Día 22- La Palma (el sur)

It was suggested that we explore the north end of the island one day, and the south the other day, so that is the general plan.  We also want to get a hike in.  Although we often walked over 10 miles a day in mainland Spain we were not walking that much in Morocco (driving too much/too hot), so getting out of the car was a priority.  We had to take advantage of the weather, which is comparable to San Diego weather, always in the 70°s (over 40°s cooler than Andalucia).

From our hotel there is just a glimpse of Santa Cruz de la Palma (to be explored later).

Today we are doing the red route, which looked shorter since the plan was to hike, leaving the yellow route for tomorrow.

With the windy roads everything takes longer than expected.  But in La Palma (population- less than 100,000), there is no traffic.

This is taken from el Parque nacional de la Caldera Taburiente Visitor Center, which, unlike every visitor center I have ever been to in the US, does not sell any merchandise.  

The clouds often spill over the mountains this way, frosting the land. 

We stopped into the Hiperdino in El Paso (one of the largest markets we have seen for a while) to get ingredients for sandwiches.  You just have to love the bread selection.

This is the view from the grocery store parking lot.

We parked at Mirador de la Cancelita and walked from here along the southeast side of Barranco de las Anguistias.

Hiking in La Palma is so interesting, cedars are mixed in with succulents.

We hiked for over thee miles and then turned around when the trail looked a little sketchy.  

The trail was already slippery due to the pine needles and extreme inclines.

We did not see another hiker the entire time we were out.

Spiders are sneaky.

La Palma is so pristine, no wonder the entire island has been declared as a Unesco biosphere reserve.

We then drove to Puerto Naos, past tens of thousands of banana trees, a big part of the economy here.  

After seeing enough tits at the beach to last a life time (they are never the ones you would want to see) we headed to the southern tip of island, Volcán San Antonio.

The first time San Antonia erupted was 1677, the last- 1949.

There are other volcanoes in the area that have had more recent eruptions.  

Here, there is a great little volcano exhibit in the merchandiseless visitor center.

You used to be able to walk all around the mini caldera.  I can see why they closed it but I would have liked to give it a try.

Malvasia grapes grow right on the ground, in the volcanic soil.

Tenerife (at 3,718 meters) island can barely be seen over the clouds.

We are in luck!  There was an apartment with a better view open so we were moved here for the next few days.  

Love, love La Palma.