Horizon on fire...

...or so it appeared at sunset in Valle Gran Rey earlier tonight. No colour enhancement used in this photo.

Top spots to watch sunsets - Part 4

Valle Gran Rey is the 'sunset capital' of La Gomera and I want to introduce you to some of the best and most popular locations from where to watch the spectacle over the Atlantic ocean with a cool or hot drink in your hand. The order in which they appear does not intend to give a ranking and my suggestion is that you'll try them all for the sake of variety. If you've got any further proposals please let me know, or even better send me your own post with your snapshots.

Another one of my favourite spots to watch the sun go down is in the harbour village of Vueltas in Valle Gran Rey. It can be reached through the pedestrian lanes of the town or up a few steps from the pedestrian crossing on the harbour side of the roundabout with the fishing boat. It is a small bar and restaurant called Tambara and offers a panoramic view across the Atlantic from the harbour out to El Hierro in the South and as far as La Palma in the west from the just recently extended terrace. The interior views are just as spectacular as the whole decor is of handmade mosaics and furniture in the Moorish style and transports you to Marocco just a few hundred mile to the east of where you're sitting. It was all painstakingly done involving endless hours of labour by the previous local owner, who has now handed it over to his sister and her Italian husband who is also the chef.The great relaxing music coming from the sound system often takes you on a journey around the world with frequent stops in North Africa. The food is excellent offering the best and most interesting tapas on La Gomera and tends towards Italian food with distinct North African influences. Great cocktails, fruit juices and teas as well as good wines are on offer,too, as are homemade cakes. All in all Tambara is one of the most beautiful bars in the Canary Islands.

Top spots to watch sunsets - Part 3

Valle Gran Rey is the 'sunset capital' of La Gomera and I want to introduce you to some of the best and most popular locations from where to watch the spectacle over the Atlantic ocean with a cool or hot drink in your hand. The order in which they appear does not intend to give a ranking and my suggestion is that you'll try them all for the sake of variety. If you've got any further proposals please let me know, or even better send me your own post with your snapshots.

Today it's the turn of La Puntilla, the area around the statue of Hautacuperche. It is situated about halfway between La Playa in the west and Vueltas harbour in the east of lower Valle Gran Rey. There you'll have a fantastic view across to El Hierro and even the southern end of La Palma can be seen. Sometimes there are parties on the beach behind the statue and irregularly there's live music outside Manolo's Bar Teguerguenche in the large blue building across the road from the statue which houses several more inviting bars and restaurants. For a special treat you could go to Hotel Gran Rey, take the lift up to the top floor and sip a cocktail in the rooftop bar or on the terraces from where you can not only observe the sun going down over the horizon but also enjoy the view to the north up the green valley to the mountains. 

Top spots to watch sunsets - Part 2

Valle Gran Rey is the 'sunset capital' of La Gomera and I want to introduce you to some of the best and most popular locations from where to watch the spectacle over the Atlantic ocean with a cool or hot drink in your hand. The order in which they appear does not intend to give a ranking and my suggestion is that you'll try them all for the sake of variety. If you've got any further proposals please let me know, or even better send me your own post with your snapshots.

Part of the panorama at the bus station bar

Today I want to give you some impressions of one of my favourite places for watching the sun go down. It is the bar and terrace at the bus station near the petrol station across the bridge in La Calera. The Bar Estacion de Guaguas as it is called in Canarian Spanish, because the Spanish word for bus, which is autobus, isn't used in the Canary Islands where a bus is called a guagua instead. The small bar and its large inviting terrace are on an elevated site offering spectacular views over banana plantations all across the bay and over to El Hierro island and the sunsets can be enjoyed taking in the full panorama.

The bus station bar is popular with locals and visitors all day on their travels in and out of the valley, with people waiting for the buses, and with hikers on their way up or down the mountains. Ramiro, the friendly host has a wide variety of drinks on offer, including some genuine Irish whiskeys, and supplies snacks and ice creams. As he is fond of live music, musicians are welcome to play a few tunes and local regulars sometimes have a lively session and sing-song, called a parranda. There's even two guitars and an Irish bodhran hanging on the wall waiting to be used...

 

Top spots to watch sunsets - Part 1

Valle Gran Rey is the 'sunset capital' of La Gomera and I want to introduce you to some of the best and most popular locations from where to watch the spectacle over the Atlantic ocean with a cool or hot drink in your hand. The order in which they appear does not intend to give a ranking and my suggestion is that you'll try them all for the sake of variety. If you've got any further proposals please let me know, or even better send me your own post with your snapshots.

Today I'm starting with the spot that pulls in the largest crowds by far year after year since the 1960s when young Americans avoiding the Vietnam war, world-travellers, hippies, artists and intellectuals began to gather on La Gomera and met up to watch the sunset in Valle Gran Rey. The place is the legendary BAR MARIA aka Bar Las Jornadas aka Casa Maria at the western end of lower Valle Gran Rey known as La Playa. Even though the sunset can be seen directly over the sea only during the winter half of the year from there, today it still is the main meeting point at sunset time for everyone. 

People stand around outside the small bar and restaurant and even bring their drinks across the road to sit on the beach. As the sun goes down drummers start their rhythms, sometimes joined by various other instruments, and pass the hat around the mixed crowd who are sipping their drinks. Local artist Pero often shows his smaller cARTon works on his ingenious exhibition cart, itself a work of art. When the sun has set the dusk often brings fire-eaters and -jugglers to the beach to join the drummers and dazzle the crowd.

Bar Maria often hosts live music and Canarian music sessions when the spectacle on the beach is over, and keeps the guests  entertained from 9 to 11pm. The building also offers simple 70's style reasonably priced accommodation even if it is for just for the night. The bar's very old wooden fridge with its large electric motor on top is lovingly maintained in its original condition and the adjoining large 70's-furnished dining room offers simple home-cooked local dishes which can also be ordered from the terrace on the pavement. Open all day until 11pm, but closed on Tuesdays. 

The dining room

Maria

Many years before La Playa became the built-up small tourist resort it now is, Bar Maria was already the focal point for the population and visitors down there as it also housed a general store and a post office, and there still is a letter box mounted above one of the benches. Maria, the cordial old proprietress now in her 90s is still alive and well and she still sits outside the bar regularly enjoying the scene and meeting old friends. You never know who you'll meet and what might happen at her legendary establishment, but a jovial bohemian atmosphere is always guaranteed.

La Gomera sunset above the clouds

The photographs below were taken at the 'Mirador de Vallehermoso' a few miles north of the centre of La Gomera yesterday. The elevation is about 2500 feet.

La Gomera boasts lots of these viewing points and platforms that are called 'mirador' and most offer explanatory signage in English, ample parking, recycling bins, and some even are wheelchair accessible. All are well worth a visit, but can sometimes be shrouded in mist.

      Sunset seen from  La Gomera with the two crests of La Palma island showing in the distance (on right)             

Taken from the same viewpoint a couple of hours before as the mist was cascading into the valley. Vallehermoso  town and its water reservoir can be seen and the twin crests of La Palma island appear to be floating on the mist.

Sunset sky