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

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.