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…

October 28, 2010
Read More >>

La Zarza Rock Carvings

One of the best archaeological sites on La Palma is La Zarza and La Zarzita, in Garafía. You have to walk, but it’s a beautiful stroll through woods of heather and bayberry trees. Yes, heather is a tree here – see the top photo. The whole walk takes about an hour, and first bit of the path is the steepest. It’s clearly signposted. You reach La Zarza first. Here there…

August 31, 2010
Read More >>

The Dancing Dwarfs

July 17, 2010

I’m annoyed. The tickets for the dwafs were 21.35€ each, and I had to jump through hoops to get them. When they went on sale, the website sagged to its knees under the strain of so many customers at once, so it took about 10 attempts before I was able to buy them. And then they emeailed me instructions on how to collect the tickets which were less than clear….

Read More >>

Pandorgas

July 13, 2010

Last night’s pandorgas were lovely, but tiring. I had to park well south of town and walk in. On the way, I fell in with someone I know, and took some photos of her gorgeous little niece. I was so late I began to worry that I’d missed the whole thing, but when I eventually I found the parade, it wasn’t even halfway along its route. The lead pandorga was…

Read More >>

La Palma’s Bajada Programme for Tuesday and Wednesday

Pandorgas, Santa Cruz de la Palma, 2010
July 13, 2010

Last night’s pandorgas were beautiful. And he first one in the procession was the world cup, which got a tremendous cheer. Tuesday 13th 10 am – 2 pm The usual sporting stuff in the sports ground. 12 noon. All the church bells will ring at once. 12:15 Special concert by the municipal band in the Casas Consistoriales de Santa Cruz de La Palma. 5 pm Dance of the gargoyles going…

Read More >>

“The Little Week” beings in La Palma

All sorts of things will be happening in the streets of Santa Cruz de la Palma on Saturday, (street theatre, music, batukada, which is serious percussion, and the new marina’s open to the public). At 8 pm there’s a folk music festival at the central stage (the one in the port car park). At midnight, there’s a public dance on the sea-front, and another concert at the Alemeda square (near…

July 3, 2010
Read More >>