La Gomera to San Miguel 28:01.1N, 16:37.5W

Island Wanderer
Peter and Avril Brookes
Wed 9 Nov 2011 13:14
Arriving in La Gomera we all felt a little excited , the first
Canaries port that looked at all appealing!
A shore party was despatched to find the tourist information. After a time,
despite the lack of enthusiasm of the information girl..... no we have no maps ,
no there are no walks , no I have no bus information Doug won her round and
we arrived back on board with timetables and walking routes .
Tomorrow would be fun.
We arrived at the bus station with seconds to spare for the 11 am bus up to
the top of the island, and were rewarded with dramatic views on all sides
and the amazing sight of Mount Tiede on Tenereife at 3717m the highest mountain
in Spain!
A 10km path down through laurel forests and past a huge Cirque with a 200 m
waterfall made for an amazing day out. Only the lack of refreshment at the
end was a slight disappointment.
![]() The next morning Pete, whose knees had suffered on the previous days steep
downward route, and Avril, decided to stay and do a few boat jobs. Doug and I
were keen to do a slightly more demanding route from the same start point but
heading down to the opposite side of the island . We were confidant that we
could do this in time to catch the 4 pm ferry or bus back to San
Sebastian!!
How wrong we were!
We added on a couple of kilometers here and there, due to my infamous map
reading, and to avoid getting stuck in the middle of a group of germans.
As a consequence we also ended up completely missing our planned escape route
identified in case we ran out of time!! No surprises to anyone who has been
walking with me before.
At 3:15 we were jogging down a steep path still harbouring the idea of the
4 pm ferry. We met a couple on their way up who were tutting and shaking their
heads , it had taken them 3 hours to get up from the ferry port.
![]() Only when it became too steep to even identify the path ahead as we peered
over the edge did we accept the inevitable and decide that there was always a
taxi.
We stumbled into town and a well deserved beer. Arriving back to Island
Wanderer about 7:30 where Avril and Pete had made a delicious and very welcome
dinner including the long awaited chocolate brownies . Great end to a great
day!
Sadly we had to leave and yesterday we had a leisurely start leaving around
10 am for a motor across to Tenereife. Doug and Avril in hot competition
to get the next catch
![]() A lovely day topped by the a pod of pilot whales who lolled around either
side of us and then followed us for 20 minutes before disappearing
beneath the waves.
Mid afternoon we settled into San Miguel marina. Apparently there are
fray bentos steak and kidney pies here , everything for the discerning
tourist.
Shortly now we are departing for the finest sandy beach in the canaries for
a swim, dinner, before a night sail planning to arrive in Las Palmas
tomorrow morning. The final destination before the start of the ARC .
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