La Palma

What can I say? I Loved La Palma from the moment I stepped off the ship. The words that come to mind are quiet, simple, unspoiled and friendly. It's no wonder that this is another UNESCO biosphere reserve. Mass tourism remains absent, and the banana crop comprises the majority of the local economy, planted on terraced fields. It is wonderfully green in this Northern region that we found ourselves in; with pine forests, rain forests, a huge caldera and more. The cliffs and mountain ravines resulting from the volcanic activity are so precipitous that this island is the steepest in the world, moving from sea level to 8,000 feet (2426 meters) in just over 6 miles (10 km). And YES, we did drive up to the very top! Overall, it is a hikers paradise.

Above the cloudsWe began with renting our car right from the pier; how easy! The city was small, simple and easy to navigate. It was quickly in our rear view mirror and we were climbing the now familiar switchbacked roads. Soon we were seeing large pine trees, what a lovely change. It felt like we were the only ones there, seeing no other cars, no homes, no people. We inevitably climbed above the overcast cloud bank and were in beautiful sunshine. Below us those clouds looked like an uninterrupted blanket of white cotton. 

We kept climbing, now above the tree line, and into a geologists Heaven. Varying veins of colored rock were beautiful, but it became increasingly important for us to keep our eyes on the road. Everything seemed just a bit "crumbly". Occasionally there were small rocks in our way, and the edge of the road itself was just a bit uneven on our right, heralding a sheer drop. Even with all the curves I was driving in the center of the road. Heights are not my favorite!

At the top we found the "united nations" of observatories. It has been acknowledged that no one can own the sky, so several large telescopes share the summit here; including the largest telescope in the world. Many countries are represented. We managed to attain the peak in our car, and found a few other adventuresome folks like us, and then walked a path to take us even further out over the caldera. Our reward was one of those views that defy description. We have another movie in our queue now, which will be uploaded here within a week. It's a winner!

La Palma

There's not much left to improve upon after that, so we made our way back, returning to sea level along that same road as it continued to the other side of the mountain, keeping the car in neutral the entire way. Simple gravity was all the fuel we needed. The natural beauty of this island is astounding. Once at the ocean we stopped for lunch at a small restaurant carved into the rock. There was even a natural series of pools created for swimming adjacent to this lava filled shore, as you'll see in the pictures. 

After only a day visit, I felt that I could live on the island of La Palma. And that's a statement that I have never made. Will you come with me?