The sun has yet not risen behind the peaks. Half-light invades the exuberant volcanic ash dunes. The hundred-year-old pine forests softly sway their needles to the rhythm of the morning breeze. We are at the Llano de Las Brujas (“the Witches’ Plain”), at more than 1,000 meters (3,300 feet) AMSL.
The trail winds through this exotic and impressive site, swallowing us inside the forest until we reach the imposing petrified flow of the San Juan volcano’s lava river.
At dawn on June 24, 1949, San Juan’s day, the earth opened up, and incandescent lava began slowly churning out from the core of the earth. Some rivulets flow swiftly downhill until they fused into the sea. Others, running thicker, flowed over each other, covering, engulfing and erasing all traces of civilization. When the volcanic fever eventually subsided, a new and Dantesque scene had been etched onto the face of La Palma.
Our path now moves on towards the Llano de Tamanca, skirting small groves where life is budding once again, fighting to reclaim the area snatched away by the volcano. In this picturesque landscape, dotted with vineyards and splashed with fruit trees, lovely farm houses start appearing, and the daily agricultural life of our island re-emerges.
Arround one a.m. ends our route with tasty homemade tapas in the bustling village of San Nicolas.
