Medical Tips

Medical Centre and Hospital – Playa de Santiago has an excellent modern medical centre staffed by two doctors and two nurses.  A new hospital has opened in San Sebastian late in 2009, which has full medical and surgical facilities. Medical Emergency Telephone 112
Pharmacies - Pharmacy hours are established by each town's City Hall, though such establishments are generally open from 9.30am to 2pm and from 4:30 to 8:00pm.   There is one excellent pharmacy in Playa de Santiago which is open during normal shopping hours. Besides this set schedule, however, a series of pharmacies are required to remain open on an "on call" basis as well. All pharmaceutical dispensaries provide a list of addresses of the establishments that are "on call" with the nearest ones clearly indicated. This list is also printed in the daily newspapers.
Dentist – There is an excellent dentist in the village who speaks English, German and Spanish. Dental costs are not cheap in the Canary Islands and if you have emergency dental work done don’t forget to ask for a receipt for your insurance company.

Insurance - Before you go on holiday it is important to make sure you have your European Health Insurance Card (an application form can be obtained from your local post office or on-line at www.nhsdirect.nhs.uk) or your medical insurance details. Make sure your medical insurance covers emergency international transfer and also emergency dental work. For more information contact your local travel agent. In most of the tourist resorts you will find English speaking doctors. The British consulate will be able to help you with the correct addresses or telephone numbers. Medical services in the Canary Islands are equal to any other European country. We do advise you to take out insurance to cover your holiday, which should include Cancellation insurance.   Our cancellation conditions are:

One month or less before rental start date 50% refund

More than one month before rental start date 100% refund

Local Doctors/Dentist/Pharmacy/Emergency Medical Assistance

Medical Emergency Telephone 112

Dr Eva Maria Schutz (Dentist)
38812 Playa de Santiago – Calle La Junta
Tel/Fax: 922895676,

Lcdo. D. Ángel Luis Dorta Fumero (Pharmacy)

La Junta (Playa Santiago)

Tel: (+34) 922-89-50-03

Doctors

Centro Medico
  38810 Alajero / Playa de Santiago - Calle Santiago Apostol, 36

Tel: (+34) 922 895160

Dr Antonio Rivas Mena
  38800 San Sebastián de la Gomera - c/plaza de la Constitucion s/n 1º izq
  Tel: 922141884, Fax: 922141884, Mobile: 666545575
  eMail: leahri@eresmas.com

Rafael Banares Baudet
  38800 San Sebastian de la Gomera - Del Medio, 2
  Tel: (+34) 922 141192

Divina Creus Rey
  38800 San Sebastian de la Gomera - Plaza de la Constitucion, 14
  Tel: (+34) 922 141605
Eugenio Pinero Correa
  38870 Valle Gran Rey / La Playa Cale - Lugar las Orijanas, s/n
  Tel: (+34) 922 805158

La Gomera

La Gomera http://www.la-gomera.co.uk/

Location: In the Atlantic Ocean midway between the Canary islands of Tenerife and El Hierro.
Position: 20 miles West of the port of Los Cristianos in Tenerife from where ferry boat and hydrofoil services operate to la Gomera.  La Palma and El Hierro. Small aircraft fly to the local airport at Playa Santiago from the neighbouring island of Tenerife (Los Rodeos - N airport).  From Los Rodeos Airport on Tenerife you can fly to the other Canary Islands.
General Description: Smallest and oldest of the 7 Canary Islands, La Gomera is also the tip of an extinct volcano: circular and a mere 15 miles across. The central peak is only 4,879 feet high and usually shrouded in mist creating a microclimate ideal for the island's unique bay laurel forest, a protected World Heritage Site forming the Garajonay National Park. The park is threaded with well-marked walking trails and is a hiker's delight. Steep-sided valleys descend from the cool and damp of the peak to the warm equable climate enjoyed on the coast where the main villages and resorts are situated. Like Tenerife, the north is verdant while the south is arid. The major activity for the small native population of 17,000 is still agriculture with cochineal, bananas and tomatoes the major produce. Tourism is very undeveloped as yet but accounts for an increasing part of the island's economy.

