Arrival in Tenerife & ferry to San Sebastian

All the flights came in on time and we took taxis to the ferry terminal, enough time to get refreshments in the café. On the journey to San Sebastian some women saw dolphins at the front of the ferry.

Agulo to Vallehermoso

A great start to the trek, as we set off towards the visitor centre above Agulo.

The steep path up from Agulo is in the shade in the morning, which makes for a comfortable ascent.

At the top we are out in the sun and there are some lizards sunning them selves.

After a lunch stop with time to look round the visitor centre and its gardens, we follow a track which meanders down through woodlands and small finca farmsteads.

Here they grow grape vines, fruits and vegetables, and there are orange trees in bloom and the scent is divine.

As we approached Vallehermoso the route heads up towards a ridge with spectacular views, the path passes just below Roque Cano.

The Roque is a volcanic plug that is a local landmark above the rural village of Vallehermoso.

We arrived at comfortable Hotel Tamahucha, our home for the next couple of days, to find our bags waiting for us, delivered by Autbuses Mesa.

For dinner ate at a local restaurant called Agana. At dusk there is an orchestra of tiny green frogs in the stream.

Ridge walk Vallehermoso to Vallehermoso

The weather was warm and sunny as we started the days walk by passing above the church and then out of the village through Finca farmsteads.

One of the farmsteads sells their produce from the garden, including wines and juice as well as Palm Honey and Mojo Sauce.

They also have a Peruvian tomato tree with delicious fruits to try.

From there we continue onward and uphill past juniper scrublands and into laurel forest.

We saw buzzards in the distance as we made our way up the valley, before emerging on the ridge between Vallehermoso and the sea.

We had lunch in a secluded picnic spot.

After lunch we followed the ridge where the views were beautiful down to the sea and across Vallehermoso to Roque Cano.

After the steep descent from the ridge, we stopped to swim in the pool on the sea front or just relax in the bar.

The pool was open after being renovated last year, and is highly recommended by our swimmers. With it being a weekday, they had the pool to themselves.

Some of us visit the 'Castillo Del Mar' a local party and music venue with ramparts that jut out into the sea, they have a photographic exhibition and good Tapas.

Vallehermoso to Chipude

Auto Mesa dropped us at the end of the road at 'Las Rosas', and to begin with we headed up the valley following a stream towards the ridge.

From the ridge we swinging upwards again through the ancient laurel forests of Garajonay national park, (a UNESCO world heritage site).

There were whoops of excitement in the forest as Liz found the special La Gomera slug which is a snail half way into losing its shell and becoming a slug (see below).

The route later passed through a couple of small pretty villages within the lower altitude 'Parque Rural' zone, and crossed the head of the Valle Gran Rey where we saw Kestrels hunting for lizards.

We reached Sonia's bar in Chipude in good time.

Sonia is very efficient, and the food, service and rooms here are excellent.

Chipude to Playa Santiago

The early part of the day is in the Laurel forests among the mists, which cover the peak of Garajonay.

The mist cleared as we headed downhill toward the sea.

Lunch was on a rocky ridge above the Benchigua valley.

The Roque Agando we see from this ridge is part of our route on the way back to San Sebastian later in the week.

After lunch we headed down again, towards Imada, a lovely village where we sat in the sun and drank juices and coffees for a while.

From here we phoned to book a taxi to meet us at the bottom of the path in three hours time.

The trail continues down a barranco (gorge) where the path is a ledge naturally incised into the immense volcanic cliffs.

Flowers and fruiting cactus are everywhere around, and we meet goats and chickens on the track as we approached the village of El Rumbaza everyone agreed that today's route had been stunning..

The last road stretch to Playa Santiago is covered by taxi. In the evening we just managed to book a table in the best restaurant, called El Cuevita, which is set in a little cave on the seafront.

The food is great here. After the meal we walk on the seafront listening for the Atlantic shearwaters, which nest on the cliffs above.

That evening some women still had energy for a fiesta that was taking place in Playa Santiago.

Rest Day

Playa Santiago offers swimming and relaxation that is much needed after yesterday's walking.

Some of us take the boat ride out to see the dolphins, whilst others take the ferry to visit Valle Gran Rey.

In the evening we decided to eat in a different restaurant a few doors down the seafront from our apartments. We enjoyed a good meal and are getting to know some of the local wines.

Playa Santiago to San Sebastian

Mesa Taxis again drop us off at the end of the road in a village called Pastrana.

The route winds up through the village and surrounding finca farms with their giant poinsettias, papayas and almond trees.

Then upward into the Benchigua barranco and Benchigua village, as we rounded a spur in the valley we could see the ridge that we had descended two days earlier on our way down to Playa Santiago.

Roque Agando on the opposite side of the valley is our first goal today, the path passes up through 850m of ascent as the vegetation changes to wild cactus, wild flowers and finally pine forest.

The vistas are stunning…. again.

From the ridge behind Roque Agando we take a route down into the valley behind San Sebastian.

On the way we pass through pine and eucalyptus forest, as well as several old settlements - some abandoned during the migrations to Latin America.

Autbuses Mesa are waiting for us in Las Lajas, the first village we come to, to take us down the road into San Sebastian for our showers and our celebratory meal.

We tried a different restaurant this year, Pablo's which does very good fish and seafood, I will definitely go there again.

After dinner some of us visited the Cuban bar that stays open late in the main square... others were ready for their beds!

Ferry to Tenerife & flights home

The Manchester flight left early, so I accompanied the Manchester women to Tenerife on an early ferry.

We had breakfast in a café on the beach at Los Cristianos, before even the earliest early morning bathers arrived!

Those on the later Gatwick flight chose to have sleep in, then follow us over to Tenerife on a later ferry after a leisurely breakfast... Sadly it was time to leave La Gomera and travel home.