Acuatic Services

La Gomera is growing. It is attracting more tourists and developing new services and activities. Acuatic Services is newly settled in the island, but it is one of these initiatives that are received with open arms. Catalonian captain Villalobos (a very marine-like name, actually) has established his homebase in San Sebastian Seaport, where he offers tailor-made boat trips. It is one of the few offers of this kind in the island’s main seaport, and also just 20 minutes away from Hermigua. Do you wish to do some fishing, snorkelling, watch dolphins and whales, swim in hidden coves, tour the island from a different point of view or just chill in the sun with your friends? He lends his ship (with or without captain, it is your choice) for you to make your own adventure.

Contact: +34 607 435 834 /urieluno@live.com

P.S.: I will make a trip someday so I can give you soon a better insight in a next post.

Local festivals this weekend

This weekend in Hermigua we are celebrating several local festivals, due to the festivities of Our Lady of El Rosario and Saint Catalina. On Saturday evening, at the square by the old Santo Domingo church,  there will be an open ball, with local bands. On Sunday, for those preferring more traditional and quiet celebrations, there will be a procession (12 a.m.) and afterwards a free lunch with local food.

On sunday there will be another ball, this one celebrated in Hermigua beach.

These sort of celebrations are very popular, and usually attendance is from many towns around the island. They are lively events, worthy to participate.

Ricardo Tours

While in one of my usual virtual tours in search of new information for the blog, I finally found some promising information. There is a new – at least for me, as I didn’t know it before – guided tours company that is also settled in Hermigua. Although the company is newly settled, it’s owner, Ricardo Tomé, is a veteran guide that has worked for years as an official guide to the National Park. Luckyly for us, he seems to have emancipated, and so we have this brand-new but experienced company that delivers tailor-made tours around the island.

Here is a brief presentation he has in his website:

“Welcome to La Gomera,  the walking paradise. My name is Ricardo Tomé. After working in the National Park I now make private walking tours in the best places of the island where I was born. All walks are à la carte, according to your interest (flora, fauna, local customs) and also your fitness.

You will see the best places and will have more time to enjoy the  sun and the sea.

LA GOMERA with its lush forests, the breathtaking ravines, and the green valleys was made for the hiker. Come with me to discover with each step exceptional landscapes that take us back to other times. Landscapes sculpted by the sea, such as its steep and massive cliffs, or aged  by the passing of centuries, as in the Garajonay National Park, declared by UNESCO as the Property of Humanity. A vestige of the Tertiary period, Garajonay is a forest where one can become acquainted with the history of the world. Prehistoric vegetation, nurtured by the waters of its many springs, awaiting the traveller who enters its magic. I will show you the best routes for exploring the attractive features of this National Park. But there’s more on the island. I will lead you  through an  abundance of paths and tracks which will take us over an intricate terrain, through small villages, ravines or terraced agricultural land. Palm tree covered valleys embracing small but attractive beaches or the incredible image of Mount Teide – lying majestically in the distance, on the neighbouring island  of Tenerife – could be a perfect ending for an unforgettable excursion.”

With that introduction, it shows he knows his business.

You can get more information and contact him in:

http://www.ricardogomera.com

Tel: 0034 676822980 (spain mobile phone) / +49 89 33981122 (landline for international calls).

Email: info@ricardogomera.com

Get ready for your vacations

If your intention is to visit La Gomera in August, remember that though tourism in Spain is not having it’s best figures this year, it still is the bussiest month. Many locals take their vacations only in August, and so the island is filled with tourists and visitors. It is also a month where every tiny village or town celebrates some sort of festival, so you might find a suprisingly lively nightlife in the weirdest places.

So don’t forget to make your reservations in advance. Nowadays, many lodgings are already fully booked for the first half of the month, and it is a matter of plain good luck to get to stay where you first intended to. Still, you will see that the lack of lodgings is also good news, so the island is not as crowded as many other places in Spain are for the season. Remember, be flexible within your plans, and gather as much information as you can about where you are going and what you want to do.

La Gomera by Spezify

I don’t know if any of you already know Spezify. Well, it is an innovative website that I would even say has an artistic side. Try putting any word you fancy in it’s “search” field. Specify will generate a complex graphic of related internet contents. It is a mix of pictures and texts that are somehow related with the concept. For, example, if we try searching for “Gomera”:

http://www.spezify.com/#/gomera

For Hermigua: http://www.spezify.com/#/hermigua

And here, some more keywords:

http://www.spezify.com/#/cedro+gomera

http://www.spezify.com/#/park+garajonay

It is, as I see it, an awesome tool to get a first glimpse to, let’s say, our desired trip destination, without having to actually navigate tons of websites.

Video presentation for Los Telares Aparthotel

I read somewhere that it is a good advertising tool to publish a video presentation of the lodgings in Youtube. So that I did, thanks to my iMovie, wonderful tool. Here goes the first result:

Hope you like it. I know it is not a real video, only images moving about, but I have not recorded video yet.