PLAYA de SANTIAGO is a small working fishing port on the South coast which gets lots of sun and although slowly developing is otherwise quiet and unspoilt. Alongside the harbour-side are several restaurants offering local cuisine where you can while away the hours watching the fishing boats unloading their catches. The village offers a modern medical centre, an excellent bakery, two banks, a pharmacy, dentist, post office, two hair/beauty salons, two grocery shops and some local craft/gift shops plus a stationery/newsagents’ shop.  To the West of the village lies the island airport, here only small aircraft can land and there are two flights daily to Tenerife. The largest hotel on the island, Hotel Jardin Tecina, which has an 18 hole golf course, is situated on a headland at one end of the village. Here you may enjoy the hotel entertainments or sample one of the five restaurants, which offer a variety of local and international dishes. Development on the island is strictly regulated and any new buildings within the village blend in with the traditional architecture and dramatic cliffs which act as a backdrop.

San Sebastian, Valle Gray Rey and Vallehermoso

SAN SEBASTIAN on the East coast is the island's largest town, capital, port, administrative centre and home to a quarter of the native population.  There are many beautiful 15th century Spanish colonial buildings including the Torre del Conde and the well where Christopher Columbus took on fresh water at his last port of call on his trip to discover the Americas.  The well is situated in the tourist office in the town centre. Also worth visited is The Parador, once the home of the Count of La Gomera and now a hotel which has been beautifully restored and has stunning views across the channel to Tenerife.


VALLE GRAN REY on the West coast is the closest thing to a proper resort mainly because it has the island's longest and best beach. Comprising 4 little hamlets spread over 1½ miles it is backed by spectacular soaring mountains. Although directly accessible by hydrofoil from Playa de Santiago the approach by road down the massive steep-sided valley makes the trip by road well worthwhile. Apartment developments are rapidly popping up along the beach and the infrastructure to support tourism developing in a similar pace.  The majority of tourists in Valle Gran Rey are German although English is spoken in most shops and restaurants.

VALLEHERMOSO is located on the southwestern and northwestern coasts of the island. Its capital, the town of Vallehermoso on the north coast, is linked with a main highway encircling every part of the island and is located WNW of the island capital, San Sebastián de la Gomera. Vallehermoso is the second largest municipality in the area. Farmlands are in the valley areas and the mountains and the hills dominate the inland areas. Part of the area is made up of farmlands, while the mountainous areas are forested or grassy. The  main industries are agriculture and tourism.  The area is also famous for its miel de palma (palm honey), as well as tomato, potato and banana production. The municipality features a rock-formed mountain Los Organos which is made up of basalt rocks. Mountaintops include El Cercado and La Fortaleza or Chipude. The natural beauty of the mountain area forms a part of the Garajonay Park. Directly on the coast of Vallehermoso is an interesting feature, a cultural centre named El Castillo del Mar, located in an old banana factory which was used until 1950 as a centre for concerts, cinema and folklore music. Due to severe gales the road to El Castillo is currently impassable.

A Paradise in the Middle of the Atlantic

GomeraVerde.com

La Gomera is a piece of paradise in the middle of the Atlantic. Green and round, endearing and full of history. It was the last land stepped on by Columbus before coming to America and is the island where the phrase 'Give me a silbidito' has an explicit meaning.

The way of communicating  dates back to aboriginal times and its charm in abundance make La Gomera, the ideal place for a perfect getaway.

Some travelers take the secondary roads in their cars. Their map, has suddenly become a mystery and they do not know in what area they are located. "Sorry, it's small, where are we?" The child, which carries a stick in one hand and a shadow in the shape of hairy dog at his feet, responds, looking surprised: "En La Gomera". Foreigners then ask for a littlemore detailed information. "Ah en Chipude", says the muchachillo thinking, surely: "Where would you be?" This anecdote, which,  I would say , is true  also became reality, This summarizes the nature of the language of the people, without a doubt, this the best Columbian Island, which has no single corner that is not worth visiting.

