The Number One Bus

Linea 1 bus at platform number 1 in Valle Gran Rey's bus station (''Estacion de Guaguas'' at the bridge in La Calera), connecting the capital San Sebastian de La Gomera with the south-west and the mountain villages of Chipude, La Hayas and El Cercado. The 65 kms long journey with over 40 bus stops (depending on demand), costs just 5 €uros  and takes less than two hours. There are several stops in the national park and the bus also goes to the island's hospital. Please note that there is only the relevant bus station's departure time given and that you have to signal the bus to stop anywhere else. You also must ring the bell (the red button marked STOP) aboard just before your destination, but stops are not generally announced. Also worth noting is that a bus or coach is not called ''autobus'' as it is in Spain, but only known as a ''guagua'' (pronounced ''gwa-gwa'') in the Canary Islands. The routes, timetables and fares for the public bus company Guaguagomera can be found HERE...

Palms as houseplants with a difference

La Gomera is home to the largest number of the endemic Canarian palm tree (Phoenix Canariensis)  in the archipelago and the species is protected and cherished. More than 100.000 specimens have been counted on La Gomera and they are also a source of income for local farmers. From animal fodder, basket making, etc., to the the famous sweet ''palm honey'' (miel de palma), they play an important part in our economy. Palm honey is not bee's honey, but the syrup obtained by first cutting the crown of the palm tree, then collecting the sweet and watery sap (called 'guarapo') that rises up the trunk and further boiling the sap down to a syrupy consistency to obtain the 'honey'. This liquid is delicious, full of minerals etc., and highly valued. A Canarian palm tree may be exploited in this way only once every five years without doing damage. Read more about palm honey here...

Palm trees may not be cut down for any reason without a permit that is almost impossible to obtain, as they are a protected species. So what do you do when you want to build a house or an extension to an existing one when there is a Canarian palm in the way ? The simple answer is you just build around it and leave the tree trunk as a feature, or as a convenient clothes hanger stand, inside your house. The gap you have to leave in the roof is usually sealed with an old truck tyre's inner tube which fits the trunk neatly and allows it to expand. 

When I first came to La Gomera I lived in a house for a while where a palm tree grew  through the centre of the kitchen with frying pans and other utensils neatly dangling off hooks screwed into the trunk. The floor was tiled right up close to the base of it as Canarian palms have a vastly spread network of relatively small roots and the palm doesn't mind being encased as long as it can spread below the foundations. There was an opening in the tiling where you could pour in some of your waste water to give it a drink.

There are a good few examples of this 'symbiosis' all over La Gomera island. Above and below are images from just below La Calerea on the main road to La Playa,  Valle Gran Rey, where a palm is neatly integrated into a building. Also note that when this road was widened some years ago all the existing palm trees had to be accommodated and new ones were planted, too:

Historical image is oldest known

                                       

Above is the oldest known photograph of Valle Gran Rey in La Gomera's southwest. It was taken by French photographer Charles Alluaud in 1883 and shows La Merica mountain and the then tiny settlement of La Calera at its foot. Now La Calera is home to the administration of the municipal district of Valle Gran Rey, but when above image was taken the village of Arure, high up in the mountains to the north, was still the ''capital'' of the municipality. There's no sign yet of any infrastructure nor major agriculture. The lower valley then was still very thinly populated and looks like a barren wasteland as the large tomato and banana plantations were created in later years with soil brought from the fertile areas further up in the mountains. 

The tomatoes have now gone again and the banana plantations are receding more and more. A lot more houses and apartment blocks have grown since, though. The image was probably taken from the Vueltas or Charco del Conde area and was shown at a recent exhibition of La Gomera photographs following a competition, organised by the island's government. Below is a photo I took in more recent times, but from a different location. The 1883 view angle is now obstructed by buildings, so I doctored mine a bit it to make it look older:

Smelly trumpets and knickers

I took the above image some time ago in the winding, often stepped, little alleyways in La Calera in the centre of Valle Gran Rey, an area always worth exploring. The ornamental bushy plant is called Angel's Trumpet (Brugmansia) and originated in South America where it has become extinct in the wild. It is quite a popular plant in gardens in La Gomera and the Canary Islands, grown for its showy trumpet-shaped pendulous flowers which emit a very pungent fragrance at night. Caution is advised on approach though, as all parts of the bush are highly toxic and ingestion can be fatal. Even touch can cause an adverse reaction.

Note the ladies underwear drying beside it in the fencing. This was very regularly to be seen hanging there overnight, maybe to be 'reodorised' by the trumpets after being deodorised in the wash ?

 

La Merica mountain

Flamenco Sunday lunchtime

The Sunday lunchtime music sessions continue a Ramiro's bus station bar and cafeteria in La Calera with Ulises (on left above) and friends playing their flamenco and fusion music on the 9th of Dec 2018 from around 1 pm. After that an open music session should follow as usual...

