As it was already dark, when we arrived in El Hierro, we just parked next to the port, went for a short walk along the beach and left everything else for the next day.
We decided to explore first to the south along the coast, on a road which ends after some beaches. Immediately we had the impression that El Hierro is somehow different. We stayed at one of the beaches for a while, but the clouds had closed in, so we drove to Villa de Valverde, the capital of El Hierro. It is the only island of the Canary Islands, which has the capital not at the sea, but up in the mountains.
(I will always wait for you)
We found a restaurant, where we had a lovely dinner and went to explore the town the next morning. We got excellent information about the island at the tourist info and made our plans. Our decision fell on driving up the mountains first, which turned out to be the right choice, as we soon discovered, that the sun was shining up there, while the rest of the island was covered with clouds.
El Sendero La Llanía was close by so that we changed into hiking gear and off we went. We came through an enchanted cloud forest, this time while the sun was shining.
The circular route of our hike took us through different vegetations from the cloud forest, through a pine forest, past a volcano, open lava fields and pastures.
When we were back at our car, we noticed that the clouds were coming higher up, and were wafting over the road. There was still a place higher up, which was the highest point of El Hierro, the Pico de Malpaso, 1,500 metres above the sea. A good road, partly gravel, leads all the way up.
The clouds were moving up and down the ridge of El Hierro, but we stayed above them for the rest of the day. We had parked a bit below the peak, as it was less windy there.
What a wonderful start at El Hierro! We are looking forward to exploring more of this lovely island.