The first thing that comes to mind when thinking of La Gomera, in addition to the silbo, is its lungs. The Laurel: of the Garajonay National Park. The lushness of the vegetation is impressive. Moisture suspended between the Heathers, the fayas and the barbuzanos gives it a mysterious aspect that  fires the imagination. There is no price to pay to pass through tunnels carved in the stone that distills drops of water as if it were the giant stack of a Canary Island House. The Park is filled with delicious, silent, trails in which nature has written it's own story, a story that has little or nothing  to do with the story written by the Aboriginal people of the island.

Map in hand and well equipped with plenty of water and a sandwich it is time to explore this fascinating island. But there are other things offered here, including the gastronomy. As a main dish, the almogrote, a cream-based cheese that is spread and can be enjoyed as an aperitif. Honey from the palm trees, delicacy which exists thanks to the guaraperos, do not miss it.

The beach of Playa de Santiago Santiago is the choice for those who cannot live without their ration of salt and black sand. "The spirit language", as it is called many of those who return every year, permeates every corner. It is that spirit which marks the tranquility that speak of the island inhabitants, and calm with which they live and moving, but is also the same spirit which lives under the leaves of Laurel in the Garajonay, the calm which contributes to the entire park with the  appearance of magic and haunted, territory to charm visitors.

Playa de Santiago - Blue Award for Beach

The blue flag awarded to 35 Canary Islands beaches this summer. On La Gomera the beach of Playa de Santiago.

 Gomeraverde http://gomeraverde.es/index.php?news=27358 25/05/2011 15:30:00

35 beaches in the Canary Islands have been recognized with the distinctive "blue flag" award that are awarded each year by the Association of environmental education and the consumer council (ADEAC). Four new beaches on the island of Gran Canaria (Las Canteras, El Confital, Hoya del Pozo and Salinetas) they appear in the list of 2011 for the ADEAC, while in Tenerife the Beach Garden (Puerto de la Cruz), the relief (Los Realejos) and Leocadio Machado (Granadilla) lost their distinction.

There are two beaches that had the recognition during 2010 and that have not been renewed this summer,  which are those of La Laja (Las Palmas) and the Meloneras (San Bartolomé de Tirajana) in Gran Canaria.

Tenerife lost three beaches with the blue flag status,  Leocadio Machado (Granadilla), El Socorro (Los Realejos) and Playa Jardín (Puerto de la Cruz), while the award retained the beaches of El Médano, La Tejita, Las Vistas (Mesa del Mar), El Camisón, Troy and Santiago del Teide.

The island of La Gomera got its only blue flag which is the beach of Playa de Santiago, in the municipality of Alajero.

Another newly awarded blue flag was the beach of Las Playtas on Fuerteventura.  This island now becomes the second of the Canary Islands with more eight blue flags. Lanzarote and La Palma retained the same number of beaches with the blue flag, five and four respectively.

La Gomera - History

HISTORY:  Inhabited by ‘Guanches’ of Berber origin until the arrival of the Spanish conquistadores in the 15th century, La Gomera is famous for being the final stop Christopher Columbus made to rest and take on supplies before discovering America. Ever since, the constant flow of emigration to the new world, especially to Cuba and Venezuela, has given the island a distinctly Latin American feel. It has a population of 17,000 many of whom farm the ingeniously terraced slopes of the greener and more fertile north producing fabulous crops of vegetables, citrus and tropical fruits. The valley floors are often covered with banana plantations and there are palm trees everywhere, more here, we are told, than in all the other Canary islands put together.

La Gomera appeals most of all to those who wish for a relaxing holiday in the sun where they can enjoy what nature offers, be it sunbathing or swimming in the sea at any time of year, walking or hiking around its stunning interior or enjoying a simple meal of freshly caught fish washed down with local wine.

