Walking Around San Sebastián de La Gomera

After returning from our tour of the island of La Gomera, we have a quick lunch and then walk into the town of San Sebastián de la Gomera.

San Sebastián de La Gomera

San Sebastián de La Gomera is the capital of La Gomera, with a population around 9,500 people, and hosts the main harbor of the island, with ferries to Tenerife, La Palma, and El Hierro.

On September 6, 1492, Christopher Columbus, after restocking his provisions and making repairs, departed from San Sebastián de La Gomera on his first expedition to discover the Americas (believing he was heading to the Indies).

Sundial at the harbor

At the harbor is a memorial torch commemorating where the Olympic flame for the XIX games was lit, passing through La Gomera on its way to Mexico.

Celebration of Olympic torch lighting

From the torch, we look back at a great San Sebastián beach on the right and our ship on the left.

Looking back at the beach

Our ship at the pier

We walk into San Sebastián and find a delightful town in the shadow of tall cliffs.

Streets of San Sebastián 

In the heart of town, we reach the main church in San Sebastián, Iglesia de Nuestra Señora de la Asunción (Church of Our Lady of the Assumption).  This beautiful church is famous for its mix of Gothic, Rococo, and Mudejar styles, historic art, and claims that Christopher Columbus prayed in the church before his voyages.

Iglesia de Nuestra Señora de la Asunción

Down the street from the church, we find Torre del Conde, a 15th century military tower set in a lush, inviting park with an outdoor stage.

Torre del Conde, stage

We return to the harbor and walk past the beach, with art commemorating the 1492 voyage of Columbus.

Beach

Voyage of Columbus from here to the Americas

We've had a full day with a tour of the island and a wander through the capital, San Sebastián.  It's time to return to the ship and think about an aperitivo.

San Sebastián de La Gomera, Canary Islands

La Gomera is part of the province of Santa Cruz de Tenerife and is only 29 km (18 miles) away from Tenerife's west coast.  It is the smallest island in the group, with land area of 378 square km (146 square miles) and its northern shore demonstrates a volcanic past with unique basalt columns that were created as lava pipes that slowly cooled and contracted at the same time.

Approaching La Gomera

We take a tour that travels to heights overlooking the island and neighboring Tenerife and Palma and driving into the forests of Garajonay.

We first climb (actually drive up) about 1.2 km (4000 feet) to an overlook.

Looking out, Tenerife in the distance

Looking inland

We next visit the Garajonay National Park museum to view the history of the Canary Islands and of La Gomera and views of its structure and flora and fauna.  The national park was created in 1981 to protect the best examples of the Canarian Laurisilva (laurel forest) within a 3.986 hectare (9.84 acre) park.  The Canarian Laurisilva are a wide variety of subtropical evergreen trees that require high humidity and mild temperatures that can only be found in these forests.

Canary Islands

La Gomera

One interesting note is that the majority of the islands are underwater.  Tenerife is the third largest volcanic edifice in the world, more than 7,000 meters (4.3 miles) high, with about 3,600 (2.2 miles) of it submerged.  Ninety percent of La Gomera is under water - we are in the 10% that has emerged.

Islands mostly under the sea

The museum offers a walkway up to a view point with an expansive overlook across the park to the sea.

Views across the park

The museum gardens presents an attractive collection of local (colorful) plants.

Wine press

Local flora

From the national park museum we drive to a local park to view more of the forest and how the locals relax and play.

Laurel forests

Walkway through the forest to the park

Small, local park

Bay leaves growing wild along the path

As we return to town, we descend toward the harbor, with spectacular views of the town and Tenerife across the water.

View on descent

After the tour of the island, it's now time to tour the town!