La
gomera
Here I go again, dashing
off to foreign parts and neglecting local scenes. Though the misty,
grey, damp view from my window right now is less than appealing;
so, I'm plunging back into the warm sunny shots of last week when
I was in the Canary Islands. La
Gomera is one of the smaller of the seven major islands of
the archipelago and is normally accessed by ferry from its nearest
large neighbour, Tenerife.
The ferry port of Los Christianos
is not far from the Reina Sofia Airport ...
... it is also a fishing
port ...
... and also doubles as
a popular holiday resort with beaches replete with imported sand.
Los Christianos is not,
however, completely devoid of culture: this barefoot matron hurries
her produce to market along the Promenade.
Due to the vagaries of schedules
there was a four hour difference between our landing time and
the ferry departure, in which to 'suffer' the hot bright sunshine.
At last, minutes before it was due to depart the
ferry arrived; and it was huge.
It reversed smoothly and
speedily towards the triple loading ramps with staggering precision
of control.
Vehicles and passengers
were speedily exchanged and from the outside observation deck
high on the stern: a last close-up of the town and harbour ...
... and, after only a 10
minute turnaround, with a wild white churning of the water, we
moved smoothly away from the quay.
Briskly heading out into
the channel the evening sun starts to reveal ridges and valleys
in the surrounding hills.
Five minutes further out,
a tele-shot showing more of the island's structure but with the
tip of Mount Teide (a dormant volcano) hiding under its cloud.
Against the backdrop of
a more dominating Teide, we cross with the incoming ferryboat
from the rival
company.
Just catching the light
of the setting sun, the plumes of spray from the twin pairs of
water-jets that speed the InCat catamaran across the channel at
38 knots, in half the time of the conventional ferry.
Forty-five minutes after
leaving Los Christianos, from her observation deck as the Benchijigua
Express reverses to her berth: the island capital and entry-port,
San Sebastian de La Gomera. Interesting geological strata revealed
by the excavations on the right of picture.
A last glimpse as the coach
speeds us away into the gloom for our 30km mountain ride to our
apartments.
Continued
in Part II
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VISTAS
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