This spectacular island is crowned by the renowned ‘laurisilva’ forest and has been declared a World heritage Site by UNESCO. La Gomera’s highest point is the Alto de Garajonay at 1485 metres (5000 ft approx). In fact, the island has hardly any flat land at all, making it seem much larger than it is and ruling out the viability of high rise tourist developments. Deep ravines cut into the island from the centre to the perimeter. Each ravine or ‘barranco’ is a world of its own, cut off from its neighbours by the steep slopes of the valley sides. Ancient goat paths and tracks criss-cross the countryside, making it a walker’s paradise. For the more adventurous, scuba diving and mountain biking can also be enjoyed as well as boat trips to see round the island or watch the dolphins and whales that congregate off shore.

The Gomeran people realise thy live in a special place and are keen to preserve the natural beauty of the island and their tradtional way of life. You may be lucky enough to experience a local fiesta and dance the night away to live latin music in the village square, to join in a religious procession accompanied by musicians playing their traditional intruments, the 'tambor' and 'chacaras'. or even to hear the Gomerans comminicating in their unique whistling language "el silbo".  Whatver your activity you will be made welcome by the easy-going Gomerans.

Playa de Santiago - Bus Timetable

Playa de Santiago - Buses

From Playa de Santiago to San Sebastian

Monday > Saturday                      06:00     08:00     15:00     17:30     20:00

Sundays & Public Holidays          07:30     15:30     17:20

From San Sebastian to Playa de Santiago, Alajero and Imada

Monday > Saturday                      07:00     10.30     14:30     18:00     20:00

Sundays & Public Holidays          11:30     18:30

From the Airport to San Sebastian (via Playa de Santiago)

Monday > Thursday                    09:30     17:30

Fridays                                          11:30     16:30

Saturdays                                     11:30     17:30

Sundays & Public Holidays          10:30     16:30

n.b.     The bus will not run if flights are cancelled.

             If a flight is delayed the bus will also be delayed

From the Airport to Valle Gran Rey

Monday > Thursday                   09:25     17:35

Fridays                                          11:25     16:25

Saturdays                                     11:30     17:25

Sundays & Public Holidays          10:25     16:25

Buses to the north of the island all run from the bus station in San Sebastian

More information of the island’s buses http://www.la-gomera.com/autobus.htm

La Gomera

La Gomera http://www.la-gomera.co.uk/

Location: In the Atlantic Ocean midway between the Canary islands of Tenerife and El Hierro.
Position: 20 miles West of the port of Los Cristianos in Tenerife from where ferry boat and hydrofoil services operate to la Gomera.  La Palma and El Hierro. Small aircraft fly to the local airport at Playa Santiago from the neighbouring island of Tenerife (Los Rodeos - N airport).  From Los Rodeos Airport on Tenerife you can fly to the other Canary Islands.
General Description: Smallest and oldest of the 7 Canary Islands, La Gomera is also the tip of an extinct volcano: circular and a mere 15 miles across. The central peak is only 4,879 feet high and usually shrouded in mist creating a microclimate ideal for the island's unique bay laurel forest, a protected World Heritage Site forming the Garajonay National Park. The park is threaded with well-marked walking trails and is a hiker's delight. Steep-sided valleys descend from the cool and damp of the peak to the warm equable climate enjoyed on the coast where the main villages and resorts are situated. Like Tenerife, the north is verdant while the south is arid. The major activity for the small native population of 17,000 is still agriculture with cochineal, bananas and tomatoes the major produce. Tourism is very undeveloped as yet but accounts for an increasing part of the island's economy.

