There is a good road leading around the north of the island, just that it winds in innumerable bends along the mountains at a height up to 1100 metres above the sea. We saw the first cluster of Dragon trees, many steep valleys with cloud forests and came past a big pine.
In the west, the vegetation changed to cultivations of almonds and wine. We drove to Las Tricias, where we found a good parking just before the village. Thanks to the Rother guide, we knew about a hike and started from the village with perfect weather.
The hike took us down and down until we reached one of the few remaining mills of La Palma. It had a museum in the building underneath about the tradition of producing Gofio and the windmills.
We came closer and closer to the coast until we reached a valley dotted with caves, the Cuevas de Buracas. These were used by the Benahoaritas, the indigenous people of the island who inhabited it before the European conquest at the end of the 15th century. Genetically and culturally, they are linked to the Berbers of North Africa. We could find some of their petroglyphs around these caves.
Now we had to make our way up again, through an incredible vegetation and landscape. After a while, we noticed the clouds closing in, and before we were close to the village we were walking in the soft spray, which is so typical for the Canary Islands.
The form of Dracaena draco, endemic to La Palma, branches very low with numerous branches. They can be up to 400 years old, I found out. When the bark of a drago is cut, it secretes a reddish resin, known as dragon’s blood. Dragon’s blood was used as varnish, medicine, incense, pigment, and dye.
What a wonderful hike that was! And we were lucky that the weather had kept up to the last kilometre. We got to the camper wet but happy. We had no luck at the only restaurant in Las Tricias, but we found another one, including a level place in the forest to spend the night (28.7768, -17.9701).
Shall we risk a drive up the mountains to the highest point of La Palma tomorrow? We will check the weather and the webcams and decide in the morning – more soon!