A sad loss – goodbye, old friend!
Last week, my track pants that I bought 22 years ago in Sydney left me. Apparently, the material was weak. Weak! Weak! Weak! Not adequate for my farts. I’ve tried to save you with staples and duct tape, but to no avail. It’s a cruel world. So, goodbye, old friend. You’ve been part of my…
Section 12: San Sebastian – Playa La Guancha – San Sebastian
Final bonus leg of our trip! A pleasant stroll just a few k along the coast, across two smaller ridges, will get you to Playa La Guancha. Shortly before you decend to the beach, there’s an overhang to the right, perfect spot to rest, eat the food you bought at the pasteleria, and take some…
Section 11: Alajer贸 – Barranco de las Cocos – Playa de Santiago
Woke up in the morning, looked out of the window, and saw the neighbours’ cat staring back at me. Looking very hungry and expectant. Bad luck, my friend. 馃榾 This was a relatively short and purely downhill section, so nothing compared to yesterday’s labours. The descent through Barranco de las Cocos is nice, lot of…
Section 10: Chipude – Igualero – Impada – Barranco de Guirimiar – Alajer贸
Overall, this was probably the best leg of our trip. A great mixture of challenging trails (especially the final climb up to Alajer贸), fantastic landscapes and views (especially Barranco de Guirimiar), a wonderful cottage to stay at in Alajer贸, and a bit of adventure. So, to get one thing out of the way first: If…
Section 09: Chipude – Fortaleza, Garajonay – Chipude
As mentioned before, Chipude is a great base for tours to the parque nacional, Alta Garajonay etc. So we did a nice little round-trip that took in two great peaks: The mystical Fortaleza and the highest peak on La Gomera, Alta Garajonay. The rainforest in the area around the peak had burned down a couple…
Section 08: Valle Gran Rey – Chipude
After two off-days in VGR we were back on the trail again, climbing roughly one k up to Chipude. We started relatively early, shortly after sunrise. Unless you want to really show how tough you are, I suggest that this is the best time of day to undertake this climb. You’re mostly in the shade,…
Valle Gran Rey
VGR is kinda the touristy centre of the island. So if you are planning on doing any tours, “cruises” etc., that’s where most of them depart. We didn’t need any of that, so cannot report on them. What I can say though is that there’s lots of nice food to be found here. 馃檪 One…
Section 07: Arure – Valle Gran Rey
To stay our course we had to backtrack to Arure in order to continue our route as planned. Also, we did not want to miss the La Merica high plateau and views! We dutifully waited 25 minutes at the bus stop before I hailed a taxi to drive us up to Arure. I was certainly…
Section 06: Las Hayas, Parque Nacional Garajonay, Laguna Grande, Rason de Bruma, Las Creces – Las Hayas – Arure
So, after not sleeping at all, we were up early enough to catch the bus to Las Hayas. A bit of an adventure, you basically stand around until it arrives or you lose patience and call a taxi. 馃榾 And yes, you have to signal the drive when you want to get off – since…
Section 05: Vallehermoso – Arure
We had originally planned this as a slightly longer segment, with a descent from Epina to Alojera and then back up to Arure. But the Reisebegleitung was not feeling too well, so we cut this part and walked straight through the parque nacional to Arure, saving us a few km and lots of descent/ascent. It…