to look at all the traditional Canarian constructions and their way of life, to see on the side of a building, one of those digital temperature machines and could not believe my eyes, so I got my Camcorder out, as no one else would believe me for a November… I know it was quite a hot day, but 37ºc! One place around the corner is the tiny Church that is clad inside ornamentals in pure gold… Another picture catch… Eventually boarding the Ferry, I arrived back at Ocean Palace just in time for Happy Hour, exhausted from an enduring day, I took best advantage of the Bar, then had a good night’s sleep.