Having done the centre, West and Northern sections the last two days, today we head towards the South East, where the airport is situated. Our target destination is Playa Santiago where there are a couple of small resorts and a small port. Before then, after breakfast we caught some early morning sunshine in the extensive gardens of the Parador.
It’s impossible to go straight to Playa Santiago, we have to climb 4000 ft up GM1, nearly back to Roque de Agando, our first place on day one, before we take a left and then drop back down to the coast. It’s another excellent drive of course, and we make time to stop for some wonderful views.
At the harbour we wander all around, observing that one could take a small ferry from San Sebastián to here, and also continue round to Valle Gran Rey which we visited yesterday, another for the “next time” list. Today we’re content to park up and wander around the little town which seems pretty much deserted. We see the sculptures and buildings, most notably of a church hewn into the rocK-face.
After an hour we’re ready to move on, next destination is the huge peak we saw also on day one from the Garajonay park highest point.
Fortalaza de Chipude sticks up out of the already extraordinary landscape like a spare part, towering above the surrounding valleys. Unfortunately as we climb the clouds descend and we really don’t see anything, however there’s no abort button on our sat-nav we just press on, knowing we’ll get a nice walk if nothing else. After a couple of navigational differences of opinion, an occasional consequence with this terrain, we park up and head towards the viewpoint, having already decided we are not planning to actually climb it. The clouds part from time to time and we get snippets of the fabulous peak, and also the death-defying valley just a few feet from our path.
It is certainly worth the effort, and we then drive on to Chipude itself for another walk and finally a traditional Cañarian lunch – almagrote, ensalada de atun and abongidas – local cheese, tuna salad and meatballs.
Although only 17 km as the crow flies it’s an hour’s drive back to the Parador. I need to do some urgent work and hubby does some Spanish, then we drop down into San Sebastián for a wander. We had intended to feed the car, but we did that this morning as tiny Playa Santiago had a super-fast charger, so we walk instead. We’ve done three days of driving around and only used 53% but it seems like a good idea to fill up at this point, all for the princely sum of €0.00!
The town doesn’t take long to walk round, and of course there are references everywhere about its most famous claim to fame. Here I will paste the words we found, no point using my own.
“It’s Tuesday, September 6, 1492. The bay that unfolds before your eyes is about to write its name in one of the most important chapters of the History of Humanity. Two caravels and a nao (ships), which have been sheltering in the archipelago for almost a month, finally leave port for the unknown. They have done well to prolong the preparations in La Gomera, The expedition’s admiral, while confident of the company’s success, has drawn up a risky plan, which requires stocking up on abundant supplies.
His name is Christopher Columbus, and he wants to achieve something that many consider impossible: to reach the rich islands of spices known as, Cipango and Cathay, by crossing the Atlantic, heading west. He’s not going to achieve his aim. An unexpected land, America, will stand in his way. to the Indies. The old and the hew continents met on that journey, and with it, the world changed forever.
Columbus’ miscalculation led him to undertake one of the most important voyages in history. He never wanted to admit his mistake. He maintained, until his death, that he had arrived in the lands of Cipango.“
We take a walk along the front, looking at the ferry we arrived on, the small round-island one, both Fred Olsen, the competition, and also the TUI ship Meinn Schiff 5 which we’ve seen in Cañarian waters many times over the last few years. We video-chat with our neighbour Jackie for a few minutes.
There are some fascinating buildings, typical Cañarian architecture, in various states of repair, mostly bad! The church is quite nice and it was interesting to see a band setting up outside, later we caught some of the sound-check which was too loud and the singers out of balance with the piano, but hopefully everything will be alright on the night later.
It’s a steep clamber back up to the Parador, but thankfully it’s aperitif time when we get back!
After a lazy hour on our veranda reading and writing, we shower and dress for dinner, then head off to the restaurant. Tonight we replicate the croquetas we had first night – pork and squid – and then enjoy veal rib, cooked very sympathetically to our order, it is exceptional.
