A Pebble in the Atlantic

Homage to the Bajada

The "Homage to the Bajada" statue.

I love this statue.

It stands about a kilometre outside Valverde, on the road down to the port and airport, which means most people are going to see it fairly soon after they arrive on the island. As the name suggests, it celebrates the Bajada, the big once-every-five-years fiesta where they take the statue of the island's patron saint to the capital for a month.

The back of the 'Homage to the Bajada' statue, Valverde, El Hierro, Canary Islands.

The back of the statue

I wrote a post about this while it was being built, and I was fascinated to see the finished statue. It meant so much more, now that I've seen the bajada dancers.

The biggest archway in the Canaries, 'Homage to the Bajada' statue, Valverde, El Hierro, Canary Islands..

The biggest archway in the Canaries.

The artist, Rubén Armiche, clearly has a good idea of what appeals to kids aged from 4 to 94. This archway is only one of the ways into the statue. He calls it the biggest archway in the Canary Islands, because on a clear day it frames Mt. Teide. (Shame about the haze when I took the photo.)

Holes for peeking through in the 'Homage to the Bajada' statue, Valverde, El Hierro, Canary Islands.

Holes for peeking through.

There are actually two archways, side by side; one is adult size and the other kid-sized. Better yet, there are peek-holes between the two.

The scaffolding for the huge statue is made from things like old washing machines, which saves them going into landfill. And as you can see, some of the details on the outside are recycled too.

Detail of the 'Homage to the Bajada' statue, Valverde, El Hierro, Canary Islands.

Detail of the statue. Yes, they're bottle tops!

Labels: Art, Rubén Armiche, Valverde

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El Pozo de las Calcosas

The path down to El Pozo de las Calcosas

Although El Hierro only has one real beach, it has a lot of natural inlets which have been developed as natural, salt-water swimming pools

The summer houses at El Pozo de las Calcosas, Valverde, El Hierro

The summer houses

"Developed" sounds dodgy, I know, but all the ones I've seen really have been improved by the process. They build a path so you can walk down to the shore instead of slithering down and turning your ankle. They add some steps or ladders so you can get in and out of the water without scraping your knee. And they level off a few patches for comfortable sunbathing. If they're feeling ambitious, they might add a barbecue area or smooth off the bottom of one of the pools to make it toddler-friendly. But all the concrete is the same colour as the natural rock, so you have to look twice to see which is which.

The statue of Neptune by Ruben Armiche at El Pozo de las Calcosas, Valverde, El Hierro

The statue of Neptune by Ruben Armiche

Not so very long ago, most Herreñens were goat herds, and it was quite normal for a family to have two or three houses -- all right, two or three hovels -- because they had to go wherever the pasture was. Today, lots of family have converted one of the hovels into a beach hut, even if they aren't rich. Frequently, the whole family moves in for the school summer holidays. And if someone in the family is good at DiY, the beach hut gradually morphs into a very nice cottage.

The swimming pools at El Pozo de las Calcosas, Valverde, El Hierro

The swimming pools

El Pozo de las Calcosas has a lot of these beach huts and cottages, near two swimming pools. It's also got a lovely statue of Neptune by local artist Ruben Armiche, just beside the path up to the car park.

I had a very nice paddle in the shallow pool, and spent ages trying to get a decent photo of the crabs down by the surf. They were as uncooperative as cats, but I was pretty determined about it.

And then I had to walk back up all those steps.

Crabs in the surf

Labels: Pozo de las Calcosas, swimming pools, Valverde

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La Higuera de Abuela Restaurant

Higuera de Abuela restaurant, Echedo, Valverde, El Hierro

The courtyard of La Higuera de Abuela

There are lots of nice places to eat on El Hierro, but one of my favourites is La Higuera de Abuela in Echedo. It means "Granny's Fig Tree".

The courtyard's lovely, the food's great and the service is friendly.

The restaurant's in the village of Echedo, just north of Valverde town. They open 11 am - 4pm and 7:30 pm - 11 pm, with Tuesdays off.

Give my love to the goldfish.
Higuera de Abuela restaurant, Echedo, Valverde, El Hierro

The entrance of La Higuera de Abuela

Labels: Echedo, restuarants, Valverde

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A Pretty Photo

I'm extremely busy this week, so here's a pretty photo of backlighting on the road from Valverde to Isora.

Labels: Isora, Valverde

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Homage to the Bajada

The artist Rubén Armiche is creating a huge statue called "Homage to the Bajada", just outside Valverde. It's something he calls "re-use art", because it's made of things like old washing machines covered by chicken wire, sacks, and finally cement. He plans to finish it in time for the big festival in July (the bajada, hence the statue's name), so I hope to see it then.

The bit in the photo is only one end. It will eventually form a giant arc, with an entrance archway which frames Mt. Teide on Tenerife. Actually, there's two archways, side by side, one adult size and one for kids, with a peep-hole between the two. I think the kids are going to love that!

Rubén was born on Gran Canaria in 1973, but his parents were from El Hierro, and he loves the island. Apart from this statue and similar, smaller ones elsewhere on El Hierro, he's painted several murals and written and illustrated two comic books, one about the bajada, and one about the Garoé.

He's also very friendly to wannabe journalists who interrupt his work.

The Homage to the Bajada statue, Valverde, El Hierro

Labels: Art, Rubén Armiche, Valverde

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Where the Heck is El Hierro?

El Hierro is the smallest of the Canary Islands, at the bottom left-hand corner of the archipelago which lies off the coast of Morocco (7.7º north and 18.0º west). It's shaped rather like an equilateral triangle that's sucking its cheeks in, and each side of the triangle is only about 12 miles (7.5 miles) long. Just 10,500 people live there, give or take. For all that, it's incredibly varied. You spend a week there and still not see all of it.

The island is volcanic, and still has over 500 visible cones, besides the ones covered by more recent eruptions. Today it forms a three-pointed star, with the highest point rising to 1501 m. The top of the ridge is frequently covered in cloud made by the moisture-laden trade winds being forced upwards by the island.

The island's capital town, Valverde, is 590 m above sea-level, and noticeably cooler. It's a pleasant little town, as long as you're not expecting a major shopping centre.

There are ferries and flights to Tenerife, plus three ferries a week to La Palma (Saturday, Tuesday and Thursday) and one direct ferry from La Palma to El Hierro (Sunday evening).

View El Hierro in a larger map

Labels: Canaries, Canary Islands, El Hierro, map, Valverde