Macondo Restaurant, in La Caleta beach

Playa La Caleta

A true discovery. This Easter vacations, spending some quality time in La Gomera (have wondered why they haven’t declared it a peregrination destination), we did a brief stop in La Caleta beach. It is one of the most beautiful and deserted beaches of the north Coast, about 10 minutes away from Hermigua. Isolated, it is a place to get lost in, where the only sounds are the waves and wind. But of course that I already knew.

The surprise was that Macondo Restaurant is now officially open all year round. It has evolved from the stereotype of being summertime place to a true restaurant. Amazingly the best customers in wintertime are those who have decided to make the trekking routes around the coast east of Hermigua. Open daily from 11 a.m., the menu varies to include seasonal fresh grilled fish. It also has amazing italian food and tasty cakes (due to it’s owners origin, Italian and German). The final result is nothing but a great restaurant with cheap, great kitchen in an unforgettable location.

More info: http://www.macondo-la-gomera.com

Bus lines in La Gomera

Though as stated in my last post, I am much against using bus as main transportation around the island if your intentions are touristic, here are the local bus lines an timetables:

Line 1:

San Sebastián / Valle Gran Rey: 11:00, 14:00, 18:30 and 21:30. Sundays and festives: 11:00 / 18:30.

Valle Gran Rey / San Sebastián: 5:00, 8:00, 14:00, 16:00. Sundays and festives: 8:00 / 16:00.

Line 2:

San Sebastián / Hermigua / Agulo / Vallehermoso: 09.30, 11.30, 14.00, 18.30  and 21.30. Sundays and festives: 11.30, 16.30 and 18.30.

Vallehermoso / Agulo / Hermigua / San Sebastián: 05.30, 07.00, 12.00, 14.00 y 16.30. undays and festives: 7.00, 12.00 and 16.30.

Line 3:

San Sebastián / Playa Santiago / Alajeró: 11.30, 14.00, 18.30 and 21.30. Sundays and festives: 11.30 and 18.30.

Alajeró / Playa Santiago / San Sebastián: 05.30, 07.00, 14.30, 17.00 and 20.00. Sundays and festives: 07.00, 15.00 and 16.50.

Line 4:

Vallehermoso/ Las Hayas/ Chipude/ La Dama: 06.30 and 14.00. Sundays and festives: no service.

La Dama/ Chipude/ Las Hayas/ Vallehermoso: 7.30 and 15.30. Sundays and festives: no service.

Line 5:

Vallehermoso/ Epina/ Alojera: 05.00 and 13.30. Sundays and festives: no service.

Alojera/ Epina/ Vallehermoso: 06.00 and 14.30. Sundays and festives: no service.

Line 6:

Valle Gran Rey / Airport: 6.30 and 13.30.

Airport / Valle Gran Rey: 10.00 and 17.30.

Line 7:

San Sebastián / Airport: 07.00, 09.00, 14.00 and 15.30. Sundays and festives: 08.00 and 13.30.

Airport / San Sebastián: 08.30, 10.00, 15.15  and 17.15. Sundays and festives: 10.00, 15.30 and 17.15.

A recommendation

A doubt some people usually have when preparing the trip to La Gomera is werther to rent a car or not. I always try to convince the visitors that without a car you will be completely lost. Some don’t figure out how true this recommendation is, and regret it later.
The island is just 60 Km long. But it is creased by mountains, cliffs, and any other imaginable geographic barrier. Plain terrain is not something you will see lots of. If that was not fact enough, bus lines are crap. They have weird timetables, and their routes travel from one town to another, not bothering stop along the way, where some of the greatest visiting spots are.
Another fact is that gas is truly cheap. You are not going to spend your budget in gas. Last time I remember, a litre was about 80 cents. And car renting is also very cheap. An alternative is to rent a taxi. That would do it also. But in the end it can be quite expensive.

Trails and footpaths in La Gomera: From Cruz de Tierno to Vallehermoso

Cano Rock and Vallehermoso

Distance: 4.640 meters. Duration: 1:45 hours.

The road from Cruz de Tierno to Vallehermoso makes for a very pleasant downhill stroll. The path was formerly used by the inhabitants of Vallehermoso to reach Agulo, Hermigua and San Sebastian.

In order to reach the starting point for this walk, drive up through Las Rosas, past the hermitage and across the Amalahuige reservoir until you come to Cruz de Tierno. From here, a short earth track leads to a fence with a signpost reading Los Zarzales. The old one-metre-wide path leads down from here towards Cano Rock, first passing by Pico Loro rock.

Cano Rock is visible throughout most of the walk, rising with the village of Vallehermoso nestled at its feet. Before arriving at the rock, the path veers round to the side a little, so that for a while you will be walking with the view of Blanco Rock and El Capitán Crags on your right-hand side.

From Cano Rock onwards, the path finally starts slooping sharply downhill towards its final destination.