PLAYA de SANTIAGO is a small working fishing port on the South coast which gets lots of sun and although slowly developing is otherwise quiet and unspoilt. Alongside the harbour-side are several restaurants offering local cuisine where you can while away the hours watching the fishing boats unloading their catches. The village offers a modern medical centre, an excellent bakery, two banks, a pharmacy, dentist, post office, two hair/beauty salons, two grocery shops and some local craft/gift shops plus a stationery/newsagents’ shop.  To the West of the village lies the island airport, here only small aircraft can land and there are two flights daily to Tenerife. The largest hotel on the island, Hotel Jardin Tecina, which has an 18 hole golf course, is situated on a headland at one end of the village. Here you may enjoy the hotel entertainments or sample one of the five restaurants, which offer a variety of local and international dishes. Development on the island is strictly regulated and any new buildings within the village blend in with the traditional architecture and dramatic cliffs which act as a backdrop

San Sebastian, Valle Gray Rey and Vallehermoso

SAN SEBASTIAN on the East coast is the island's largest town, capital, port, administrative centre and home to a quarter of the native population.  There are many beautiful 15th century Spanish colonial buildings including the Torre del Conde and the well where Christopher Columbus took on fresh water at his last port of call on his trip to discover the Americas.  The well is situated in the tourist office in the town centre. Also worth visited is The Parador, once the home of the Count of La Gomera and now a hotel which has been beautifully restored and has stunning views across the channel to Tenerife.

VALLE GRAN REY on the West coast is the closest thing to a proper resort mainly because it has the island's longest and best beach. Comprising 4 little hamlets spread over 1½ miles it is backed by spectacular soaring mountains. Although directly accessible by hydrofoil from Playa de Santiago the approach by road down the massive steep-sided valley makes the trip by road well worthwhile. Apartment developments are rapidly popping up along the beach and the infrastructure to support tourism developing in a similar pace.  The majority of tourists in Valle Gran Rey are German although English is spoken in most shops and restaurants.

VALLEHERMOSO is located on the southwestern and northwestern coasts of the island. Its capital, the town of Vallehermoso on the north coast, is linked with a main highway encircling every part of the island and is located WNW of the island capital, San Sebastián de la Gomera. Vallehermoso is the second largest municipality in the area. Farmlands are in the valley areas and the mountains and the hills dominate the inland areas. Part of the area is made up of farmlands, while the mountainous areas are forested or grassy. The  main industries are agriculture and tourism.  The area is also famous for its miel de palma (palm honey), as well as tomato, potato and banana production. The municipality features a rock-formed mountain Los Organos which is made up of basalt rocks. Mountaintops include El Cercado and La Fortaleza or Chipude. The natural beauty of the mountain area forms a part of the Garajonay Park. Directly on the coast of Vallehermoso is an interesting feature, a cultural centre named El Castillo del Mar, located in an old banana factory which was used until 1950 as a centre for concerts, cinema and folklore music. Due to severe gales the road to El Castillo is currently impassable.

La Gomera

La Gomera - Contact Information

 

Contacts & Links:

Canarysail (Sailing Tuition & Holidays). 0034 922 141 967 http://www.canarysail.co.uk/

Cicar (Car Rental) 0870 240 1625 0034 922 873 031  http://www.canarycarrental.com/

Dentist (English/German & Spanish speaking) 0034 922 895 676

Flight Line (Flights)  01702 715 151 / 0800 0360 777  http://www.flightline.co.uk/

Fred Olsen (Ferries) 00 34 922 62 82 31     www.fredolsen.es

Gemstone Flights (Flights)         01344 353 807   www.gemstonetravel.com

Hertz  (Car Rental)     0870 599 6699   http://www.hertz.co.uk/

La Gomera Buses (Gua Guas)   www.la-gomera.com/autobus.htm.

La Gomera Information (Island Information)       www.gomera-island.com 

Las Vistas Apartments (UK home number)         01424 446 986  
http://www.la-gomera.co.uk/ 

