M100 (NGC 4321), a barred galaxy in the Virgo cluster There’s a really simple reason why the Royal Greenwich Observatory moved their telescopes here. It’s one of the three best places in the world for astronomy. A modern telescope could see the equivalent of a candle on the moon, so obviously they want to be well away from city lights. Even more obviously, they want to be somewhere that doesn’t…
One of the most exotic looking plants on La Palma are the dragon trees. The latin name is Dracaena draco Although they grow anything up to 12 metres tall, botanically, dragon trees aren’t trees. They don’t have annual rings, for one thing. Actually, they’re classified in the same order (Asparagales) as garlic and asparagus, although they look nothing like each other. In fact, dragon trees look mostly like broccoli on…
The big bridge at Los Sauces The new bridge over the barranco at Los Sauces is huge. It’s 319 metres long and towers 150 metres above the valley floor. It opened in December 2004. To begin with, it was rather controversial because it crosses the same valley as the Los Tilos National Park. But you can’t see the bridge from the park, and it’s really rather elegant for something so…
I had an email asking me to recommend the top ten things to see and do. It was actually quite difficult to decide, because tastes differ so much. So this is a purely personal top ten. Your mileage may vary. 10. The ObservatorySee The Observatory and Visiting The Observatory. While you’re there, be sure to go up to the highest point of the island, the Roque de los Muchachos, and…
There are two nice fiestas coming up at the beginning of September. In El Paso, the statue of the Virgin of the Pine was carried in procession from the hermitage up in the mountain down to the village. On September 6th, there will be another procession to carry it back. The Devil’s dance, Tijarafe, 2007. In Tijarafe in the early hours of September 8th, the devil will join the dance….
Every year Santa Cruz has a demonstration of living statues, and this year is the fourth. The statues are on the Calle Real today, Saturday and Sunday.Everybody calls the main street in Santa Cruz de la Palma, “the Calle Real”, but nowhere along it’s length is there a street sign with that name! I used to suspect that the whole thing was invented to confuse visitors, but now I know…