Within the archipelago of the Canaries you'll find a small island where nature is king, an island of
volcanic peaks deep ravines and ancient laurel forests and the name of that island La Gomera.
the mountainous circular island of la gomera sits to the west of tenerife - its twenty
thousand inhabitants share a dramatic landscape sculpted by ancient volcanoes - the island is
crowned by the lush forests of the Garajonay national park a unesco world heritage site,
and from the central plateau deep ravines slice the islands in all directions - a challenging
topography that caused the islanders to develop a whistling language "el silbo" that is still taught
in schools to this day. Serena and i have a week to enjoy this lost world of the canary islands
la gomera is crisscrossed by hiking trails - you can spend a day hiking a volcanic peak or
simply stroll to a secluded waterfall. Many of these trails follow paths that have been used
by the islanders for centuries the indigenous guanche people had a real spiritual connection
to this land the forests and to the water and this was overlaid by the spanish when
they brought christianity to the island, which is why you'll find little shrines and chapels
dotted about this landscape in the most isolated of places
this morning i've hiked up the steep side of the Rejo valley
and then descended down into one of the most secluded and indeed the highest villages on the
island el Cedro it's an absolutely idyllic place totally encapsulating what la Gomera is all about
and after all that hard work my reward is up there
my legs may be aching but if this isn't heaven on a tuesday morning then i don't know what is
from here it's a very steep descent down the valley
so the camera is going back into the rucksack - the good news is though
that our accommodation is right on this hiking trail and it's very special too
our house is up here
it's not - that just a bit further
halfway up the mountain and fueled by solar power
and spring water this is the forest house - and look at that view
Faial why is there an eco house halfway up a mountain hidden in the forest? The main reason
is because to cut down the consumption that we have on this planet no? so it was obvious that
we had to go through an ecological path not to be using electricity from an island where they mainly
produce it from fuels and being there so much sunlight here even though some days are cloudy.
My mother's side family comes from La Gomera and it's from generations back and
my grandfather was the one who built originally the house. we love the design of the house! uh
well the design - originally the bauhaus movement arrived here in late 50s and so
this house was built with that idea of keeping minimalist lines - straight lines, open spaces
and so that was absolutely respected not to fill up the interior when there's so much exterior that
fills up so every view you have from the house is one of complete nature as if it was a painting in
itself no? un cuadro. So our next project will also be going along the same lines of ecology
but that building it was built over 200 years ago so we'll be redoing that and respecting that
kind of architecture too but mixing traditional with with uh modernism - we shall see in time
la gomera is an island of switchbacks - because of the geography there's no coast road
and in fact there's barely a straight piece of road or a flat piece of road anywhere on the
island - with the exception of one or two tunnels the only way to get from one community to another
is to climb up a mountain and then descend a mountain,
now for the locals that's no problem at all but for the rest of us visitors
it takes some getting used to! A bit like old route 66 this is one section of the main highway
the GM1 that's been bypassed by a tunnel and it hasn't taken long for nature to reclaim it
san sebastian is the island's pocket capital and principal port
with regular ferry crossings to tenerife - it may be the capital
but san sebastian is a sleepy kind of place - this is a busy saturday morning
as you walk the streets you cannot fail to notice that a certain christopher columbus passed through
here, known in spain as cristobal colón, famously discovered the americas, well millions of people
already lived there and the vikings had landed centuries before but, nevertheless, his voyage
to the indias stumbled upon a new world for the european powers of the day and the world would
never be the same again. columbus spent a month on la gomera preparing for that famous voyage
and it's said that he and the crew prayed for safe passage and success at the iglesia de la asuncion
The town also features the canary islands most historic fortification, the 15th century torre del
conde, this fortress played a major part in the spanish conquest of the island from the indigenous
guanche people. These days the town is the best place on the island for museums and also
to stock up on provisions and souvenirs it also has by far the largest selection of restaurants
so this is the local delicacy scorpion fish a fish i've never heard of
one word sensational
it's very strange to think that just across the water there is the famous resort of los
cristianos in tenerife, here at playa santa catalina on lagumera it feels more like iceland
when i first saw a photograph i hadn't realised the size of those columns and i actually thought
it might be a contemporary art installation, in fact it's the remnants of the early 20th century
banana wharf which at the time was the only way to get goods on and off the island. Unfortunately
we can't get any closer today because they're filming a science fiction production
the community of Hermigua scattered along a valley in the northern part of the island has quite a
claim to fame, it was the first community anywhere in the world to be acknowledged by scientists and
meteorologists to have the best climate on the planet, perfect therefore for growing bananas
and whilst you're in Hermigua you can eat extremely well! describe that in one word,
that is exceptional!
just around the coast from Hermigua, nestling under a colossal vertical cliff
is Agulo reckoned to be the best preserved village in la gomera it's also nicknamed el
bombon the sweet of the island on account of both its pretty houses and its cakes
all too soon the week is over and we're back at la gomera's sleepy little airport near
playa Santiago - obviously that was just a snapshot of what this remarkable island
has to offer after all if we'd spent the whole week just dashing around by car trying to see
everything that would have been completely missing the point! la gomera is a place to slow down
breathe deep and enjoy the pristine environment and of course start planning a return!
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