Naviera Armas (Ferries) 0034 908 458 500 www.navieraarmas.com 

Tenerife Airport Shuttle www.resorthoppa.com 0871 855 0350

Tenerife Buses (TITSA)     0034  922 53 13 00     http://www.blogger.com/

La Gomera on Foot

LA GOMERA was made for the hiker. It was made for anyone who wants to immerse himself in the lush forests, the breathtaking ravines, and the green valleys. For anyone who wants to discover, with each step, exceptional landscapes, landscapes that take us back to other times. Landscapes sculpted by the sea, such as its steep and massive cliffs, or aged by the passing of centuries, as in the Garajonay National Park. A vestige of the Tertiary period, nothing less, Garajonay is a forest where one can become acquainted with the history of the world. Prehistoric vegetation, nurtured by the water of its many springs, awaiting the travellers who enter the magic of its soul. Declared by UNESCO as the Property of Humanity, any route is good for exploring the attractive features of this National Park. But there's more. On the island, a veritable paradise for the visitor who is looking for peace and quiet on his holidays, there is an abundance of paths and tracks, which takes him, over its intricate terrain, through small villages, ravines or terraced agricultural land, a product of the noble effort of the Gomeran people.

Palm tree covered valleys embracing small but attractive beaches or the incredible image of Mount Teide, lying majestically in the distance, on the neighbouring island of Tenerife - could be a perfect ending for an unforgettable excursion.

The Magic Island, as La Gomera is called, with its rough yet serene landscape, wild yet peaceful, is full of surprising treasures for visitors. Anyone who has time will also have the opportunity to get to know the special whistling language silbo, that the island's inhabitants have user for centuries to solve the communication problems inherent to a land of such mountainous distances.

For Really Serious Walking
We recommend you buy “Alternative Gomera” by Nicholas Albery, which is published by the non-profit Institute for Social Inventions, a charitable project of the Fourth World Educational and Research Association Trust, UK registered charity 283040. The trustees are Lord Beaumont, Teddy Goldsmith, Sir Richard Body and John Seymour.

The walks vary from an all-day marathon with constant uphills and downhills through steep barrancos, to an easy seven hour walk which is for the first part a stroll downhill along wide and gently undulating paths. There is one walk which involves twenty metres of fairly easy scrambling up a rock face.

You need, in other words, to be generally fit, able to walk an average of 18 (up to 28 kilometres) each day, uphill and downhill, and to be of a relatively adventurous and independent disposition. However, for each of the more strenuous walks an easier and shorter alternative is also available.

Most people prefer to acclimatise more gradually, to have a day or two’s rest before starting walking, or do only the shorter walks to begin with.
When you walk on the old tracks of Gomera, you are using the road and path systems of the pre-industrial, pre-automobile age. The largest old paths are only about three metres wide and the smallest less than one metre wide, along with steep steps cut into barranco sides.

In the mountains, some find that a long stick (for instance 8 to 10 ft of bamboo) is useful for reducing jarring of the knees and for moving fast and keeping balance better — you sometimes see local people using one to leap their way downhill.

In Gomera, you could be days on some of these walks without someone else coming upon you, and often the routes are in the middle of nowhere or the nearest hamlet has long since been abandoned. Furthermore, many local maps are unreliable and the sides of some of the barrancos are so precipitous that there is only one way down and you have to know where to find it.

What to take

Most important is to take a mobile 'phone (fully charged). Reception is varied throughout the island, but it can be your lifeline.  

What else you take with you depends on the degree of risk with which you feel comfortable. If you have an extreme aversion to walking up and down steep ravines in the heat encumbered with a rucksack, we recommend that you take with you for one week the following — and note that one reasonably cheap place for walking and camping equipment is Tarpaulin & Tent Ltd, PO Box 350, Esher, KT10 8DZ (credit card orders, tel 020 8873 3797); other mail order places include CRM (tel 0800 413635; www.crmmailorder.co.uk), Bourne Sports (tel 01782 410411), Complete Outdoors (tel 01442 873133; www.complete-outdoors.co.uk) and Field and Trek (tel 01268 494444; http://www.fieldandtrek.co.uk/).

• A bag small and light enough to fit in the plane’s overhead locker, so that you don’t have to wait for the luggage to reach the carousels (some airlines insist on less than 5kg in weight). In this bag put a book for the plane and a change of clothes for the return journey and some anti-mosquito cream for the first night in San Sebastian (the only place I have ever been bothered by mosquitoes). Then leave the bag in San Sebastian, either at a pension or hotel, if they are willing, or otherwise with your car hire firm!(give them a 500 pesetas tip at the end for their trouble).

