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  • The Dodo Dragon and other stories
  • About Sheila Crosby
  • A Breathtaking Window on the Universe

To Do list

I had a burst of creativity when I came back from El Hierro, but I’ve been remarkably unproductive lately. So here’s my list for today:1) Do some [bleep] writing for [bleep]’s sake.2) Do some [bleep] marketing for [bleep]’s sake.3) Get some [bleep] exercise for [bleep]’s sake. And never mind the house. The dust rats will still be there tomorrow.

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Los Cancajos market

La Palma has a new weekly market, this time at the popular tourist resort of Los Cancajos.  It’s open on Saturdays from 9 am to 2 pm, at the south end of the sea front, near the Las Olas hotel. There’s another fairly new market that takes place on Fridays from 4-9 pm at Finca La Principal, just off the old airport in Breña Alta. And of course, Santa Cruz…

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A guide book for La Palma

La Palma is a confusing island to drive around. There are so many steep ravines that the roads tend to be twisty. If you want to go north from Cancajos, you have to start by taking the road south out of the village. If you want to drive southeast to the lighthouse from the Teneguía volcano, you have to go northwest to begin with. I’ve lived here for seventeen years,…

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Wild Flowers of the Canary Islands

My father was a professional botanist, and he went into ecstasies over the wild flowers on La Palma. He was even fascinated by the roadside weeds. You see, because it’s an island, the plants evolved in isolation, and in many cases the plant on La Palma is a different sub-species from the plant in neighbouring Tenerife. For example, echium wildipretti is a very tall cone of tiny flowers. The sub-species…

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Camp Sites on La Palma

If you want to get really close to nature and have really cheap accommodation, you can’t do better than one of the camping sites on the island. They’re open all year round, but be aware that it can be cold in winter, and it’s quite likely to rain. You have to pay before you put the tent up, but you don’t have to book in advance except for the Caldera….

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Escaping to the End of the World

I’ve escaped! I left all my responsibilities behind and bunked off to visit a friend on El Hierro for a few days. So on Sunday I took the ferry out (just 12.50€ for a foot passenger) and I’m flying back late on Thursday afternoon. The ferry is almost as fast as the flight, because the ferry is direct, and the flight goes via Tenerife North. As usual, getting away and…

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