Winter Sunshine Walking on the Canary Islands
14 Dec 2010
No matter how bad the weather gets in winter, sunshine walking can be guaranteed for very little effort. Grab any available flight to the Canary Islands and it will be warm and sunny, not everywhere or all the time, but somewhere, some of the time. I’m halfway through researching routes through all seven of the Canary Islands, with four islands down and three to go, and I’m loving the sheer variety and interest.
If the Canary Islands conjure up images of boozy Brits in brash resorts, then you’ve a lot to discover. Over the past few years, one island after another has deployed gangs of workmen to restore traditional paths through the mountains and rugged barrancos, linking villages and traversing remote terrain, signposting and waymarking routes, installing map-boards and creating an incredibly versatile trail network for walkers. These include day-walks and long-distance walks, and I’m keeping a close eye on the island-hopping GR 131, which already runs across the high parts of El Hierro, La Gomera, La Palma and Tenerife.
I know nothing about tourist resorts, and I can’t imagine why anyone would lie beside a pool all day and spend all night drinking. On the other hand, I never cease to be amazed by trails that climb up and down impossibly steep slopes with relative ease, traversing semi-deserts and lush laurisilva ‘cloud forests’, reaching rugged summits and dropping into deep barrancos. For accommodation, I just knock on the doors of little pensions or small hotels, never booking in advance, and never being turned away either. I’m not interested in the concrete monstrosities on the coast, or anything within a five-mile radius for that matter. If necessary, I’ll pitch my tent in the wilds.
It’s important to drink plenty of water in the Canary Islands, and my favourite source of water is that which has been sieved from the clouds by laurisilva forests, dripping to the ground where it is filtered through immensely thick beds of volcanic ash, emerging from some mountainside spring or fountain, pure and cool. For eating, I’m happy with the local ‘peasant food’ - some bread, a piece of goat’s cheese, maybe a few olives, and a banana. Even if I reach a restaurant, I’m likely to settle for simple ‘papas arrugadas’, or wrinkly baby potatoes, baked in salt, dipped in hot ‘mojo roja’ or gentler ‘mojo verde’ sauce. They’re remarkably refreshing after a hot day’s walk, and it’s clear that local people always know what food suits local conditions.
The journey so far...
Walking on La Palma, Walking on La Gomera and El Hierro, and Walking on Tenerife has been published.
The next step...
To check routes on Gran Canaria, Fuerteventura and Lanzarote.
Regards
Paddy Dillon