• A pair of corduroy trousers (not only for warmth but to protect your legs against brambles, cacti and sun).

• A light and somewhat shower-resistant woollen zip-up ‘fleece’ jacket with interior pockets and exterior zipped pockets.  On warm days this can be tied by the arms round your waist or neck. It is for the occasional cold and windy times.

• A windproof sunhat with a broad rim called the Norfolk Intrepid. An expensive luxury at £29-95 (inc. p&p) but it does stay on, with a double shoelace under the chin and to the back of the head. It is made of strong cotton and can be folded up. Available by phone and credit card from Norfolk Headwear (tel 0845 602 0231).

• A long-sleeved safari-type shirt, with lots of button-down pockets, which I wear over a T-shirt.

• A Domke PhoTogs sleeveless, ventilated jacket, designed for photographers on expeditions, with about 18 pockets (available from a variety of sites on the web if you do a search — the cheapest at present is www.fargo-ent.com who charge $59.97, postage extra); this is not an essential item and is slightly hot and heavy, but it means that you could carry more items than normal, and still remain without a rucksack.

In this multitude of pockets, or in a money pouch carry:
• Passport and tickets and money.

• Dental tape, a miniature travelling toothbrush and toothpaste.

• A few strips of elastoplast (in case of blisters as much as for anything else). If you are susceptible to blisters, you might ask your chemist shop for the Scholl plasters for blisters, lined with hydrocolloid gel, or any similar type.

• Two thin pairs of socks and a change of underpants.

• An ordinary half litre plastic bottle of mineral water. Refill it with tapwater or streams on the island — the Gomeran water tastes fine.

• A bar of chocolate and a piece of cheese — for lunch and emergency rations. The food and the water I put in a little bum bag round my stomach.

• A small tin of hand cream.

• A small tube of factor 15 suncream. Even though you may be covered with clothes and a hat from head to toe during your visit, the back of your hands can get painfully sunburnt.

• Some aspirins - just in case.

• A disposable razor.

• Some folded paper kitchen towels.

• A compass with a swivelling rim marked with degrees, for more accurate comparison of forks and turn-offs on the map with exterior reality. (I tend to give the directions roughly as say SSW and then more accurately in degrees, say 195 degrees.)

• A biro and small notebook with a needle secured in the cover, ready threaded with several feet of thread wound around the cover. There is always something that needs mending within the week.

• A small plastic whistle (about £1 from a camping shop) to call for assistance if needed, or to identify one’s whereabouts to one’s companions (the sound of a whistle carries further than shouting. The quite useful code we devised was for 3 long whistles to mean ‘come here’, 2 long whistles to mean ‘I’m coming’ and 1 long whistle to mean ‘I hear you’ or ‘this is where I am’. Recognised internationally to mean ‘help!’ are either 6 long whistles repeated at intervals or 3 short, 3 long, 3 short — SOS in morse code).

• A very small torch (camping shops sell a 10cm plastic torch using one AA battery for about £2).

• If you are intending to stay overnight on the mountains also take a pair of long-johns and a cashmere sweater. For those who prefer it, a small rucksack could fit these kinds of items.

• If the five-day forecast mentions rain take a lightweight poncho mac (costing less than £10).
 

THE WALKS

Vallehermoso: A collection of associated villages famous for Palm trees, bananas, tomatoes and wine. A choice of 20 routes from 2 to 8 hours. An impressive pinnacle - the Roque Cano is a dominating feature of this valley.

Parque National: 4000 hectares of mixed Laurel forest with many endemic plants. Several variations of walks between 4 and 6 hours.

Valle Gran Rey: An enormous ravine with sides covered in numerous terraces and hidden waterfalls. Eight walks from here between 2 and 6 hours, two of which offer the exhilarating prospect of a 3000 foot ascent.

Chipude: Charming and simple village close to the extraordinary table mountain called Forteleza. Forests and valleys can be explored by several alternatives taking from 2 to 8 hours