La Gomera is a limpid-shaped island scarred by deep ravines running down to the sea and mammoth rock formations protruding up from its mountains.  The island is covered with signs of volcanic activity millions of years ago with sharp ridge lines, volcanic vents and black sands beaches.  Its rocky coastline make most of La Gomera's beaches accessible only by boat.

We traveled by the ferry from the port at Los Christianos on Tenerife to the harbor at San Sebastian, the capital of La Gomera, excited about our five-day adventure on this unique island.  San Sebastian is the same port where Christopher Columbus set sail westward in search of a new route to the Orient and ran into the Americas in 1492.  He arrived at San Sebastian to replenish his ship with food and water.  The well that he used on the grounds of the Church, the Virgen de la Asuncion, is still visible today.  In the central nave of this church which was built in 1450, several beautiful tapestries depict Columbus's arrival on his three famous ships into San Sebastian's harbor.  He even came to this exact spot to pray for good winds before sailing away to discover where we live today... so the prayer worked quite well.

Our first order of business was to find the Parador de La Gomera, which sat on a bluff overlooking the harbor with Tenerife and El Teide in the distance.  The road up to the Parador was steep and narrow and we drove behind a truck, leading the way for us while choking us with its toxic fumes.  This is our first stay in a Parador, which in Spain and other Spanish-speaking countries is a state-run "luxury" level hotel, usually in historic buildings such as monasteries and castles.  We found the accommodations lacking in luxury but authentic to its prior life as a monastery... high ceiling, wooden floors, antique furniture, cold stone walls and the unavoidable musty smells.  If you are lucky, you can have a room that overlooks the sea.  The breakfast was very generous, even though most of their fruits came from a can.  They did have a good selection of sweet breads, our favorite being a round flat pound cake. 

For our adventure out on this island, we were eager to explore and hike the mystical forest with ancient primeval beauty.  Garajonay National Park is home to Alto Garajonay, the highest part of the island at 4,900 feet above the park’s plateau.  In this forest of Laurisilva, meaning ‘wet forest’, there are the Savine Junipers that once dominated the Mediterranean region before the Ice Age.  It is here that they have continued to thrive, thanks to a consistent rolling fog as an anticyclone from the Azores, pushed along by the trade winds caressing the surface of the forest and feeding it the moisture it needs to soak its ancient plant life. 

The forests are made up of laurel-leaved evergreen hardwood trees, reaching up to 130 feet in height.  Other than the Azores and the Madiera islands, this humid subtropical forest does not exist any where else on earth.  In 1981, it was declared a national park, and in 1986, designated as a World Heritage Site by UNESCO.

An adventure that thrilled us was the boat trip to what is called, Los Organos, meaning of course, ‘The Organs’ or rather the organ’s pipes.  After passing through the lovely ‘Valley of the Great King’ where the art of terrace farming is practiced, we reached the port of Valle de Gran Rey.  We purchased our tickets, which included an all day trip to see these ‘pipes’, breakfast, lunch, and a stop for swimming by a secluded beach before returning.  While waiting to board, we had the most delicious fresh squeezed orange juice in the small bar along side of the dock.

We boarded a boat that carries 147 passengers, however there were only 16 of us.  Mostly Germans and the Japanese Ambassador for the Canaries, visiting with his poor sea sick wife from Las Palmas, Gran Canaria.  Our breakfast was a tuna and onion sandwich stuffed in a half of a French bread slice, along with fresh lemonade.  Then later came a snack of fried fish on another slice of French bread with their ‘mojo’ sauce and red wine.  We thought that was lunch.  Wrong!  After coming around with some sangria, we approached the very rugged north end of the island.  So I guess that they wanted us mellowed out!  It is here that the unusual rock formations etched into the face of the cliffs, resembles organ pipes.  Due to rough seas and strong winds, a sighting is not always a sure thing.

During our visit, our boat bounced up and down in the rough seas, while we tried to hold our cameras steady to take a photo... soon noticing passengers started dropping like bowling pins out of sight.  Only a few hardy seaman were left standing to enjoy this site.

The boat turned around and headed to the south end of the island to calmer waters and a chance to swim off any queasiness.  At Playa Canterar, we anchored and all of the polar bears went swimming.  Finally, they served us lunch and what a lunch it was... delicious Paella of rice and seafood, fresh avocado, bananas, and their wonderful dates picked from local trees.  All served with mucho vino.  We definitely got our money’s worth on the eating and drinking department. 

Our last day was spent hiking several of the trails around El Cedro and Los Barranquilllos of Alojera by the sea.  We discovered that some of the trails were shared with motor vehicles, so we had to be weary of wheels and car fumes.  Most of the adventure on this island was discovering the hidden gems like a little hillside cafe owned and operated by a family that had the most delicious quesodillo, a custard with local palm syrup.  We loved that the son took our order, dad cooked it, mom served it, and grandma cleaned up afterwards.

Taking the "Good" with the "Bad" ~

During our travels through these islands, we recorded the best and worst on each island.  Of course, these are our observations and opinions to share with you as a way to provide an overview of our impressions.

The Best of La Gomera:
1 - Small, quaint communities with excellent local shops and restaurants
2 - Garajonay National Park ~ the only place you will want to spend a lot of time visiting especially in its mystical cloud forest;  there's no getting around it anyway
3 - Valle de Gran Rey and the boat trip to Los Organos; with its breathtaking beauty, its no wonder the German's buy homes here
4 - The sunrise and sunset colors against Pico del Teide on Tenerife as seen from our Parador


The Worst of La Gomera:
1 - Tourists, who cares?  Islanders could not have care less if you were from mainland Spain or outer space, we all got the same "I don't care" service
2 - The staff at the Parador could use some off-the-island exposure; even an occasional smile could help acknowledge that we existed
3 - The pool was no salvation from the pesky flies - as the water felt colder than the seas of the north pole in the dead of winter - at least by us two Floridians
4 - Some of the guests at the Parador were cooler than the hotel's pool (likely trained by the staff)... none were interested in meeting other guests

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