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Friday, November 19, 2010

La Palma circumnavigation by car 18 November 2010


Rented a car and made a clockwise circumnavigation of La Palma. The route took us first south past the airport

through various banana plantations

to Fuencaliente close to the southern point of the island

before heading north up the west coast to the south west canyon of the Caldera Taburiente near Tazacourte. The road up the steep side of the canyon was quite an engineering feat, and several times the rock had had to be cut vertically



At the top we stopped for coffee at a cafe / mirador overlooking the canyon with banana plantations surrounding Los Llanos de Aridane, the second city of the island, on the other side.





On the way we passed several Avacado trees drooping with fruit.

The route then took us to Zarza


where we stopped at the small museum to view the strange rock engravings left by the Benahoares, the former inhabitants of the area.




As we approached the north of the island visibility dropped to 20 meters or as we entered the low cloud.

The hillsides were cut by deep ravines

The bus stops in this part of the island have been painted with rural scenes.



Stopped at the pretty coastal town of San Andres in the northwest.





Here there were several superb examples of the Dragon Tree - first seen by us on Porto Santo.

There were also several Tulip trees in full bloom.

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