A small rock in the Atlantic: 29/08/2010

Friday 3 September 2010

Roadworks and Road closures in La Palma

Some of the roadworks in Barlovento

For a couple of years now, we've had major roadworks on the road from Los Sauces to Barlovento and beyond into Garafia. They're straightening out as many of the bends as possible, which often means building a big wall and filling in behind it. It's going to be great when they finish, but it does mean that in many places the traffic is one way, so that you have to stop at traffic lights. One friend counted 14 traffic lights between her home in Franceses and her job in Los Sauces, which add an average of about 15 minutes to the journey.

Worse, since June they close the road completely for several hours at a time.

From Monday to Friday, the road is closed from:
9:45 - 11:15
11:45 - 13:15
16:00 - 19:00

And on Saturdays from:
9:15 - 11:15
11:45 - 13:15

So Sunday is a really good day to see the north!

If you get stuck just south of the road closures, Los Tilos and San Andres are particularly nice. If you're stuck north of them with a swimsuit, I recommend La Fajana swimming pools and the village of Barlovento.

Labels: Barlovento Garafia roadworks

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Tuesday 31 August 2010

La Zarza Rock Carvings

Tree heather

One of the best archaeological sites on La Palma is La Zarza and La Zarzita, in Garafía.

You have to walk, but it's a beautiful stroll through woods of heather and bayberry trees. Yes, heather is a tree here - see the top photo.

The whole walk takes about an hour, and first bit of the path is the steepest. It's clearly signposted.

Rock carvings at La Zarza, Garafia, La Palma

You reach La Zarza first. Here there is a cave with rock carvings around the entrance. The 29 carvings themselves are low relief swirls and meanders. they are definitely pre-Hispanic, made by the Benawara at least 500 years ago. They were only discovered in 1941.

Rock carvings at La Zarza, Garafia, La Palma

They remind me a little of cup and ring stones on the Yorkshire Moors, only these are much more elaborate. It must have taken hours and hours to produce the designs, hammering on the rock "canvas" with another rock.

La Zarzita is a short walk away, and has 18 carvings.

The woods at La Zarzita, Garafia, La Palma

La Zarza and La Zarzita are the most spectacular, but there are lots of similar sites on the island. Archeologists disagree on the meaning of the carvings. Certainly they're nearly always found near water and/or pasture for goats, so most of the explanations focus on fertility and water cults.

Rock carvings at La Zarzita, Garafia, La Palma

Most visitors arrive by car. The car park is signposted, just off the main road around the north of the island, between La Mata and Llano Negro. Entrance is free to residents of Garafía, and 1.80€ for everyone else, and includes a small museum. In summer they open from 11 am - 7 pm and in winter, from 11 am to 5 pm.

There's another famous archeological site at Belmaco in Mazo. That has an easier, less beautiful walk, more inhabited caves, and a larger museum, but the rock carvings are smaller and there are fewer of them.