Dublin & Canaries Xmas Cruise - 17/12/2014 - Santa Cruz de La Palma Page

We went on a Northern coach trip but the AidaBlu was in as well, so the native guide (English!) rearranged the tour a bit. A stop at a viewpoint behind the church at San Bartholome but it was a bit grey today.

San Bartholome Church

Severe erosion of volcanic soils

Looking South from San Bartholome

We went on to Los Sauces for a look-see & had a substantial snack there, so it was a good thing we had had limited breakfasts.

Los Sauces Town Hall	The Church from the snack spot	Inside the church, tasteful for Catholic
Typical balconies	Strelitzia	View North from the church

Then, deep into the banana fields & a stop where most of us got off to walk through the bananas but not Avis. Robert the guide told us about banana cultivation & later explained that the water used for bananas exceeded the arrival of water by precipitation. He is rather Green. The EU keeps wanting to stop the subsidy to the banana farmers, without which, they are not viable but they seem always to lobby their way out of it. This is ridiculous. These Cavendish bananas are not very good anyway. We picked up the coach people at a rum distillery & tasting, where I bought a bottle of Ron-Miel for €8 or £6.40, very cheap & later, checked it into the ship’s booze hold.

Banana plants	Bunches growing	Male flowers for the chop
More banana plants down to sea level	Left photo from here	Rum tasting

Then, we were driven up into a ravine in the mountains near Los Sauces & the Krauts had gone, as planned. Most people, again, no Avis, walked steeply up to a closed Information Centre through the ‘jungle’ as Robert described it but it is more Laurel forest. We went down rocky steps to a lavada (not what they are called here) & walked along it back to the coach, which then took us to Santa Cruz.

Avis went aboard but I walked into the town (Ciudad! my eye) although it was now greyer but the old main street was worth walking along & I photoed it & the gloomy church before cutting through to the front, which is a builders’ chaos as they are building a beach. I snapped galleries, as one does & walked back to the port, having the luck to pick up a shuttle bus but it does not save much walking. However, it had started raining.