La Gomera is the Canary Island where time stood still. Be whisked away in VIP class on the ferry from Tenerife and explore its peaks and valleys in the best way possible – in a minivan. Highlights include Abrante viewpoint, San Sebastian and Garajonay National Park – Spain's last remaining rainforest. As Arianne, one of our guides on this tour says, ‘La Gomera is a return to the past, to the origin of the Canary Islands. It's a totally different world.'
Once you've landed, you'll find a comfortable six-seater off-road minivan waiting for you. In little over half an hour, you'll go from sea level to more than 1,300m as you snake your way up towards Garajonay National Park, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. There are camera-grabbing views of the island's Jurassic-like landscapes along the way. Garajonay is steeped in Canarian mythology, as your guide will explain. There's a stop to explore the mystical Laguna Grande laurel forest, which is so moist that many tree trunks are smothered in moss.
Also on the menu is a Canarian lunch made from local ingredients. You'll also experience a demonstration of ‘silbo gomero', the ancient ‘whistling language' used by islanders to communicate over long distances. Plus, there are tastings of local specialities. In the afternoon, at the Abrante viewpoint, you can see Mount Teide on Tenerife from a 7m-long skywalk that juts out from a cliff. To round off the day, there's free time to explore the capital, San Sebastian, before your return ferry.
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