Mauritius and West Africa

We arrived in Santa Cruz, capital of the island of La Palma, Canary Islands, to clear skies and bright sunshine.

La Palma is one of the smaller of the 7 Canary Islands and receives considerably less tourists than it's more famous neighbours - 120,000 per year, compared to Tenerife (6 million), Grand Canaria (4 million), and Lanzarote (3 million). Most come here for the natural beauty and tranquillity.

Our day tour began at the Royal Island Sanctuary of Our Lady of the Snows, a church in the hills above Santa Cruz. The church houses a 14th-century sculpture of Our Lady of the Snows, believed to have been brought by merchants before the arrival of the Spaniards. Every five years she is carried down to Santa Cruz in a grand procession, which begins next week, so the city is deep in preparation for the month long festival to celebrate it.

We drove to the west of the island via a cigar factory, and a local farm for refreshments, to the Caldera de Taburiente National Park, a popular walking and hiking area. We took a short walk, but the planned 1 hour walk was not possible as they are currently upgrading the track. The park is also home to the largest telescope in the world.

We continued west to view the site of the most recent volcanic eruption in the Canaries, where the Cumbre Veija Volcanic Ridge erupted for 85 days in 2021, leaving a 6.2 km long and 3km wide lava trail which reached the sea and displaced 7,000 residents. The main road has been repaired, but the damage is still very visible, as is the newest mountain on the island which was created in the process.

Returning to the port at 2pm, we had 1.5 hours to explore the city on foot, so we visited the main shopping area. It was a religious holiday today, so many of the shops were closed and the streets almost deserted, but we managed to sample the local coffee specialty, the barraquito - a multi-layered drink containing condensed milk, Liqueur 43, coffee with milk, milk foam, cinnamon, and lemon.Les mer