El Hierro - The Island Of Versatility And Low Light Pollution - Day 3

Finally I’m back home from Lanzarote. The last days I used to get everything in order. But I still owe you the travel report of our third day on El Hierro, which was such a especial day. So today I took the opportunity of my day off to give you this update. Enjoy…!!!

As you may remember, we had to struggle with strong fog the previous evening. But the next morning the mist was completely gone. We had such nice clear weather and the sun was shining but is was a little chilly. After capturing some pics of the surroundings, having breakfast and making everything ready we left before noon.

The first thing we would like to do was a short stop at the chapel “Ermita Virgen de Los Reyes”, which we already saw yesterday on our way to the last night’s campsite. It’s a small, snow-white chapel surrounded by high walls, which stands out very nicely in the green of the wooded environment. Through a portal you enter the wide courtyard with a beautiful garden. We didn't look at the interior of the chapel, as we don't find churches not that interesting. Instead, we drove on through the beautiful juniper tree avenues to get to the HI-400.

The upcoming route is worthwhile for car and motor rides, because it leads through the mountainous landscape of El Hierro and you can discover all the contrasts that characterize El Hierro. But you should be confident in curves and heights, since the route is very curvy and goes directly along the slope. The majority of the time it goes directly steeply downhill without guard rails. But who can concentrate on the gigantic view, is without problems after a good hour at a junction, which we followed on the HI-40 to get to the lockout “La Llania”. La Llania is not only a lockout, but also one of the most popular hiking tracks in the northeast of the island.

As parked at the fountain of “La Llania”, which is also is the starting point for most hikes, first we walked a trail, through a laurel forest up to the lockout, which is an excellent natural balcony overlooking the gigantic “El Golfo” valley. The “El Golfo” valley was created by an enormous landslide, where part of the island collapsed into the sea, creating the huge rock cliff many thousand years ago. For a while we enjoyed this wonderful view and we sent some greetings to our families from there, since we had good cell phone reception up there. On El Hierro, cell phone reception is far from being covered. But it wasn’t a matter for us.

After a while we went back the same way to the other side of the road, where a nice meadow with wooden benches invited us to have a break. We quickly got some drinks from our car. Then we started a short hike through the forest next to the meadow. The trail has a lot of ferns along the way, which reminded us a lot of New Zealand.

We would have liked to hike even further, but we wanted to be in the village of Taibique around 15:00, having lunch in that beautiful mountain village. Since we would like to discover not only the landscape of the islands, but also the local people, we have chosen to visit the antique workshop of Don Dámaso. Don Dámaso Padrón Hernández is the last of his guild in the Canary Islands who makes handmade base drums for the folklore music of its people. He is very well known on El Hierro and the other islands, even beyond the Canary Islands his traditional handmade drums are appreciated.

We love to meet people who show us the old and traditional way to manufacturing things of that region, like Don Dámaso and his kidney drums. As soon as you enter his workshop, you realize that it’s something special. This workshop holds so much history. With the pale sunlight shining through the frosted windows and the smell of the wood used to build the drums, this place invites you to travel back in time. Dámaso told us that this workshop was built in the 30 years and since then not much has been changed.

His drums are mainly used in the Canary Islands for the folklore music of the islanders but some of them, he told us proudly, were sold overseas such as USA.

Every four years there is a big event on El Hierro where the drums of Don Dámaso are used to the multitude. It is one of the most important holidays of El Hierro, namely “La Bajada de la Virgen de Los Reyes”, which is a religious tradition where the image of the Virgin is taken on pilgrimage from the small church, we visited this morning, to the capital of the island, Villa Valverde.

We have already noticed during the visit to the bodega that the traditions are quite rooted here on El Hierro. The origin of this tradition was a prolonged drought, in the middle of the 16th century, which caused the death of many plants and animals. The shepherds decided to bring the image of the virgin to Valverde and soon it started to rain. As a symbol of thanksgiving, from then on every four years they made this pilgrimage of the Virgin. This procession is accompanied by dancing and singing to the sounds of drums, whistles and chácaras. Many visitors from other islands and also tourists come to witness this spectacle.

Its drums are made only from local products. Wood from the forests of El Hierro he saws and bends himself and the skin for the drum cover he gets from the surrounding goatherds. He builds the drums in different sizes, so that any age group could play them.

Finally, we asked him if he could give us a little performance so that we could hear the sound of his drum. Of course Don Dámaso didn't let this pass and started drumming with his old wooden drumsticks. En beautiful rhythmic sound went through the workshop, in which certainly many rehearsals have already taken place.

Enthusiastic and still reveling in the past, we walked through the cute little village back to “Lenny” to drive to our last overnight camping place at the beach of El Tacoron for sunset.

Even if there are less beaches on El Hierro than on the other Canary Islands, the small beach in the bay “Cala de Tacorón” is without doubt a small jewel and one of the most beautiful beaches. It’s not far from Don Dámaso's workshop. We drove to the southwest of the island near the coastal section which is called “Mar de las Calmas”. It’s not for nothing that this part of the Atlantic Ocean here is called like that, which translates as “Sea of Tranquility”. An incomparable place where the palette of different shades of blue mixes with the black of the volcanic rock and the many ocher and red tones of the mountain slope of “El Julán”, which is as unspoiled as this small cove of fine black and red colored sand, where you can enjoy refreshing baths in the sea. Snorkelers and divers also feel at home because of the tranquil ocean and the rich underwater world. This small bathing bay, which can be reached only with sturdy shoes and a little climbing, is most beautiful at low tide, as it appears somewhat larger.

At the parking lot in front of the small restaurant, a gravel road goes along the slope of “El Julán” on the right, which ends as a dead end to a small roundel, which we used as campsite for the last night. However, it’s recommended to take the rockfall warnings seriously. Because in case of strong winds and rains, you should avoid this place, because it’s located directly below the slope. Not for nothing there are some pieces of big rocks lying around everywhere.

There is also a barbecue and picnic area with seatings near the restaurant. So if you prefer not to take the risk of a possible rock fall, you can also find a place near the restaurant.

Fortunately, it was not windy or rainy that evening, so we took the risk and parked as far away from the slope as possible, directly above the small bay. Of course, the first thing we did was to climb down to the bay and take a refreshing swim before sunset.

Shortly before sunset, we quickly set up the roof tent, which went from now on much faster, because both of us knew what to do and it went like hand in hand, so we could enjoy the sunset one last time on El Hierro. Because tomorrow afternoon it’s time to say goodbye. But first we wanted to spend the last evening under the clearest starry sky in Europe. Because El Hierro is also characterized by particularly low light pollution. The universe showed us this evening in all its glory. It was amazing, as you can see on the pics.

With these pictures, I would like to leave you in today’s evening. The next day, which was our departure day, we had as well experienced something nice, which I will tell you soon. So stay tuned and healthy until next time.

Love,

Katy

Pics by Daniell Bohnhof

Text by Look2 Ocean