La Gomera - A Walkers' Paradise

We arrived on the island at night.  We were staying at the Hotel Tamahuche in the small town of Vallehermoso, located in the north of the island and an hour’s drive on sinuous, but well maintained roads.  I love arriving somewhere at night.  I enjoy the anticipation of wondering what the morning will bring.  It brought low grey cloud!  Standing on the terrace outside our room we marvelled at the steep terraced hillsides, neatly cultivated.  The tops of the hills disappeared into the mist.  It was a lush damp place, a place for growing things, primarily bananas, although oranges, lemons and avocado pears also grew locally.  Our host, Jordi, provided the best breakfast of the holiday.  He was an enthusiastic walker and talked animatedly about his favourite walks on the island. 

Having a car meant we were able to escape to the sunny south of the island.  The first walk was a two hour descent, full of sunny seascapes, goat bells and goat smells, into the small resort of Valle Gran Rey, where people were swimming in the sea.

The next day’s walk was more of a challenge - a circular four/six hour walk from Taco, a small hamlet on the outskirts of Playa Santiago, to Benchijigua.  It was a steady climb to Benchijigua, following the parched river bed.  It was like walking through a forgotten valley.  Presiding over the valley was Roque de Agando (1,251 mtrs).    It was a pretty walk with the first almond blossom flowering on the trees and exotic flowers and plants dotted over the hillside.  The sun was shining and the ascent made for thirsty work.  We had hoped there would be a bar at Benchijigua.  There wasn’t.  Benchijigua consisted of a clutch of abandoned and semi-occupied houses and a small white-washed chapel standing serenely on a promontory.  The door was locked.   The walk from Benchijigua was over a wide grassy path with wild purple flowers and lots of bees and bee hives.  The grassy path was soon replaced by rock and then an accent of 600 metres, which came as a bit of a surprise and made me realise how unfit I was.  Then it was all the way down until we met the road and followed it back to Taco.   

On both walks we were joined by Adrian and Zoe, a couple of keen walkers also staying at Tamahuche.  They were great companions, Richard had found someone who loved porridge as much as he did, and the time passed quickly as we chatted easily. 

On our last day we managed a short hike up to the highest point of the island, Garajonay (1,487 mtrs) where it was possible to see Tenerife's Mount Teide in the distance.  A huge forest fire devastated this area back in 2012, but already there were signs of regneration.  

There were signs to trails, including a GR (long distance) path, criss-crossing the island and our only regret was not being able to explore more of them.  La Gomera is a walkers’ paradise and we will be back.