A small rock in the Atlantic: 05/06/2011

Friday, 10 June 2011

San Antonio del Monte, 2011

This weekend will see the biggest livestock fair on the island, in Garafía.

San Antonio del Monte used to be a village, but the villagers moved away. About the only thing that's left is the church of St. Anthony and the feast day, with it's massive fair. Apart from the animals, there's a craft fair, and of course lots of stalls selling cheap toys, food and drink.

It's a pretty enough little church, and for most of the day it's crowded with people visiting the saint and touching his belt.

After the mass, the statues are taken out to the fairground in a procession, and the priest blesses the animals.

The weather can be baking hot, but as you can see from the photos, sometimes the clouds blow in. It's a good idea to take both sunscreen and jumpers.

After the procession and blessing, they have live music and dancing.

Labels: animals, fiestas, Garafia, san antonio

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Tuesday, 7 June 2011

Things that go SKRAWK in the night

At this time of year in La Palma, you might hear rather unnerving Howie-howie-SKRAWK! noises in the night, something between a furious tom cat and a duck. You're particularly likely to hear it near the sea.

The first time I heard it, I wasn't exactly scared, but I was rather glad that I was inside a solid house and the whatever-it-was clearly outside. I'm sure I'd have felt decidedly uncomfortable about it if I'd been camping, especially in the dead of night. In fact, I've heard of people thinking it was the witches or the devil.

There's an audio recording here. See what you think yourself. Now imagine that it's dark and you're half asleep.

Actually it's just Calonectris diomedea borealis a nocturnal seagull called Cory's Shearwater, or in Spanish a Pardela Cenicienta. Or you might have your romantic, sea-side stroll inturupted by a Manx shearwater, (Puffinus puffinus) which sounds like this. Again, it's fine as long as you know what it is, and unsettling if you don't.

Labels: animals, birds, Los Cancajos, Puerto Naos