This Sunday at bus station

The trio of Tom Words featuring Strat7rieder plus Gerd on Bass will be playing at the bus station in La Calera tomorrow, Sunday April 1st 2018, from 1:30 pm. 

Lunchtime live

Poisoned Folk to bring the sunshine back...

...and make you sweat. They'll be playing tomorrow (Sunday March 4th 2018) lunchtime from 1:30pm on the terrace of Ramiro's bus station bar beside the bridge in La Calera again. Last Sunday the market was abandoned and the music cancelled due to the wind and rain, but the forecast for this Sunday afternoon is much better and the sun will be splittin' stones. There'll also be another open music session to follow 'Poisoned Folk' from from 3:30 pm. Don't forget your sunglasses, and make sure to drink enough beer.

Sunday live last minute change

Caro Spiller from Argentina (above) with Tony Reece and friends will play at the bus station this Sunday afternoo instead of Poisoned Folk (due to illness), who'll be there again next Sunday Feb. 25th  2018 at 1:30 pm, I've been told.

Sunday afternoon live music

Poisoned Folk (above) will play at 1:30 pm this Sunday, Feb. 18th 2018, at Ramiro's

bus station bar in La Calera, Valle Gran Rey (in front of Sunday market).

From about 3:30 pm an open music session will follow, where anything can happen...

Sundays at the bus station

Poisoned Folk (above) will play at Ramiro's bar in the bus station near the bridge in La Calera, Valle Gran Rey from 1:30 pm this Sunday, and again there might be some special guests joining them.

At about 3:30 pm an open music session and sing-song will follow. Below is an image taken exactly one year ago of some musicians who played there and a good few of them will be there again this Sunday. There's also a 'parranda' (open music session) at around 3 pm on Wednesday afternoons at the bus station bay view bar.

Special concert today

...and this is just one of the nice live music gigs and sessions happening in Valle Gran Rey these days. Check posters and flyers as well as local bars and restaurants - or just just take a stroll and pop in where you hear music, as some of the sessions and gigs are not advertised. Note that all live music in bars and restaurants sadly must end at 11 pm and that the musicians are not paid anymore by the venues on this island and are thus depending on your donations.

The Sunday sessions

... followed by an open music session (called a parranda here) from 3:30 pm. All welcome.

More Poisoned Sunday Sessions

Sunday afternoon music sessions at Ramiro's bus station bar in La Calera near the bridge and Sunday market continue and tomorrow Jan.28th 2018 Poisoned Folk will start playing at 1:30pm again,  followed by an open music session and sing-song.

Bar at bus station reopened. Live music this Sunday

Not just decoration on the wall...

The small bar with terrace at the bus station in Valle Gran has reopened and host Ramiro is back behind the beer tap. The bar with the panoramic view over the Atlantic with El Hierro island in the background had been closed for several months and had been sorely missed by its loyal clientele of locals and regular visitors. The interior has been repainted and new tables and chairs are on the open terrace. An impromptu music session yesterday afternoon entertained the first guests and a beautiful sunset proved that this bar is one of the best spots to view the setting sun in all of La Gomera (click this for more...).

This Sunday afternoon, January 21st 2018, there'll be live music with Poisoned Folk from 1:30 pm and this will be directly followed by an open music session. Come on up to the bus station beside the bridge in La Calera and join in...

Yesterday's sunset seen from the bus station bar in Valle Gran Rey

Popular poison

Troubadour Tony on guitar and Toxic Tom on fiddle, aka Poisoned Folk, are back by popular demand tomorrow Jan.14th 2018 from 1:30 pm at the Sunday market behind the bus station in La Calera close to the bridge. They'll perform a semi-unplucked (sic) session/concert with an Irish guest bodhran player called Wild Willie on the terrace of Ramiro's bar. So come on up and get intoxicated...

Poisoned Folk Session today

Once again today, Jan.7th 2018 from about 1:30 pm Poisoned Folk will perform a semi-unplucked (sic) session/concert with an Irish guest bodhran player. Come on up to the Sunday market behind the bus station in La Calera close to the bridge (not under) where host Ramiro keeps the cold beer flowing to the sound of the boys above...

Market will be poisoned

...this Sunday, Dec. 17th 2017 from about 12 noon, when Poisoned Folk will perform a semi-unplucked (sic) session/concert with an Irish mystery guest 'drummer'. Come on up to the Sunday market behind the bus station in La Calera close to the bridge (not under) where host Ramiro keeps the cold beer flowing. 

...and then, when these boys are plucking away at all the money that went into the hat and the market traders are packing up, an informal sing-song might begin with gallons of guitars and even more beer, the likes of which can only be heard at Ramiro's...

La Calera