Finding La Palma...

"La Palma”? Where’s that? Is it in Majorca? No – that’s “Palma”. OK – where is it then?.....

And so started our planning for a trip to the westernmost island of the Canaries – which also has the reputation for being the steepest island in the world! This is an island that positively welcomes hikers – one village even has a bronze statue dedicated to the hikers who visit from all over the world...

What a fabulous place for hiking La Palma is. It has a fascinating colonial history (mainly Spanish and Portuguese) - with wonderful architecture reflecting this - and a long standing relationship with sea-farers as the starting point for voyages to the West Indies and, in particular, Cuba.

The hiking is amazing... we had a fantastic week of weather, so we managed to hike many of the high level routes – the highest route is the actual rim of the massive (now dormant) volcano that formed the island. This rises to over 2,500 m and can be surprisingly chilly – the day we hiked it was 18 c at the coast and well below zero on the rim:
A piece of the frozen fence of ice fell off....

So remember to pack some good cold weather gear (including windproof waterproofs) because if there’s any chance of going high it is magnificent up there!

The island makes its own weather and a familiar sight is the “Mar des Nubes” – or “sea of clouds” as the wind blows over the north-south ridge to form a giant wave of cloud...

What else is there on the island? How about recent volcano activity? Yep – plenty to see there, too...

OK – what about sea-scapes? It’s an island, right? Yes, plenty of those too...

And La Palma can definitely turn on the drama, too, when it is raining at a distance and you are still basking in sunshine you get fantastic rainbows...

So, if you like your holiday filled to the brim with contrasts – you know where to book....La Palma.