Hangin' out in Valle Gran Rey

We docked in Valle Gran Rey (The Valley of the Great King), La Gomera last Friday, April 3. After the having seen the changes to Santa Cruz, I tried not to let my hopes get too high that it would be exactly as it was back in the day. It's not, of course, but it is still lovely, and the tourist development that has taken place is mostly small-scale, although there has been a lot of it. It hasn't ruined the beauty of the place, although the new roads, more cars, more hotels (low-rise, thankfully) and many more restaurants do encroach on it somewhat. There are many tourists, mostly German, but they are spread out enough so that the streets, shops, and restaurants are seldom crowded (except at nine pm one night, when we went out for a late dinner and had to go to three restaurants before we could find a table).

The great king's valley is about 2 kilometres wide at the sea shore, but narrows quickly further inland. There are three centres of houses, shops, and restaurants. Vueltas, at the extreme southern end, is the harbour where the ferry docks and a small fishing fleet moors its boats. A neighbourhood of houses, apartments, bars and shops sits immediately north of the docks at the base of the mountain (La Guerguenche) that defines the southern side of the valley. The sun doesn't rise over this mountain until after 10:30 am, so the mornings arrive very gently. Our apartment is in Vueltas.

At the other (northern) end of a kilometre-long stretch of black (volcanic) sand beach is La Playa, another area of shops, restaurants, bars and hotels, with some local Canarians living there as well. This is a more happening area at night. There is a third built-up area, La Calera, (photo) about a kilometre inland from the beach, that is built up the base of the mountain (La Merica) that comprises the northern side of the valley. In all three areas many of the apartments are for rent to tourists, and most businesses cater to the tourists. Menus are in Spanish, German, and English.

We were met at the ferry by Steve and Christine, the couple who own the apartment we are renting for the week. They walked us to the apartment, gave us a quick tour, then left us to explore this wonderful place on our own. The apartment has one bedroom and is of modest size, but it has glass patio doors comprising most of the west wall that open onto a balcony that has a fabulous view of the ocean, which is literally across the street. (photo)

We lost no time in starting to explore the valley, and have done a great deal of walking. Although there have been many changes and much construction since my last visit 39 years ago, some essential elements remain. The house I rented with friends 39 years ago is still there, in La Calera.(photo below) The lower floor is now a restaurant, where we had dinner one night. The food was good, home cooking. Barb had grilled tuna, I had grilled rabbit, done in the typical Canarian fashion, i.e with mojo verde (sauce made from hot green peppers, cumin, parsley and garlic pureed with olive oil and vinegar) and mojo colorado (sauce of hot red peppers, cumin, garlic, pimento, pureed with olive oil and vinegar), and wrinkly potatoes (new potatoes boiled in their skins in very salty water, then finished in the oven so the water leaves a slight salt crust on the potatoes when it dries). The waitress, like almost all the others we met, was a friendly German woman. She told us that one of the cooks now lives upstairs, in my former digs..

The bar on the beach where I used to go swimming, the Bar las Journadas, is still open and serving beer. Barb and I had lunch there. Maria, who is now over 80, owned it then and still owns it. She cooked our lunch, vegetable soup and fried tuna steak, just as she had 39 years ago. It's still delicious. Her son, who is 62, helps run the place these days. He came home to help out after spending many years in England. He owns a big red Harley with lots of chrome, and delights in blasting his way around the few streets that make up this small valley.

I walked to the Playa del Ingles, a beach at the extreme northern end of the valley that is somewhat secluded and cut off from the rest of the beaches. I had camped there for a few days when I first arrived years ago. I was a bit taken aback when I discovered that it is now a nude beach.

After all the activities of the previous seven weeks of touring, we were ready to relax, and this is the perfect spot to do just that. We walked, read novels, swam and ate good food. The sun shone every day, and the days were warm but the nights were cool. We even turned on the TV a couple of times, and found to our great amusement, a German sports channel that was broadcasting the men's world curling championships, live from Moncton. The week seemed to just slip by and before we knew it, it was time to get back on the ferry and return to Santa Cruz de Tenerife, on the way to our next stop, the fabulous city of Barcelona.