So what's El Hierro like then?

The place we are in, you could hardly call it a town, is La Restinga. It is a popular scuba diving base with several companies operating from here. There are a couple of low rise rental apartment blocks Apparently divers have to stay close to sea level for 12 hours after a dive and the road curves steeply upwards from here to the next village. There are a few streets with several bars and cafes, 3 restaurants and 2 small supermarkets but that's it. There is, however, a beach in town with good facilities and locals (and us) make good use of it.

The population of El Hierro is less than that of a small English town and the capital, Valverde, is a very small town indeed .Most of the coastline consists of very steep cliffs and this is one of the few easily accessible shorelines. The top of the island reminds us a bit of north Yorkshire with cacti. It is very different from the other island with pine forests, dry stone walls, fields, cows and sheep!

We walked down footpaths from the next village and enjoyed wild figs straight from the tree. There are also some spectacular views, particularly from the high cliffs on the other side of the island looking down to the coast. We walked from San Andres on this side, up to the Mirador Jinama.

Then we walked down to the coast below - a fantastic walk with amazing views but very

A couple of days later we went to gaze at the same view but this time from the Mirador de la Pena. This mirador was designed by Cesar Manrique, the Lanzarote born artist whose work we have come to really admire. This mirador has a cafe/restaurant in a Manrique - designed building with huge windows, artwork and landscaped walks enabling one to see the view from a variety of aspects.

Having viewed the coastline from above, the next step was to walk the coastal path. Fortunately, a boardwalk has been created to protect the lava landscape, which makes it a lot easier on the feet

We had planned to cool off in the natural pools. but, unfortunately it was high tide and the Atlantic breakers were crashing into these pools. We had been warned against swimming in them at high water and we could see why.

There was a swimming pool (chlorinated) at the end of the walk so we did have a cooling swim - though one that was not nearly as much fun as the earlier one. had promised. 

Also along this stretch of coast was The Museo Ecologico de Guinea, which we had visited a few days earlier. This consisted of some stone houses replicating the way of life on El Hierro up to the 1970's. It was also an access point for a tour of some lava caverns and a chance to see some of the island's giant lizards. These lizards were thought to be extinct but theywere re-discovered in the 1980's and have been successfully re-introduced to the island. So far almost 300 have been released into the wild, although they are preyed upon by the abundant population of kestrels. Scruffbag and I were expecting enormous beasts but in the end they turned out to be just quite big,

So now we have just over a week here before we set sail for Sal in the Cape Verdes. At over 700 miles and around a week at sea it will be my longest sail so far. While El Hierro is hardly a shoppers' paradise (indeed I often wonder how the islanders manage to dress so well and furnish their homes etc), I am sure it will seem like a paradise once we get further south. We intend to stock up for the sail and to buy some advance treats for Christmas, when we will probably be on a small island off the coast of Brazil. We will also do some walking in the pine forests and try to see the less populated side of the island before we leave.