Into the hills

La Palma is a fascinating island, find out more on wikipedia, and we hired a car to go inland and explore. The volvanic crater, Caldera de Taburiente, dominates the centre of the island and also hosts an international observatory, because the skies are so clear. Obviously, this is a bit of a climb from the harbour, and our little Renault Clio took five adults slowly up in second gear along steep windy roads, hairpin bends and treacherous drop-offs. Very quickly we are in the foests above Santa Cruz and can look down on the harbour. Ty Dewi is moored in the small triangle of water at this end of the harbour.

As we continued to climb, we went through the cloud layer and out into brilliant sunshine. A blanket of cloud hung over the Eastern side of the island and about 30 miles out to see, like the view from an aeroplane window. Over to the east, about 50 miles away, we could see La Gomera although not quite as far as Tenerife, our next destination.

The views from the top of the crater are astounding - a brutal volcanic landscape that tells a vivid story of the enormous forces and eplosions that create such shapes, with rocks torn apart, bubble filled lumps of lava many metres across that must have been tossed into the air like popcorn. Ian picked up some lava rock for his BBQ but we decided it actually was cheaper to buy it at Homebase...

Here's Amanda up on top of the mountain with Owen the meerkat keeping watch for lurking photographers.
The road back down the mountain was no less treacherous than the road up, only that second gear was no longer enough to contain our little car and the brakes got a good workout on the way down.

We stopped for a beer at a lovely hotel on the north of the island, and made it back in time to drop off the car and wander into town, finding a very acceptable meal, and good Rioja, in a beautiful little colonial spanish plaza - island life has its attractions.