Well after a late night with a tad too much booze, we slept in a bit. So up about 8:30 and after some kefir, coffee, yogurt / granola we were off to the caves just up the road. Dan drove again, and I was more than happy to cede the role!
The local caves were a pleasant surprise. There were many sections to them, but unfortunately there was much speculation and little known fact as to how they were used. They could have been home to the royalty of the Guanches – the Canary Island inhabitants before the Spaniards took over in 1492; or they could have been the living quarters of the vestal virgins; or they could have been home to the cattle! Similarly, the carvings in the ground could be functional (drainage related), symbolic, or spiritual. As I mention, lots of speculation, with the options pretty wide open!
One of the caves was used as recently as the 1970’s by a local shepherd. You could even see where the door was installed and where he slept/rested. There are still sheep & goats kept at the base of the hills where the caves are. The plant life is also very awesome. 25 foot tall Yucca, wild geraniums and lots of tropical flowers and cacti everywhere. We even came across wild fennel growing roadside.
After the caves we went to check out the local church. We ended up with an extensive, very verbal tour of the small, plain church from the woman who seemed to be the caretaker. Suz and I only comprehended a very small fragment of her story, but certainly October 1 is the patron saint festival. There is music, dancing and even yoga in the square beside the church. It was a challenge to politely (we hope) disengage from the tour and her offer of lunch and wine (that was tempting….), but we really needed to get started on our hike for the day.
Mike had selected the hike in Barranco de Azuaje and it was a good one with lots of sites, and views, elevation change and about 8 1/2 kms long. We were pushing daylight but made it comfortably back on time. The road in was a challenge as there had been a landslide on the road just past the entrance to the hike. We actually had to pass through the closed road signs to get to our hike.
It took a bit to get going at the start of the hike as there were a few distractions. The valley had a spa hotel in the 1900’s and the ruins are still found in the bottom of the valley. We also came across 2 women who were experimenting with fabric dying using the spring water and local plants. One of the women does weaving and the other makes scarfs. One of the women runs a workshop at her AirBnB in Las Palmas. Very hippy 🙂
We had a couple of false starts finding the trail, but knew we were on the right track when we found the rope you needed to use to pull yourself up the cliffs. It was an invigorating hike with wonderful vistas all around the valley over the farms, forests and the river.
Then finally as it grew to dusk, we were off for a well deserved meal. We found a locally ‘famous’ restaurant in the nearby town of Firgas. They specialize in watercress. So we had watercress salad, cheese with watercress, butter with watercress, buns with watercress and Dan & Suz even had it in their stirfry. We even enjoyed watercress ice cream for dessert!
So back home where we all recorded our day (some on paper, some on social media, some via photos). And some ice pack for my feet and knees – so far they are cooperating nicely, but I don’t want to upset them.
